Japanese firm to help improve acerola breeding in Vietnam

Nichirei Corp. will establish a research farm for acerola, a fruit rich in vitamin C, in southern Vietnam by April 2012 to help increase local supplies to beverage producers.

The research farm will be set up in Tien Giang province and run by a joint venture between Nichirei, which owns an 83 percent stake, and a local business, the Japanese daily Nikkei reported, adding that the Japanese firm will invest 40-50 million JPY (521,000-651,000 USD)in the project, including the capital for the joint venture.

Efforts will be beefed up at 1.2 hectare farm to increase acerola's vitamin C content. Seedlings will be supplied to farmers that grow the fruit on Nichirei's behalf, together with cultivation instructions.

To meet the growing Japanese and European demands for the fruit used in drinking, Nichirei aims to help turn Vietnam into a big acerola producer on a par with Brazil. It plans to double its yearly purchases of acerola ingredients in Vietnam to 10,000 tonnes by fiscal 2015.

According to Nikkei, Nichirei Corp. is the world's top acerola ingredient supplier. It aims to boost sales to 5 billion JPY by fiscal 2015, up 40 percent from fiscal 2010.

Concrete vessel launched

Bach Dang Shipbuilding Industry Corporation in Hai Phong on September 20 launched a 14,600-tonne concrete vessel built for Nghi Son Cement Corporation.

The vessel is 139.8m long, 25m wide, 11m high. It has a speed of 14.5 nautical miles per hour. Its technical system was designed by Japan's AZ Company.

Vietnam promotes tourism in Russia

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia on Sept. 22 hosted a ceremony to promote Vietnam ’s tourist industry in the country.

Attending the ceremony were the heads of the ministry, the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism and the Russian Federal Tourism Agency (RFTA) along with representatives from 145 Vietnamese and Russian travel agencies.

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh highlighted the strengths of Vietnam ’ tourist industry. He said almost 83,000 Russian holiday-makers arrived in Vietnam last year, up 50 per cent over the previous year.

The Minister expressed the hope that the number of Russian visitors to Vietnam and that of Vietnamese tourists to Russia will increase in the future. He added this would contribute to further developing the traditional friendship, mutual-benefit cooperation and comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Deputy Head of RFTA Grigory Sarishvili said Vietnam ’s beautiful landscape, hospitality, tasty food and low-priced services have made it more popular among Russian visitors.

During the ceremony, participants also saw two films on popular sites in Vietnam.

ASEAN speeds up energy connectivity

The 29 th ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM 29) opened in Jerudong, Brunei, on Sept. 21, discussing important issues relating to policies, regulations and business opportunities in the energy sector to boost ASEAN connectivity and build the ASEAN Community in 2015.

AMEM 29, the first energy meeting since the Overall Plan on ASEAN Connectivity was adopted, drew the participation of ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan and representatives from 10 ASEAN countries and dialogue partners, and international organisations.

In his opening speech, Brunei’s Energy Minister Mohammad Yasmin Umar, the Chair of AMEM 29, affirmed that the meeting offered a “golden opportunity” for all ASEAN members, dialogue partners, international organisations and the energy business community to speed up ASEAN energy connectivity.

He stressed that ASEAN has a demand for boosting infrastructure connectivity to open up new market opportunities and strengthen energy security, as well as speed up regional connectivity projects in the energy, oil and gas sectors, creating favourable conditions for energy trade, investment and services and enhancing cooperation with partners to strongly foster “East Asian energy connectivity”.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan highlighted the importance of efforts by the bloc’s energy sector to develop cooperative opportunities and attract the participation of partners and the business community in implementing the Overall Plan on ASEAN Connectivity, the ASEAN Plus Three Comprehensive Strategy on Food Security and Bio-Energy Development (APTCS-FSBD) and the Strategic Plan of Action on Food and Energy Security (SPA-FES).

