On August 2, at Furama Resort Danang, the Department of Trade Promotion (Ministry of Industry and Trade) and the People’s Committee of Danang City organized the Danang Trade Connection and Export Promotion Conference 2024.
More than 250 delegates attended the conference directly, and many others participated online. The participants included representatives from diplomatic and consular agencies of foreign countries in Vietnam; foreign trade promotion organizations in Vietnam, the Department of Industry and Trade of the southern provinces of Central Laos, … enterprises, and foreign distributors in Vietnam; Vietnamese trade offices in China, Japan, the Russian Federation, Indonesia, and business associations; domestic and foreign business associations; enterprises in Danang City; enterprises in the fields of production, export, distribution, and logistics from the Central – Highlands regions.
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Mr. Tran Chi Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Danang City People’s Committee, informed the domestic and international delegates about Danang’s position and potential. Danang is one of the five centrally-controlled municipalities, holding a crucial position in the Central – Highlands regions’ political, economic, cultural, social, and national defense and security affairs. It also serves as an essential gateway to the sea for the Central – Highlands regions and the countries of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar, connecting to Northeast Asian countries through the East-West Economic Corridor.
Although Danang is not extensive, it has geographical advantages, a high-quality workforce, well-developed infrastructure, and interconnected transportation systems. It is also one of the few localities with an international seaport and airport and is located along the country’s vital routes, facilitating the city’s economic development, trade, services, and tourism.
The Political Bureau’s Resolution 43-NQ/TW on constructing and developing Danang City by 2030, with a vision towards 2045, and, most recently, the National Assembly’s Resolution 136-NQ/TW dated June 26, 2024, on organizing urban governance and piloting some specific mechanisms and policies for Danang’s development, are strategic policies. These resolutions set out orientations to build and develop Danang into one of the country’s and Southeast Asia’s major economic and social centers in the long term. It will be a coastal city and an international maritime urban area, serving as the nucleus of the urban chain and the growth pole of the Central – Highlands key economic region. The resolutions also aim to establish a pilot free trade area and an international financial center on a regional scale and a regional logistics hub.
Accordingly, Danang aims to form a logistics service supply chain in the Central region, acting as a gateway for cargo receiving and transportation with localities and countries in the region and internationally.
With these advantages, Danang has much potential and strength in attracting investment, developing production, and exporting various products, including mechanics, electricity, electronics, seafood, textiles and garments, handicrafts and wooden products, building materials – rubber – plastics, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment; auxiliary industry products for the aerospace industry, processing and manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and agricultural products.
Mr. Cuong shared that the trade and service sector is a bright spot, contributing positively to Danang’s overall economic growth. The city’s export and import activities show signs of recovery and improvement. It is estimated that in the first six months of 2024, the total two-way import and export turnover reached nearly $1.6 billion, an increase of 11.3% compared to the same period in 2023.
In 2024, with a target of an 8% increase in GRDP and a 6% rise in export turnover compared to 2023, Danang is striving to implement trade promotion activities and diversify support programs to help enterprises promote and consume products and expand consumption markets. The city is also developing policies to support enterprises, develop logistics services, create a favorable platform to attract import and export goods circulation in the city, boost domestic and foreign consumption, control prices, and stabilize the market.
Mr. Cuong also acknowledged that the global economic situation is still challenging, and market demand has not recovered strongly. Vietnamese enterprises, in general, and import-export enterprises, in particular, face difficulties in production and business and seeking partners and orders. Therefore, organizing trade connection activities and supporting enterprises in expanding markets and finding orders and partners is essential and meaningful in the current context.
“The Danang Trade Connection and Export Promotion Conference 2024 aims to effectively implement the Project ‘Promoting the Direct Participation of Vietnamese Enterprises in Foreign Distribution Networks by 2030’ and the Action Program to implement the ‘Strategy for Import and Export of Goods until 2030’ by the Prime Minister,” said Mr. Cuong.
He believes that with the coordination of the Trade Promotion Department, the European-American Market Department, the active support of Vietnamese trade offices abroad, trade promotion agencies, and the response of diplomatic agencies, international organizations, and the business community, enterprises will effectively connect with domestic and foreign partners. This will create a driving force to promote production and import and export business activities.
Delivering the conference’s keynote speech, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Department, said that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has directed its units to cooperate closely with relevant agencies, organizations, and enterprises. They aim to expand both traditional and modern distribution channels, focusing on exploiting online channels and e-commerce for Vietnamese goods in the domestic and international markets.
Besides, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is also actively promoting and diversifying export markets for Vietnamese products with the strong involvement of the Vietnamese trade office system worldwide.
In the coming time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will continue to accompany localities, especially Danang City, to promote export and trade promotion activities and trade connections. These efforts will help resolve difficulties for producers and exporters in the context of complex developments in the domestic and international consumption markets. As a result, it will support the consumption of the city’s key products in the domestic and international markets.
At the conference, enterprises were informed about the European and American markets and recommendations for enterprises; the potential market for agricultural, aquatic, and food products in China; the advantages, difficulties, and cooperation prospects between Vietnamese and Russian enterprises; aspects of business start-ups in Russia; potential opportunities and some notes when exporting to Japan; information about the Indonesian market and business cooperation opportunities.
The delegates also exchanged and discussed issues related to distribution, import and export, and logistics of Danang.
Within the conference’s framework, there was an exhibition introducing export products of 90 enterprises from Danang and some localities in the Central – Highlands regions. There was also a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding on cooperation and export promotion between Danang enterprises and export enterprises and organizations regarding product supply and service exchange.
