Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - About 100 Vietnamese enterprises participated in anevent with Central Retail Vietnam and connected online with buyers in Thailandto take advantage of opportunities to export directly to the Thai marketwithout intermediaries.

CentralRetail Group in Vietnam, the owner of Big C and Go! supermarket system,organised a seminar to connect the consumption of Vietnamese products to thegroup’s retail chain on October 24.

The seminaris a part of a made-in-Vietnam goods week, which kicked off in Hanoion October 23 evening.

Thailand iscurrently Vietnam's largest trading partner in ASEAN. Therefore, the need tobring products into modern supermarkets as well as export to the Thai market isa great concern of Vietnamese businesses at this event.

In theopposite direction, purchasing officers of Central Retail in Thailand will alsofind high-quality Vietnamese goods sources to diversify products on its shelvesin Thailand as well as around the world.

Nguyen ThiPhuong, Deputy General Director of Central Retail Group in Vietnam, said thatthe turnover of Vietnamese goods exported through the Central Retail has alsoincreased significantly in recent years, from 46 million USD in 2016 to 205million USD last year.

This year,due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the group's buyers in Thailandcannot go directly to Vietnam to participate in the business matching event.Therefore, the group has deployed an online matching version.

“CentralRetail is one of the famous and prestigious retail groups in Thailand. Puttinggoods into Big C and Go! in Vietnam will open up great opportunities forbusinesses to access the Thai market,” said Phuong.

She saidthat Central Retail's products exported to Thailand are mainly non-foodproducts such as garments, footwear and bags. For agricultural products, thegroup has successfully exported products such as dried fruits, dragon fruits,sweet potatoes, and lychees to Thailand in the past three years.

Le Viet Nga,Deputy Director of the Domestic Market Department, under the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade, said that the introduction of modern distribution systemsin general and Central Retail in particular in the consumption of Vietnameseagricultural products and goods was a huge step for Vietnameseagricultural products to perfect the production process, market approach,packaging method as well as the way to advertise, keeping up withmodern trends.

From there,it had contributed to promoting the consumption of Vietnamese goods in thedomestic market, positioning the brand value of Vietnamese agriculturalproducts in the domestic market as well as raising the level of Vietnameseproducts in the international market, said Nga.

Inparticular, the online and offline business matching between Vietnamesebusinesses and the Central Retail purchasing department in Vietnam and Thailandwould contribute to bringing Vietnamese products to the group's distributionchannel in Vietnam, Thailand and around the world.

The CentralRetail Group in Vietnam in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry andTrade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the People'sCommittee of Hanoi launched the made-in-Vietnam goods week in Hanoi on October23 evening.

The eventhas 100 booths, displaying and introducing products including key Vietnamesecommodities such as coffee, tea, cashew, pepper, aquatic products, textiles,footwear and bags.

Deputy Ministerof Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that in addition to promoting thecampaign "Vietnamese people give priority to using Vietnamese goods",the programme also helped businesses overcome the impact of the COVID-19pandemic.

For thedomestic market, retail businesses such as Central Retail with a largedistribution system would be the most practical marketing and promotionchannel, and an effective channel for goods circulation, he added./.