Sharing with the press on the evening of April 19, Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade, said that the export activities of businesses in the area are facing many difficulties, and the psychology of businesses is also affected by economic indicators and administrative reforms of the city.
Mr. Nguyen Khac Hieu, Deputy Head of the Import-Export Management Division (Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade), emphasized that the city’s export turnover in the first quarter of the year had the sharpest decline since 2000. Even during the period from 2008 to 2012, the city’s exports did not decline as much.
Meanwhile, data from the past until now have shown that whenever exports decline sharply in the first quarter, the full-year results are never optimistic.
“In this situation, without adequate preparation and appropriate solutions, just one or two adverse winds blowing through will overthrow us… The department’s leaders are always concerned on a daily basis, exchanging and calculating solutions to advise the city to support businesses, or at least show some gesture of concern and support for businesses”, Mr. Nguyen Nguyen Phuong shared.
Therefore, the department decided to coordinate with industry associations to organize the Ho Chi Minh City Export Forum and Exhibition for the first time this May with the purpose of discussing and finding long-term solutions to support the city’s export activities.
The event will have more than 250 booths from the key export industries of the city such as agriculture, textiles, leather and footwear, wood and handicrafts, food and beverages, seafood, electronics, mechanics, rubber and plastics, other export industries, and supporting services.
The state budget will directly support up to 50% of the booth participation cost, equivalent to VND 12 million/booth/business.
At the same time, during the forum and exhibition, businesses can directly exchange and listen to the needs of representatives from key export markets such as the US, Europe, Japan, and South Korea.
The exhibition is expected to attract about 8,000 visitors including international purchasing units from a variety of countries, supermarket systems, importers and retailers, and e-commerce platforms. For international purchasing units, Ho Chi Minh City will support air tickets, hotels, and transportation throughout their itinerary in Vietnam.
On the other hand, this is also the first official export fair that opens its doors to domestic consumers for visiting and shopping, thereby creating opportunities for businesses to assess the potential, domestic demand and consider appropriate strategies for the domestic market based on their existing strengths.
@Zing News
Source: Vietnam Insider