Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Export Promotion Forum 2018 was held in Hanoi on April 24to seek solutions to boost the export of Vietnamese-branded products in a fastand sustainable manner.

Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Vietnam TradePromotion Agency (VIETRADE) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT),said the country’s export markets have been expanded with improved tradebalance over the past years. There has been an increase in the overseasshipments of processed and manufactured products, along with a decline in theexport of goods groups of natural resources and goods with low added value, hesaid.

In the context of deeper international economicintegration, Vietnam has actively negotiated and signed many free tradeagreements (FTAs), especially new-generation FTAs with major partners like theRepublic of Korea, the European Union (EU), and the Eurasian Economic Union,Phu said.

To exist and develop, he said, Vietnamese businessesneed to change their mindset and actively promote their production and businesscapacity in parallel with developing brand names and improving the quality of productsand export value to meet consumers’ increasing demand.

Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the MOIT’sImport-Export Department, said total export revenue exceeded 200 billion USDfor the first time in 2017, up 21.2 percent from a year earlier.

Hai said the recentexport growth has considerably contributed to the country’s GDP growth, paymentbalance improvement and macro-economic stability, adding that exports in 2018are forecast to continue the upward trend.

He said the MOIT encourages the export of somepotential commodities, including textiles and garments which have posted a relativelyrapid export growth rate. Businesses should step up exporting FOB(free-on-board), ODM (original design manufacturer) and OBM (original brandmanufacturer) products instead of CMT (cut, make and trim) garments like theydo at present so as to increase the value of export products and engage more inglobal production chains, the official suggested.

Hai also advised local companies to boost exportsto niche markets to avoid direct competition with big rivals.

The footwear industry is also facing the samesituation as the textile-garment industry when most of enterprises in thissector have just manufactured products to orders.

From January 2019, companies shipping footwearto the EU can certify their products’ origin by themselves, which is a good conditionfor stronger exports to this market and promises higher export turnover in theyears ahead, Hai noted.

Le Hoang Oanh, Director of the MOIT’s Departmentof Asian and African Markets, said the ministry has enhanced bilateral andmultilateral negotiations recently, but it is just the initial step helping toopen markets.

What businesses needto do is capitalising on preferential treatment under FTAs, she said, stressingthat local authorities should also help their enterprises to take part in tradefairs and improve product quality.-VNA