Workers make high heels at a factory of Tich Hanh Footwear Co., Ltd in Binh Tan District in HCM City. The city is implementing several trade promotional activities to tap into Myanmar market. — Photo nld.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — HCM City is implementing several trade promotional activities in Myanmar to help its enterprises effectively tap into potential markets, the Vietnam Economic Times reported.

The Viet Nam-Myanmar Trade, Service and Tourism Exhibition 2015 (HCM City Expo 2015), one of the crucial trade promotional activities, is ongoing in Yangon city and some 80 leading Vietnamese enterprises involved in sectors such as processed food, household utensils, garment, textiles, as well as electronics and interior decorations are participating.

Vice Chairperson of HCM City People's Committee Nguyen Thi Hong said the annual expo, which will conclude on Sunday, was an effective bridge that connects Vietnamese enterprises and Myanmar customers and can help enterprises in the two countries seek new business opportunities and partners as well as exchange information.

In an effort to explore the Myanmar market, Hong, along with a business delegation, worked closely with several agencies in Mandalay city and visited some supermarkets and wholesale markets in the city.

Pho Nam Phuong, director of the municipal Investment and Trade Promotion Centre, noted that Vietnamese firms had increased their exports to Myanmar. Apart from exporting home appliances, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, construction materials, and machinery and equipment, enterprises had also accelerated the export of services, especially in the IT sector.

"Most of the firms have pointed out that despite its huge potential, Myanmar remains a challenging market as Vietnamese goods have to compete with locally-made goods and those from many other Asian countries," Phuong said.

If Vietnamese firms want to succeed in Myanmar, they should focus on product quality rather than selling prices. Proper investment in product designs to advertise their trademarks in a better way also deserved attention, he said.

Nguyen Van My, chairman of Lua Viet Tours Co, said due to the disadvantage of distance compared to China and Thailand, Vietnamese firms could compete only by making investments in production in Myanmar.

Telecom, wood processing, food, tourism, and construction were some of the sectors that Vietnamese firms should focus on, he said, adding that there were not many restaurants in that country, while tourism and IT services were pretty much in short supply. — VNS