Leaders of the Departments and Offices under the Ministry of Industry and Trade have proposed and provided many solutions to help the Vietnamese Trade Office system in Asia and Africa expand export markets.
At the Conference of Trade Counselors and Heads of Trade Offices in the Asia-Africa market region held on the afternoon of December 19, Japan time, the functional Departments and Offices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade expressed their opinions and proposed many solutions to promote Vietnam's trade activities with markets in the Asia-Africa region, thereby creating momentum and strength for the Industry and Trade sector to rise up in the new era.
Prioritize the construction of shared databases
Speaking at the Conference of Trade Counselors, Heads of Trade Offices in the Asia-Africa market region on trade promotion activities to Asian and African markets, Mr. Vu Ba Phu - Director of the Trade Promotion Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade committed to being ready to coordinate and provide maximum support to the programs, activities and plans of the Vietnam Trade Office System in the Asia-Africa market region in trade promotion and market expansion.
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| Mr. Vu Ba Phu - Director of the Department of Trade Promotion, Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed to participate in building a database that will become a criterion for evaluating the completion level of business deals. |
Regarding the shared database, Director Vu Ba Phu suggested that commercial counselors need to speed up this task. Because, when there is a shared data system, both domestic and foreign people will have valuable information, close to reality, from which to build appropriate and timely business strategies.
Director Vu Ba Phu proposed that participating in building a shared database will become a criterion for evaluating the level of work completion and work efficiency of transactions.
Export turnover growth target in 2025 increases by 12% compared to 2024
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| Mr. Nguyen Anh Son - Director of the Import-Export Department spoke at the conference. |
At the conference, Mr. Nguyen Anh Son - Director of the Import-Export Department said that in recent times, Vietnamese Trade Offices in Asian and African markets have actively supported the export of Vietnamese goods. In particular, markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines... have made important contributions to promoting rice and cashew exports...
In the past year, offering rice at competitive prices, lower than market prices, has helped exports achieve higher efficiency. Typically, the Vietnam Trade Office in Malaysia has provided very quick and timely support to ensure trade safety.
For the 2025 plan, the Import-Export Department has completed and prepared to submit to the Government two important documents related to foreign trade activities. Before sending them to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and submitting them to the Government, the Import-Export Department will seek comments from Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad.
Regarding the activities of the Vietnam Trade Office System abroad, in 2024, the export turnover is expected to reach 800 billion USD. According to the 2025 plan, the growth target is 12%. Therefore, it is recommended that trade counselors in the countries continue to promote activities and improve the effectiveness of business support.
In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, specifically the Import-Export Department, will play a permanent role in selecting typical export enterprises in 2023. The Import-Export Department will submit a list of enterprises to the Ministry's leaders and provide information to Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad for coordination and inspection to ensure that enterprises export in accordance with their declarations.
Solutions to deal with trade defense cases
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| Director of the Trade Defense Department Trinh Anh Tuan informs about Vietnam's trade defense cases in 2024 |
Director of the Department of Trade Defense Trinh Anh Tuan said, Currently, Vietnam has investigated about 271 cases related to trade defense, of which the Asian market alone accounts for 145 cases, equivalent to more than 60% of the total. 2024 witnessed a significant increase with 27 cases since the beginning of the year, second only to the 10-year high of 31 cases in 2019.
Trade defense cases are mainly concentrated in Vietnam's key markets, such as Australia (19 cases), ASEAN (52 cases), and South Korea, with some other markets having fewer but still increasing trends.
For Australia and Korea, thanks to the Trade Cooperation Committees, the handling of trade defense cases is quite good. Specifically, out of 19 cases in Australia, 15 cases have been terminated or have been subject to insignificant tariffs. For Korea in particular, the Cooperation Committee operates very effectively, ensuring regular and continuous exchanges. Establishing this cooperation mechanism is very difficult, therefore, but establishing the Cooperation Committee is a very good mechanism to support domestic enterprises to effectively respond to trade defense cases.
In particular, in the ASEAN market, some countries such as Indonesia (18 cases), Philippines (14 cases), Malaysia (11 cases), and Thailand (9 cases) are tending to apply more and more trade defense measures. Therefore, in the coming time, the Trade Defense Department recommends to the trade offices:
Firstly, build good cooperative relationships with foreign trade defense and investigation agencies to promptly update information and transmit it back to the country. Grasping information early will help businesses be better prepared, thereby minimizing the applicable tax rate.
Monday, Actively implement activities to respond, respond and protect business interests through a system of letters, documents, direct meetings...
Third , there are forecasts and early warnings. Currently, the Department has built an early warning website with export data by market, but it needs to supplement actual warnings from the market. Therefore, it is necessary to have close coordination and cooperation from trade offices to coordinate handling, contributing to maintaining export turnover and expanding export markets in a sustainable manner.
