Commercial overseas offices urged to promote trade

Tran Tuan Anh, deputy minister of Industry and Trade, said the ministry would take into consideration the opinions of participants and develop better ways for all parties to communicate.— VNS Photo

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese commercial counsellors abroad need to work more closely with organisations and localities in Viet Nam to promote trade, officials said at a meeting on Wednesday in HCM City.

Ho Quoc Dung, deputy chairman of central Binh Dinh Province's People's Committee, said information and forecasting was very important to local businesses.

Viet Nam's commercial offices and commercial counsellors abroad should establish an information channel to provide prompt information to local businesses, he said.

Localities also need the support of Viet Nam's commercial offices abroad to promote local products, give advise on legal issues in sale contracts and overseas investment, and verify foreign partners, he said.

Commercial counsellors said they lacked information about local businesses.

Dao Tran Nhan, Viet Nam's commercial counsellor in the US, said business partners in the US had often asked for more information about Viet Nam's exporters.

"We only have information of businesses listed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade," he said.

Municipal and provincial departments of Industry and Trade should ask local trade promotion centres to establish lists of reputable local businesses in each sector, he said.

Y Dham Enuol, deputy chairman of the Dak Lak Province People's Committee, said that local departments of Industry and Trade and commercial counsellors abroad should establish a formal connection so that information about foreign markets and technical barriers would be readily available.

Nguyen Thi Hong, deputy chairwoman of the HCM City People's Committee, said with the increase in technical barriers, Viet Nam's commercial offices abroad and local agencies should have the latest information to avoid commercial disputes with foreign partners.

Tran Tuan Anh, deputy minister of Industry and Trade, said the ministry would take into consideration the opinions of participants and develop better ways for all parties to communicate.

The country exported goods totally worth US$132 billion this year, up 15.4 per cent against last year, exceeding the National Assembly's target of 6.6 per cent, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. — VNS