Ho Chi Minh City and its pioneering achievements.

(Chinhphu.vn) - As the economic center and growth engine of the southern region as well as the whole country, Ho Chi Minh City has always been at the forefront in many movements and programs associated with the socio-economic development of the entire country over the past year.

Notable examples include the Market Stabilization Program (BOTT), pioneered and maintained for the past 23 years, helping the city regulate market prices and giving millions of people access to quality goods at stable prices. Another example is the Bank-Enterprise Connection Program (NH-DN), which helps businesses access preferential interest rate loans to boost production and business activities, contributing to the economic development of Ho Chi Minh City. These pioneering initiatives contribute to the development of the city and the country, helping Ho Chi Minh City maintain its position as the economic "locomotive".

Article 1: Enhancing the quality and value of Vietnamese goods: From market stabilization programs to "Responsible tick"

Throughout its nearly 40-year history of innovation and development, the retail trade sector has played a crucial role, serving as one of the main driving forces and pillars that has helped Ho Chi Minh City maintain its growth momentum for an extended period.

Trade, services, and retail contribute approximately 65% ​​of Ho Chi Minh City's GRDP - Photo: VGP/Le Anh

Mr. Nguyen Anh Duc, Chairman of the Vietnam Retailers Association, stated that the retail trade sector plays an extremely important role in the overall economic growth structure. Currently, trade, services, and retail contribute approximately 55-60% to the country's GRDP, with Ho Chi Minh City alone accounting for over 65%.

In fact, throughout the process of innovation and development to date, spanning nearly 40 years, the retail trade sector has played a crucial role, serving as one of the main driving forces and pillars helping Ho Chi Minh City maintain its growth momentum for a long period.

Despite challenging times and price fluctuations, the retail sector has remained resilient and has grown even faster since the recovery.

Maintaining stable prices creates an important impetus for the development of domestic consumption.

To achieve this significant result, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee leadership directed the City's Department of Industry and Trade (as the lead agency) and other pioneering units to implement the BOTT Program with the goal of helping to regulate and stabilize market prices. After 23 years of development (from 2002 to the present), the Program has proven to be a correct and innovative policy, giving millions of people the opportunity to access quality goods at stable prices. This has contributed to curbing inflation and helped keep the city's consumer price index (CPI) consistently lower than the national average.

According to Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, from its initial goal of stabilizing prices in the short term during the Tet holiday, the program has now become a tool for regulating market prices of essential goods by regulating supply and demand, minimizing administrative interventions on selling prices.

Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, said that the BOTT program has become a tool for regulating market prices of essential goods - Photo: VGP/Le Anh

Initially, the Program only involved the state-owned economic sector, but now it has mobilized all economic sectors to work together to stabilize the market. From primarily focusing on commodity reserves, the Program now implements long-term market stabilization, concentrating on promoting domestic production towards modernization and high productivity; ensuring abundant and sustainable supply.

Every year, the city widely publicizes and actively encourages businesses to participate in the program through three forms: supplying goods, distributing goods, and providing credit support for program implementation with many practical benefits. The amount of price-stabilized, essential consumer goods that businesses register for consistently accounts for 21-43% in regular months and can increase significantly during holidays and Tet (Lunar New Year).

In particular, businesses participating in the BOTT program have implemented practical programs such as signing cooperation agreements between Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces and cities, and "Connecting Supply and Demand" conferences to link and cooperate in developing sources of goods, especially in the procurement and consumption of characteristic agricultural products in various regions, OCOP products, improving product quality, and orienting output; thereby stimulating the development of production and business activities in the city as well as nationwide.

Promoting the "Green Tick for Responsibility" program – improving the quality of Vietnamese products.

In parallel with maintaining and developing the BOTT Program, aiming to improve the quality of input products, better control the quality of input goods, and enhance the value of the supply chain for Vietnamese goods, from March 2024, Ho Chi Minh City will continue to pioneer the implementation of the "Product Quality Control Program in Ho Chi Minh City" - abbreviated as "Responsibility Green Tick".

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Hung, Deputy Head of the Trade Management Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, the program aims to guide the production of safe and sustainable food through market signals (represented by retail systems) with voluntary, conscious, and proactive participation, enhancing the responsibility of entities in the supply chain; thereby meeting domestic consumption requirements and aiming for export.

Goods bearing the "Responsibility Tick" are displayed at a distribution system for consumer identification - Photo: VGP/Le Anh

After one year of implementation, by early April 2025, the program had received participation from 11 leading retail distributors in the market (accounting for approximately 80% of the modern retail market) including: Saigon Co.op , Satra, Aeon, Central Retail, MM Mega Market, Bach Hoa Xanh, Wincommerce, King Food Market, Lotte Mart, GS25, Genshai, and the active participation of more than 120 suppliers with over 300 products supplied to distribution and retail systems.

Many suppliers commented that the program has helped to increase consumer confidence in Vietnamese products. Businesses have also become more proactive in accepting additional costs such as monitoring of growing areas and supplies to improve and perfect their production models to meet registered standards.

Mr. Jose Mestre, Director of Fresh Food at Central Retail Vietnam, emphasized: "We believe that when consumers support products with the 'Green Tick for Responsibility' label, we will have more suppliers participating in this program, contributing to building a sustainable, safe, and responsible retail environment."

Ms. Vo Thi Bich Thuy, Deputy Director of Quality Management Department at Saigon Co.op - the leading retail distributor in Ho Chi Minh City - said that the company has signed agreements with more than 20 suppliers from provinces and cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Lam Dong, Dong Thap , and Tien Giang, and is actively encouraging more suppliers to learn about and participate in the program. According to Saigon Co.op, before signing agreements with suppliers, the company based its decisions on the strengths of each locality to develop raw material sources for each product type. In the coming period, the company will expand to many more provinces and cities nationwide.

Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, stated: "The 'Responsibility Green Tick' program is of significant importance in inspecting and controlling the quality of goods and helps build a sustainable supply chain. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade is also coordinating with provinces and cities to expand the program to local manufacturing and supply businesses. The goal is for all products circulating in the market to have a 'Responsibility Green Tick', and to be controlled and guaranteed to be of the highest quality and safety."

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade will also coordinate with relevant parties to build a data system, evaluation standards, and a common set of criteria for all participating units. Products from participating units will be considered for a "green tick" and will receive priority support from major distribution systems; there will be a website to check which products and units have a "green tick".

Central Retail Vietnam Group signs cooperation agreement for the "Responsible Green Tick" program with manufacturers in Lam Dong - Photo: VGP/Le Anh

According to experts, maintaining the BOTT Program and further expanding the "Responsible Green Tick" Program, alongside promoting consumer stimulus programs with deep discounts throughout the year, such as the annual "Shopping Season" concentrated promotion month program, will be an important and solid driving force for the growth of trade and consumption in the city.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Department, while the total retail sales of goods and consumer services in the city increased by 9.6% in 2023 compared to the same period, in 2024, the total retail sales of goods and consumer services in Ho Chi Minh City are expected to continue to grow impressively with an increase of 10.5% compared to the previous year.

Entering 2025, from the beginning of the year, market stabilization efforts continued to be widely implemented, ensuring the supply of goods for the Lunar New Year shopping season. At the same time, businesses operating in the trade and service sectors proactively embraced digital transformation, e-commerce, and improved transportation services to meet market development trends.

According to a report by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, in the first quarter of 2025, the total retail sales of goods and consumer service revenue are estimated to reach VND 316,632 billion, an increase of 14.2% compared to the same period last year.

Le Anh

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/tphcm-va-nhung-dau-an-tien-phong-102250409153103591.htm