The HCM City Department of Industry and Trade yesterday unveiled a master plan for the trading sector until 2025 which seeks to soon make the city a key regional hub.

Nguyen Quynh Trang, deputy director of the department, said the plan focused on four key areas: exports, logistics, trade fairs and exhibitions, and wholesale and retail.

The city plans to boost exports of items that are competitive and environment-friendly and have high added value and technological content to capitalise on opportunities brought by free trade agreements, she said.

Gradually developing distribution systems abroad for Vietnamese goods, especially in co-operation with Vietnamese communities living there, to sell Vietnamese products, is also part of the plan, she said.

In the wholesale and retail sectors, the city would encourage businesses to develop modern chains and food stores in outlying districts, industrial parks and export processing zones and new apartment buildings to get rid of unplanned markets, she said.

As for traditional markets, the city would not build any new ones, but would upgrade infrastructure and facilities such as parking lots, toilets, warehouses and others at existing markets and improve their service quality and management to ensure food hygiene and safety and clear origin of products and prices, she said.

Ha Ngoc Son, head of the department’s import and export management division, said the city had 239 markets, 168 of them basic or temporary ones, 207 supermarkets, 43 shopping malls, and 1,800 convenience stores.

The city plans to harmoniously develop its markets, supermarkets and shopping centres, he said.

Sales through modern retail channels are expected to account for at least 40 per cent of total sales by 2020 and 60 per cent a decade later, he said.

Through the zoning plan, the city hopes to develop a logistics network for inner-city distribution as well as transporting goods to other cities and provinces and foreign trade, he said.

The city would seek to develop the 3PL (Third Party Logistics) market to reduce production and transport costs, he said.

The city has only one exhibition and convention centre in District 7, and plans to expand it and also solicit investment to build one each in districts 2 and Nha Be, he said.

With the city playing an important role economically in the southern key economic region and the country, the master plan would enable it to capitalise on opportunities and overcome challenges, he said. — VNS