The Viet Nam Industry Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, officially launched the Viet Nam Supplier Development Programme (SDP) in Ha Noi on Thursday.

This programme is aimed at helping Vietnamese companies become suppliers for multinational enterprises, while enabling existing suppliers to expand their business and share of added value.

Recently, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have implemented a number of large investment projects in Viet Nam, providing opportunities to expand domestic supply to these companies. One of the obstacles, however, is the lack of suppliers in the country meeting global standard requirements.

Given the scenario, the two-year SDP aims to help domestic suppliers meet the requirements of MNEs including quality, price and delivery throughout the value chain in targeted sectors. Subsequently, these firms can be linked to MNEs to seek supply opportunities in the future.

MoIT’s deputy minister Do Thang Hai, said capacity building to establish new business links with MNEs is the first step to enhance the competitiveness of participating local firms. “The purpose of this programme is to move the local firms to the process of creating higher added value in the value chain so that they can produce more sophisticated products and become globally competitive,” he added.

Over the next two years, the programme will work with eight leading MNEs in the automotive, electronics, energy and household appliance sectors, such as Bosch, Canon, Datalogic, Denso, Ford, General Electric, Panasonic and Toyota.

The enterprises were chosen based on their interest in sourcing locally and assisting local companies in finding business opportunities. Some 45 local companies, who are wholly or largely Vietnamese-owned, have been selected to join the programme based on recommendations by participating multinationals and various business organisations.

“Large foreign direct investments into Viet Nam with operations of leading global firms have brought up opportunities to promote Viet Nam’s supporting industry and facilitate local producers’ increased participation in the global value chain,” said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC country manager for Viet Nam, Cambodia and Lao PDR.

Developed in close consultation with MNEs, the programme will assess the business performance and competitiveness of participating suppliers, identify areas for improvement and specific actions to build supply capabilities, and improve long-term competitiveness. In addition, the programme will strive to connect potential businesses with potential buyers effectively.

“We are happy to work with local companies which could compete with suppliers from other countries,” said Yamamoto, corporate planning director, Panasonic Viet Nam. “We expect this programme can help us get business with some potentially long-term partners and promote our local sourcing,” Yamamoto added. — VNS