Trade deficit returns, not a cause for concern
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| Mr. Bui Huy Son - Director of Financial Planning Department |
Mr. Bui Huy Son - Director of the Department of Financial Planning: The Asia - Africa market area is a very important area, contributing up to 49% of the country's import and export turnover. However, this is also the area with a large trade deficit of the country, including markets such as China, Korea... However, we are importing raw materials to serve domestic production and business activities, so there is no need to worry.
In recent times, the Vietnamese Trade Office system in the Asian and African markets has greatly supported the Department of Financial Planning in implementing market policies, providing information as a basis for drafting and advising policies for the Ministry's leaders.
In the coming time, it is recommended that the Trade Counselors and Heads of Trade Offices in the Asia - Africa market coordinate more closely with the Department of Financial Planning to complete the tasks assigned by the Ministry's leaders.
Trade system - a bridge to develop Vietnam's industry
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| Director of the Department of Industry Pham Nguyen Hung said that the deals play a bridging role between Asian and African countries and Vietnam in the field of industrial development. |
Director of the Department of Industry Pham Nguyen Hung said: Developing the industrial and manufacturing sector in 2024 with very positive signals. This sector is expected to grow by 8.4% compared to 2023. This is an important factor contributing to the target of increasing import-export turnover to 800 billion USD in 2024. Contributing to this result is the extremely important role of the Vietnam Trade Office system in the Asian and African markets.
Vietnam Trade Offices also play a bridging role between Asian and African countries and Vietnam in the field of industrial development. In particular, with the need to import energy, Vietnam has established many foreign trade activities, importing coal from South Africa, Laos, Indonesia, etc., and importing electricity from Laos and China.
In addition, Vietnam is calling on domestic and foreign investors to cooperate in developing the mining industry, especially the mining and processing of bauxite to produce aluminum. Vietnam's aluminum products are highly appreciated by markets such as China, India, South Korea, etc. for their purity compared to other countries. Dak Nong, Lam Dong and Binh Phuoc provinces possess huge bauxite reserves, which need to be exploited quickly to restore the land and promote local economic development.
In the automobile sector, automobile consumption in Vietnam in recent years has remained at around 500,000 vehicles per year. In addition, Vietnam is attracting many foreign automobile assembly and manufacturing enterprises, including investors from China. Investment activities not only serve domestic demand but also aim at exporting to Southeast Asian and global markets, focusing on high-end and electric vehicles - prominent trends in the industry.
However, it is necessary to orient investment attraction, avoid duplication with other ASEAN countries, thereby creating a unique competitive advantage for Vietnam.
Regarding the semiconductor industry, Vietnam has also made great strides when recently, NVIDIA Corporation officially invested in a data center in Vietnam. This is an important success that makes Vietnam one of three countries in the world, and the leading country in Southeast Asia, chosen as the location for this corporation's data and research center. This achievement requires Vietnam to build strategic steps, creating a solid foundation to ensure the effective operation of the center and promote the development of the high-tech industry in the future.
For other industries such as textiles and footwear, Vietnam is currently one of the leading exporters in this field. It is expected that by 2024, the total export turnover of the textile and footwear industry will reach 41 billion USD, accounting for about 5.5% of the country's total export turnover. Vietnam continues to import raw materials and materials for the textile and footwear industry, which creates a great advantage for production and trade development. Therefore, the trade office system needs to continue to play a bridging role, promoting cooperation with international partners in this field.
In addition, it is recommended that trade deals also promote dynamism in exchanging and cooperating with business associations, especially focusing on attracting strong investment in the agricultural sector in host countries, contributing to improving the effectiveness of cooperation and expanding the scope of Vietnam's economic activities.
Culturally, Asian countries have their own unique characteristics, and we can promote cultural similarities and unique cultural identities in international economic cooperation. This not only helps to share information but also creates opportunities for connecting Vietnamese enterprises with international partners, thereby attracting investment to Vietnam. When combining such activities, we will have many opportunities to carry out practical activities that bring high efficiency.
Over the past five years, Vietnam has attracted a low-cost workforce and taken advantage of its national capacity. However, to continue to develop, we need to attract investors in modern technology industries, with energy-saving and environmentally friendly solutions. In the energy transition trend, Vietnam is committed to reducing energy use and minimizing waste.
It is important to attract investors who employ high-quality labor, transfer advanced technology and create great added value for Vietnam. This will help avoid situations that we call trade defense, and move towards a truly strong industry.
It is recommended that the Commercial Counselors and Heads of Trade Offices continue to play an important role as a bridge so that by 2030, Vietnam will become a developing country with relatively modern industry and high average income. The further goal is that by 2045, Vietnam will become a developed industrial country with high income.