ASEAN energy ministers agreed on common goals for the region as they worked towards increasing the proportion of renewable energy resources and new energy technologies, to ensure ASEAN’s sustainable recovery and growth, and cope with increasing energy challenges.

They said that ASEAN should build emergency oil reserve stores to deal with possible interrupted supplies while strengthening regional cooperation in clean energy production, which contributes to global energy dialogue, and providing statistical research and analyses and necessary recommendations in order to build a coordinated, concentrated, strong, effective and strategic energy programme for ASEAN.

According to the ASEAN Council on Petroleum (ASCOPE), ASEAN is expected to emerge as a net importing region in the next five years and it requires a stronger cooperation between ASEAN member countries and their partners to facilitate oil and gas trading and marketing activities in the region.

ASCOPE also said that the region’s two leading energy connectivity projects, namely the “ASEAN Power Grid” (APG) and the “Trans-ASEAN Gas Pipeline” (TAGP), will help strengthen regional energy security.

On the sidelines of AMEM 29, ASEAN and the International Energy Agency (IEA) signed a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation.

Vietnam seeks business partners in UK

A workshop on promotion of trade and investment in Vietnam was held in the UK port city of Liverpool on Sept. 20.

Representatives from Vietnam’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Industry and Trade and Planning and Investment talked about the economic situation, investment opportunities and environment in the country, which offers a stable society and political environment, with 50 per cent of its population in working ages.

Participants also heard reports from British firms which have been doing well in Vietnam, including Prudential, HSBC, Standard Chartered and Clarks.

According to statistics, half of Clarks’ footwear consumed in the UK was produced in Vietnam.

In addition, Vietnam’s national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines plans to open a direct air route from Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City to London from Dec. 9 this year. The route is expected to facilitate the development of trade, investment, tourism, education and training between Vietnam and the UK.

At the workshop, Peter Thompson, trade advisor of the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) for northwest region, said that Vietnam is a potential and rapid developing market.

He noted that after the two countries signed a declaration on strategic partnership in 2010, bilateral trade turnover increased markedly and the UK has become Vietnam’s second largest trade partner in the EU.

Vietnam exports mainly footwear, garment and textile, wood products, agro-fisheries products to the UK and imports machinery, medical and pharmaceutical products from the country.

In the first seven months of the year, Vietnam earned $1.3 billion from exports to the UK and spent $315 million on imports of goods from the latter.

Vietnam seeks proper price regulations for petrol

Vietnam's petroleum pricing system was the main issue during a recent meeting between government officials and big oil companies.

Nguyen Loc An, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's (MoIT) Domestic Market Department criticised the Ministry of Finance's (MoF) decision to lower petroleum prices this August.

According to An, the price cut makes no sense.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu said the MoF’s petrol price management is based solely on public opinion, and does not take into account the need for a stable petroleum supply.

“The recent regulations on petrol prices was a combination of a market and subsidy mechanism. The MoF did not define its goal of ensuring national energy security or subsidising petrol prices. Also, it failed to address the matter of compensating petrol firms for their losses. If this continues, it could pose a threat to the stability of the nation's fuel supply," Tu warned.

Bui Ngoc Bao, general director of the state-owned Vietnam National Petroleum Corp (Petrolimex), agreed, suggesting that the MoF compensate petroleum firms for their losses, because they joined the government’s petrol price stabilisation programme.

He said that by the end of August, Petrolimex had mounted up losses of VND1.8 trillion ($86.4 million). They expect to lose VND200 billion ($9.6 million) in September, which would increase the total loss for the year so far to around VND2 trillion ($90 million).

Le Xuan Trinh, deputy general director of PetroVietnam Oil Corp (PV Oil) proposed the MoF to float petrol prices on the world market.

Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue said, “From now to the end of the year, there would be no rise in petrol prices. The government will apply measures to stabilise the domestic market, which would include compensation for companies who have lost money."

According to Hue, there have been several cases where oil companies claim losses, even while making profits.

