Trade promotion activities in the southern region this year have focused on monitoring start ups and promoting clean agricultural and industrial production, officials said at a conference on Thursday.

Training and enhancement of stakeholders’ managerial skills was another focus area, said Do Thi Minh Tram, deputy head of the Agency for Regional Industry Development (ARID).

The eighth annual conference on trade promotion in southern cities and provinces was organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), ARID and HCM City’s Department of Industry and Trade (DoIT).

It took note of numerous successes and discussed solutions to remaining problems.

The conference noted that a training workshop held recently had more than 730 participants gain insights into business management, quality control, accessing distribution networks, eCommerce and the use of technology in trade promotion.

The HCM City DoIT also reported a number of support activities for technology transfer, with 48 rural areas receiving modern machinery worth VND6.7 billion ($298,653) for use in agricultural production.

Several deficiencies were also highlighted at the meeting, including the low rate of disbursement of State capital at just 18.8 per cent of the annual target.

The provinces of Ba Ria – Vung Tau and Soc Trang have yet to begin the disbursement process, while others like Tay Ninh, Tien Giang and Hau Giang have only achieved one to six per cent of the yearly goal, the meeting heard.

Tram said trade promotion and industrial support for businesses in the region had seen certain setbacks with many officials not performing at maximum efficiency.

Tran Quoc Tuan, Director of the Tra Vinh Department of Industry and Trade, said trade promotion activities should focus more on supporting regional imperatives like facilitating agricultural production and distribution in the Mekong Delta.

Tuan said this can be done by changing several administrative procedures, improving cold storage equipment, water supply, input supply and upgrading production chains.

The need to use regional strengths in order to create a value chain between provinces and cities was emphasised at the conference. — VNS