Connecting businesses with key export product designers

The role of product design needs to be enhanced. Vietnam has great potential for development in the field of product design, especially in key export industries such as textiles, footwear and leather.

Kết nối doanh nghiệp với các nhà thiết kế sản phẩm xuất khẩu trọng điểm

Delegates attending the Workshop Connecting Enterprises with Key Export Product Designers, on the afternoon of October 31, in Hanoi . (Photo: HM)

On the afternoon of October 31, in Hanoi, the Institute for Strategy and Policy Research on Industry and Trade (VIOIT) - Ministry of Industry and Trade organized a Workshop on Connecting Enterprises with Designers of Key Export Products.

The event was held live and online with the participation of representatives of VIOIT leaders, the Footwear Research Institute, a number of enterprises in the footwear, garment, mechanical, pharmaceutical industries...

The workshop aims to connect businesses with designers of key export products such as textiles, footwear from experienced and reputable units in Vietnam.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Vu Quang Hung, Deputy Director of VIOIT, affirmed that in recent years, the role of added value in products has been increasingly emphasized, being the main factor contributing to the development results of enterprises. Among the factors that create added value for products, design holds an extremely important position.

However, currently, in Vietnam, the role of design has not been properly evaluated. Most of the manufacturing companies in the footwear and textile industries in Vietnam are mainly receiving processing contracts, while the designs are imported from abroad.

Mr. Hung affirmed: “We believe that the role of product design needs to be enhanced. Vietnam has a lot of potential to develop product design, especially in fields with export advantages such as textiles, footwear.”

Deputy Director of the Institute for Industry and Trade Policy and Strategy Vu Quang Hung spoke at the workshop. (Photo: HM)

The Deputy Director of VIOIT said: “Hopefully, the comments at the event will contribute to creating conditions for Vietnamese designers to create products that can connect with exporters, create Made in Vietnam products and bring them to the international market.”

Speaking at the workshop on solutions to improve the efficiency of leather and footwear product research, Mr. Nguyen Hung Son, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Research Institute, said that this unit is currently researching, designing and producing. In recent times, the Institute's products have changed a lot, especially in terms of design, and the volume of products ordered by partners has increased day by day.

Up to now, on average, each year, Vietnam exports about 1.1 billion pairs of shoes of all kinds, 400 thousand handbags to many markets, bringing in a lot of foreign currency, attracting about 1.4 million workers. In the world leather and footwear industry, Vietnam's leather and footwear industry ranks in the top 3 in terms of output and top 5 in terms of turnover value.

According to Mr. Nguyen Hung Son, by the end of 2022, the country had about 1,700 footwear exporting enterprises, concentrated in the Eastern and Southwestern regions, of which domestic small and medium enterprises accounted for more than 70%, the remaining less than 30% were large enterprises and enterprises with foreign direct investment (FDI). In particular, FDI enterprises hold all the research, design, and distribution stages, which are stages with high added value, while Vietnam mainly only does outsourcing production. Therefore, domestic enterprises are passive in both design and materials.

Deputy Director of the Leather and Footwear Research Institute Nguyen Hung Son spoke at the Workshop. (Photo: HM)

Mr. Son said that the investment capital for product design research is very large, requires a long time, as well as a team of talented and creative staff to meet consumer tastes.

Recently, domestic enterprises have made efforts to create added value for themselves by proactively researching and launching new product collections, which is a step forward for the Vietnamese footwear industry. Human resource training in product design research has also been gradually focused on improving.

At the workshop, a representative of May 10 Corporation said that in addition to export products, May 10 invests heavily in domestic fashion brands. Currently, this enterprise has 4 product lines for the domestic market.

Regarding the process of designing a product of May 10, the representative of the unit informed that before investing in a new product, the company carefully researches fashion trends, learns about international and domestic tastes, from there has an overview, then localizes the product for each market to suit consumer tastes. The company also carefully considers the factors of season, weather, material, color, aesthetics, from which the design team will come up with the most suitable product design options.

Also at the workshop, representatives from Mass C&G Design Media Co., Ltd., Korea; Institute of Industrial Machinery and Tools (IMI); Tue Tam Herbal Company... presented papers on the current situation and operational experience at the unit, especially in the field of product design.

The presentations focused on the following topics: Solutions to improve the capacity of research, design and development of leather and footwear products in Vietnam; experience in developing Korean product design centers and connecting with businesses; solutions to enhance product design capacity in Vietnamese garment enterprises; assessment of the role of product design in increasing added value for businesses...

At the event, delegates also discussed and exchanged experiences in developing designs and innovating product models of enterprises to meet the requirements of the export market. Practical lessons from enterprises gave delegates a clearer view of the reality of developing packaging and product label designs, to better understand consumer tastes, and gradually conquer domestic and foreign markets.

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