“When the MoF required a gasoline price cut of VND500 in late August this year, Petrolimex was making a profit of VND780 per litre but still complained about that it was losing money. The whole thing was fake,” he emphasised.

According to Hue, since the recent petrol price cut, the MoF has yet to receive any proposals from petrol firms on the verge of going out of business.

“If any petrol firms find their businesses unprofitable we will allow them to cease operations, the government will approve. However they should not make any threats,” he noted.

He shared that now is not the right time for the country to float petrol prices, because the world market is unstable.

Many experts at the meeting were of the mindset that petrol price regulations should take into account both petrol firms and the income of the population. They said that it was not practical to compare prices in Vietnam with those of Singapore or Thailand.

Hue said that any decisions should take into account the interests of the nation, as a price rise could further drive up inflation.

He concluded that the government was responsible for making management policies, while petrol firms had a responsibility to provide accurate information. “Price hikes are only applied when they are unavoidable,” he noted.

The MoF plans to require firms to make detailed reports of their profits and losses since the beginning of the year, especially for the period of January and August 25 when the ministry demanded a price cut. The results will be used to calculate petrol firms' contribution to the price stabilisation fund.

Savers flee small banks over interest cap
 
The deposit interest rate cap of 14 per cent imposed last month is causing small banks to lose customers, who are moving to the security of the bigger banks.

Small banks used to offer higher interest rates to compete with their larger cousins but the cap has removed their advantage.

Small banks are now having difficulty holding on to their existing customers, let alone attracting new depositors. Some, including ABBank and Western Bank, offered a higher daily rate on savings account instead of term deposits.

Viet Nam Investment Bank chairman Han Ngoc Vu said depositors had withdrawn VND1 trillion (US$48 million) from the bank and that if the withdrawal continued, it would be unbearable for the banking system.

Phuong Nam Bank deputy general director Phan Cong Khoa reported VND200 billion ($9.6 million) had been withdrawn from the bank for the past few days.

Khoa said the rate cap had put a lot of pressure on small banks.

Meanwhile, for the 12 big banks, accounting for 80 per cent of the country's market share, it is business as usual.

A Maritime Bank staff member said its capital level remained unchanged.

Many people are waiting to see what happens and are fixing their deposits for a week while big investors are pouring capital into stocks, gold, foreign currency and real estate.

Gold sales at the likes of Sai Gon Jewellery Holding Company (SJC), Phu Nhuan Jewellery (PNJ) and Sacombank Jewellery Company Ltd (SBJ) increased last week as the gold price climbed to VND47 million ($2,300) per ounce.

PNJ deputy general director Nguyen Thi Cuc said the amount of gold purchased in the last three days had increased sharply because the price was seen as suitable.

Cuc said a part of people's saving accounts had been moved to gold investment after the loan interest rate was cut.

Sharing the ideas, general director of Southeast Bank Tran Phuong Binh said deposits in banks had decreased by several billion Vietnamese dong a day as customers moved to gold.

Vice chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Commission Le Xuan Nghia said the move was unavoidable, adding that several people withdrawn their money to buy gold and US dollars.

"Small banks should borrow capital from others and report their business situation to the SBV to be refinanced," Nghia said.

The interest rate cap was expected to lower lending rates and thus ease pressure on businesses.

However, experts said financial institutions had to prepare for a mass withdrawal of deposits into other investment channels.

Meanwhile, the central bank last week announced a list of seven banks offering interest rates above the cap and called on leaders of these banks to resolve the violations.

Ha Noi sees sluggish industrial production growth in the first nine months

The capital experienced sluggish industrial production growth of 3.9 per cent this month in comparison with the previous month, according the city's Department of Industry and Trade.

In the first nine months of the year, the figure is estimated to have increased 12.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. Of this, State-owned enterprises saw growth of 7.5 per cent, the private sector was up 11.2 per cent, and foreign direct enterprises rose 16.4 per cent.

