Being creative to improve corporate management and approach international quality standards is one of the important factors that can help Vietnamese female entrepreneurs enhance their performance in selling farm produce.

According to the Vietnamese Consul General in Sydney Trinh Duc Hai, Vietnamese women have proven themselves to be creative and proactive – these characteristics are often shown by women in the agriculture and food sectors.

The female entrepreneur community is getting stronger, with 30 per cent of Vietnamese firms being led by women, Hai said at a forum on Monday.

The Vietnamese Government always provides the best support for female entrepreneurs as it eyes 50 per cent of all Vietnamese firms being owned by women by 2020, he added.

Truong Ly Hoang Phi, chairwoman of the HCM City Young Businessman Association, told the forum that many Vietnamese women have chosen the agriculture sector as the place to launch new businesses, and they need better access to the international community for improved experience, lessons and partnerships.

The comments were delivered at the Australia – Viet Nam Forum, which was co-organised by the Western Sydney University, the HCM City Economics University and the Australia-ASEAN Council in Sydney, Australia.

The five-day forum, which will end on Friday, is expected to help Vietnamese agriculture business leaders explore new methods of development to create new products that are competitive enough to enter overseas markets, especially those with strict requirements like Australia.

Business owners are also able to explore the Australian market and get an overview of requirements for their products. In addition, the forum will launch a special seminar on how businesswomen perform and manage their firms and balance between their professional and personal lives.

Barney Glover, vice chairman of the Western Sydney University, said that Australia is widely known as one of the highest-quality agriculture produce suppliers in the world.

With two-thirds of its agricultural exports being shipped to Asian markets, it is essential for the country to develop a selling network among them, Barney said.

As Viet Nam has risen as a potential market and there are plenty of similarities between Vietnamese and Australian agricultural products, improving the two sides’ trade relations is necessary, he added. — VNS