Exports need to transform strongly in depth and sustainability.

Speaking at the opening of the forum, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Agency ( Ministry of Industry and Trade ) said that the world economy is changing profoundly, with shifts in supply chains, increased trade competition and increasingly high demands on product quality and standards.

E-commerce and the digital economy are growing strongly, creating both opportunities and challenges for export activities. Vietnam – with its high trade openness and wide FTA network – is facing an important opportunity to increase market share, diversify markets and participate more deeply in the global value chain.

“Over the past years, exports have continued to be a bright spot in the Vietnamese economy. The structure of export goods has shifted positively towards processing and manufacturing; many dynamic, pioneering private enterprises have successfully conquered demanding markets and built Vietnamese brands in the international arena. However, the number of direct exporting enterprises is still limited; the capacity to meet international standards, build brands, manage supply chains and apply digital commerce needs to be further improved. Many potential markets such as the United States, the EU, Japan or the Middle East - Africa have not been effectively exploited,” Mr. Phu acknowledged.

Photo caption — Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade) spoke at the forum.

A representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that in the first 10 months of 2025, Vietnam had a trade surplus of nearly 20 billion USD; total import-export turnover reached more than 762 billion USD, up 17.4% over the same period. This is a positive signal showing the resilience of the economy and the potential for market expansion in the coming time.

Based on Resolution 68-NQ/TW on the strong development of the private economic sector, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is finalizing the “Going to the International Market Program for the period 2026-2035 (GoGlobal)”. The program aims to support enterprises in internationalization, develop leading enterprises, complete the value chain and expand the market in a deep, wide and sustainable direction.

Mr. Vu Ba Phu affirmed: "We are in an important pivotal period". The period 2021 - 2025 has witnessed a strong breakthrough in Vietnam's exports, when the growth turnover is at double digits and the trade surplus has been stable for more than a decade. However, in the context of profound changes in the world, from geopolitical changes, trade conflicts, increasing protectionism to urgent requirements for green transformation and digital transformation, trade promotion activities are forced to enter a new stage of development.

“Old thinking will not open new doors. We need to change the way we do things, change the tools and change the way we think about trade promotion. The new model must be based on data, technology and the connection of the entire system,” Mr. Phu emphasized.

Mr. Phu said that Vietnam is still facing three major challenges: low domestic added value; weak links between domestic enterprises and FDI enterprises; and an inconsistent trade promotion network, lacking mechanisms for data sharing and efficiency assessment. Therefore, a new trade promotion ecosystem is needed: more modern, more professional, and connecting all domestic and foreign resources.

According to Mr. Vu Ba Phu, the national trade promotion plan for the 2026 - 2030 period that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has been completing will be implemented on the basis of five key strategic orientations, serving as pillars for the modern trade promotion ecosystem.

Accordingly, the Ministry will promote trade by industry clusters, meaning that it will no longer approach each individual enterprise, but organize it by chain, by product clusters with deep links. This approach helps increase brand strength, save resources, and at the same time form regional industry value chains.

Along with that, promoting green transformation and sustainable standards in exports. Trade promotion does not stop at “bringing goods to the world”, but must “bring goods on the green road”, cleaner production, low-emission logistics, environmentally friendly packaging and clear traceability. “Green transformation and digital transformation always go together. If we are not green, we will be eliminated from the global supply chain,” Mr. Phu emphasized.

Forming a digital trade promotion ecosystem where data becomes a core asset. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is deploying a digital platform system for national trade promotion, integrating business - market - product - partner data, applying Big Data and AI to analyze and forecast consumption trends and support accurate decision making.

In addition, building a national export identity, unifying the image of Vietnamese goods on the international market, associated with the Vietnam Value National Brand program. “Each product bearing the Vietnamese export logo must reflect the quality, prestige and cultural values of Vietnam. When seeing that identity, international partners will understand that this is a trustworthy product of a dynamic and creative country,” Mr. Phu shared.

Finally, the “Go Global” program was implemented, selecting leading enterprises with international competitiveness to be the “locomotives” leading the satellite business ecosystem to reach out to the world. “When a Vietnamese enterprise goes international, they do not go alone, but bring the entire value chain. That is the new development model of modern trade promotion,” said Mr. Phu.

Accordingly, the five orientations are not only an action plan, but also a comprehensive restructuring of national trade promotion work, from management models, operating methods, to human capacity and data infrastructure.

According to the plan, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will simultaneously implement five key groups of solutions: diversifying markets; improving the efficiency of utilizing FTAs; developing a modern national trade promotion network with a clear horizontal and vertical coordination mechanism; improving the capacity of trade promotion staff and organizations; and comprehensively reforming the National Trade Promotion Program.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/xuat-khau-can-chuyen-doi-manh-me-ve-chieu-sau-va-tinh-ben-vung-20251126103756968.htm