Trinh Thi Ngan, head of the Industrial Management Division under the department, said that inflation was blamed for a reduction in consumption by domestic consumers, which, in turn, impacted adversely on domestic investment motivation.

She also said that many producers were facing difficulties due to enormous stockpiles, costly input materials and high interest rates, while businesses were unable to access bank loans.

In September, Ha Noi's Index of Industry Products rose by 3.6 per cent compared with the same period last year.

In the first nine months of 2011, the index is estimated to surge 7.98 per cent.

Petrol pricing set to be inspected
 
The Ministry of Finance has set up three teams to audit pricing practices of the country's four leading petroleum distributors, Petrolimex, PetroVietnam Oil Corporation, Sai Gon Petro Co Ltd and Dong Thap Petroleum Trading Co Ltd (Petimex).

Teams will audit prices set by these distributors between January 1 and September 15, 2011, relative to their expenses and trading volumes, the ministry said.

The ministry is also taking a close look at disbursements from the Petrol Price Stabilisation Fund as of mid-September.

At a meeting held by the ministry on Tuesday, Bui Ngoc Bao, general director of the leading petrol distributor Petrolimex – which accounts for 60 per cent of total domestic market shares – said his corporation had suffered an enormous loss of VND1.8 trillion (US$86.5 million) in the first nine months of the year.

Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue questioned this, however. Even though petrol prices had been reduced by VND500 per litre on August 26, petrol distributors were still enjoying a profit margin of VND780 per litre, according to computations by the General Department of Customs – in addition to the fixed profit of VND300 allowed by the Government.

Bao held a press conference on Wednesday to try to clarify the discrepancies.

The ministry's varying calculations were based on the "temporary price" which petrol importers have to declare to the General Department of Customs, which was not the final price paid, he said.

Contracts signed with foreign petrol suppliers were also based on futures markets, highly vulnerable to fluctuations in global oil prices, Bao added. Foreign exchange fluctuations also added a risk factor, since actual payments for fuel imports were conducted a month after the purchases. Meanwhile, imported petrol had to be sold at fixed prices set by the Ministry of Finance.

Prior to the August 26 petrol price reduction, he said, the cost of A95 petrol was VND21,858 per litre while the retail price was VND21,800, resulting in losses of VND58 per litre. However, Petrolimex was earning VND219 per litre on the more popular A92 petrol and VND289 per litre of diesel. After price reduction, Petrolimex began to lose VND412 per litre on A95 petrol and VND135 per litre on A92 while continuing to earn a small margin on diesel.

As petrol distributors suffered losses against the ministry's aim to stabilise the domestic market, there was no price competition among the 11 petrol distributors nationwide, puting consumers at a disadvantage, Bao added.

Liverpool conference pushes VN business

A conference on doing business in Viet Nam was held in the British port city of Liverpool on Wednesday.

The conference, organised by the Vietnamese Embassy in the UK, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and UKTI Northwest drew the participation of representatives from British companies in the region and experts from Viet Nam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT).

Peter Thompson, International Trade Adviser of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) Northwest said that Viet Nam was a high growth market that provided potential opportunities for investors.

Since the governments of Viet Nam and the UK signed a joint declaration to establish a strategic partnership to elevate bilateral ties in September 2010, "growth in two-way trade was quite significant and further opportunities do exist in Viet Nam," said Peter Thompson.

"That's the reason I'm organising a trade mission to Viet Nam early next year to explore investment opportunities there.

"I am bringing a group of British companies, either manufacturers or service providers, to come to explore what opportunities there are for UK businesses in Viet Nam. I anticipate that we should have between 15 to 20 businesses in the delegation. We hope to find suitable partners, customers and suppliers for those UK businesses from Viet Nam's business community. We will be going to visit HCM City and Ha Noi and we hope to have a meeting with government officials in Ha Noi."