To realize this goal, it is necessary to focus on products with high added value, such as electronic circuits, chips, and phones, instead of just exporting raw products. Attracting investment in high-tech industries will help Vietnam increase export value and achieve development goals.
Make the most of opportunities from FTAs to promote production and export
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| Mr. Trinh Minh Anh - Chief of Office of the Steering Committee for International Economic Integration spoke at the Conference of Trade Counselors, Head of the Trade Office of the Asia - Africa market region. |
Mr. Trinh Minh Anh - Chief of Office of the Steering Committee for International Economic Integration: In recent times, we have signed many FTAs, especially with the Asia and Africa regions, accounting for 82% of the total number of signed FTAs. However, it is worth noting that among the countries with large surpluses and trade deficits with Vietnam, both China and South Korea are in this region.
China's trade deficit with Vietnam will reach $49 billion in 2023, while South Korea's will be $28 billion. The trade deficit is not the most important issue, because our economy is currently mainly processing and assembling. However, we still have to import raw materials for production and export.
In particular, some industries such as wood products and textiles have a very high rate of raw material imports, accounting for 80% for wood products and 85% for textiles. Therefore, the question is how to reduce the trade deficit from these countries. One of the solutions that I have proposed before is to increase the import of high-value products, such as aircraft from the US, which will help reduce the trade deficit and promote exports to major markets.
Finally, I would like to emphasize that thanks to the process of international economic integration, we have achieved many important achievements. However, in the coming time, we need to make the most of the opportunities from the signed FTAs, especially with 16 FTAs that have come into effect, spanning over 60 markets. We have strongly integrated with the world, but to make full use of the opportunities from FTAs, there needs to be more effective coordination and implementation domestically. We need to have both wings: international integration and domestic exploitation to optimize the opportunities from FTAs.
Therefore, I propose that the Minister direct the implementation of better integration commitments, helping businesses effectively exploit FTAs and achieve development goals in the coming period.
Strengthening coordination in preventing and combating counterfeit goods
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| Director General of the Market Management Department Tran Huu Linh suggested that trade offices need to coordinate with brands in the host country to provide information, contributing to the prevention of counterfeit goods. |
Director General of the Market Management Department Tran Huu Linh: In the past 2 years, the Governments of some countries in the Asian and African markets such as Korea, Japan, Laos, China... have met and discussed with market management forces and proposed coordination in the work of preventing counterfeit goods, fraud, and commercial smuggling.
With China, in 2023, the Ministry of Market Supervision of China, an agency under the Government, requested the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Market Supervision of China, and Minister Nguyen Hong Dien went to China and directly signed.
Regarding the Lao market, over the past year, Laos has had many working sessions with Vietnam to propose strengthening coordination in preventing and combating counterfeit goods and trade fraud at the border.
As for Korea and Japan, goods from these two countries are popular in the Vietnamese market. The intellectual property protection agencies of Korea and Japan have a very close relationship with the General Department of Market Management and have signed cooperation agreements with the General Department in the past 2 years.
Currently, businesses are very concerned about fighting against counterfeit Korean and Japanese goods in the domestic market. Therefore, I suggest that foreign brands distributed in Vietnam need to respond and publicize their official distribution channels, stores, and purchasing methods to protect the interests of consumers and genuine goods in the Vietnamese market.
From December 18 to 22, 2024, a working delegation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade led by Minister Nguyen Hong Dien visited and worked in Japan. During the working trip, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien attended and co-chaired the 7th meeting of the Vietnam - Japan Joint Committee on Industry, Trade and Energy Cooperation; chaired the Asia - Africa Regional Trade Counselor Conference... Accompanying Minister Nguyen Hong Dien on his working trip to Japan were Deputy Minister Phan Thi Thang and leaders of departments, offices and functional units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade: Department of Asia - Africa Market, General Department of Market Management, Department of Industry, Department of Trade Promotion, Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, Department of Import and Export, Department of Trade Defense, Department of Organization and Personnel, Department of Planning and Finance, Ministry Office, Office of the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee for International Economic Integration, Institute of Mechanical Research, Institute of Strategy and Policy Research on Industry and Trade, Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Industry and Trade Newspaper... Besides the 7th Meeting of the Vietnam - Japan Joint Committee and the Asia - Africa Trade Counselors Conference, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien and members of the Ministry of Industry and Trade delegation will have activities to exchange, meet and interact on the sidelines with partners in Japan... |
Source: https://congthuong.vn/hang-loat-de-xuat-giup-mo-rong-thi-truong-xuat-khau-tao-the-va-luc-dua-dat-nuoc-vuon-minh-365169.html
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