JETRO, ITPC, the HCM City Centre of Supporting Industries Development, and Reed Tradex Co., Ltd sign an agreement to organise the 2018 Supporting Industry Show in HCM City next October. — VNS Photo

HCM City will continue to focus on developing supporting industries and targets to raise local content used in its four key industrial sectors and two traditional sectors to more than 65 per cent by 2020, according to the Investment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City.

The key sectors are mechanical engineering, electronics and IT, rubber and plastics, and food and foodstuff processing, while garment and textile and footwear are the traditional sectors.

Speaking at a ceremony related to the organisation of an exhibition on supporting industries in HCM City yesterday, the ITPC’s deputy director, Cao Thi Phi Van, admitted supporting industries have not developed much in the city.

Most Vietnamese companies in the sector are small or medium-sized and cannot afford to invest in modern technologies, she said.

Luu Hoang Long, chairman of the Viet Nam Electronic Industries Association, quoted data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade to say there are 661 enterprises in the sector.

“But the number of local enterprises in the electronics supporting industry supplying foreign-invested firms is low due to their internal constraints and lack of understanding between the two sides.”

Establishing links between the two is vital, he said.

Takimoto Koji, chief representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) in HCM City, said the local procurement ratio for Japanese companies in Viet Nam was 32 per cent last year, much lower than in China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, or Malaysia.

JETRO has organised many business-matching events, exhibitions and others to boost co-operation between Vietnamese and Japanese firms in supporting industries, he said.

Yesterday JETRO, the ITPC, the HCM City Centre for Supporting Industries Development (CSID), and Reed Tradex Co signed an agreement to jointly organise the “2018 Supporting Industry Show” in the city next October.

Suttisak Wilanan, deputy managing director of Reed Tradex, said: “This alliance will enable the transfer of new technologies and expansion of business networks between Japanese and Vietnamese businesses, which are vital to sharpen the competitive edge of supporting industries.”

The expo will be held simultaneously with Metalex Vietnam, an international exhibition on machine tools and metalworking solutions, and Nepcon Vietnam 2018, an international exhibition on SMT, Testing Technologies, Equipment and Supporting Industries for Electronics Manufacturing, at the Sai Gon Exhibition and Convention Centre from October 11 to 13.— VNS