The conference heard about investment opportunities in Viet Nam from Vu Xuan Truong, director of MoFA's Department of Economic Affairs, and Ta Hoang Linh, Deputy Director of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency.

Success stories of British companies doing business in Viet Nam were also highlighted at the conference. They included Prudential, HSBC, Standard Chartered and footwear maker Clarks, which makes 55 per cent of all the footwear it sell in the UK at factories in Viet Nam.

Viet Nam's national carrier, Vietnam Airlines, also informed the conference that it was going to launch direct flights from Ha Noi and HCM City to London starting on December 9, 2011 and this was expected to boost tourism, trade and people-to-people links between the two countries.

Bilateral trade between the UK and Viet Nam has grown strongly in recent years with the UK now being Viet Nam's second largest trading partner in the European Union. British companies buy cloth and textile, footwear, wooden furniture, coffee, cocoa and other agricultural products from Viet Nam while they were selling medical and pharmaceutical products, power-generating machinery and equipment and professional and scientific instruments to the Vietnamese market.

Viet Nam exported goods worth more than US$1.3 billion to the UK and imported $315 million in goods from Britain during the first seven months of this year, according to the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency.

Da Nang urged to upgrade poor logistics infrastructure
 
Da Nang, the coastal city that serves as the major entrance to trade in the central region, must develop its logistics sector to take advantage of its trade potential, experts have said.

Lu Bang, deputy director of Da Nang's Department of Industry and Trade, said the city should consider seaport services to be one of its key economic sectors.

Da Nang could be the major entrepot for the central region since it is the final roadway on the East-West economic corridor that extends through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Viet Nam.

"Domestic and international trade in the city is very active, and logistics should be developed to meet demand," Bang said.

Dr Le Van Bay, a logistics researcher, said modern logistics services and infrastructure would enhance trade and tourism and help attract more investment in industrial parks.

Da Nang also needed new policies that would enhance the quality of human resources and fair trade, he added.

Bay said the total volume of goods via ports of Da Nang last year was 3.3 million tonnes, equal to 89,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit).

The city has 10 wharves with a capacity of 5,000DWT to 45,000DWT and a total warehousing capacity of 299,000sq.m.

The city is also conducting four projects on port development and logistics services that include the construction of Son Tra Port, expansion of Tien Sa Port, construction of a 20ha logistics centre and a modern container handling port. The total cost is VND1.5 trillion (US$71 million).

Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, deputy director of the multilateral trade policies department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said Vietnamese logistics was lagging behind other countries in the region.

Thuy, who is also director of the EU-Viet Nam Multilateral Trade Assistance Project (MUTRAP III), said logistics was 15-20 per cent of the country's GDP last year, which was almost double that of Singapore, where logistics took up only 8-9 per cent of GDP.

She urged localities like Da Nang to develop a strong logistics sector.

MUTRAP III and the city Department of Industry and Trade held a conference yesterday with local authorities and businesspeople to increase awareness on the importance of logistics.

Waste-treatment tech on show at capital seminar

The National Agency for Science and Technology Information and Korea's Tae-Rim Construction Co held a seminar in Ha Noi yesterday on advanced technologies for treating wastewater and garbage.

The teleconference, which included delegates from Da Nang and HCM City, showcased the controlled air incinerator and plasma melting system made by South Korea-based Young Engineering Co.

The technology could treat all combustible wastes including municipal solid wastes, industrial wastes, hazardous wastes and bio-medical wastes, Hong Young Ki, director of Young Engineering, said.

Though the installation cost for the technology was around 20 per cent higher than a stoker incinerator, it minimised secondary pollutants like dioxin, could treat sludge and food waste and waste of heating value as low as 1,500-9,000kcal/kg, and offered lower operating costs.

S.Korea-based BCO Co introduced its anaerobic baffled-reactor process and non-point pollution sources (or swirl screen) for sewage and wastewater treatment.

"Wastewater and garbage are not new problems but urgent matters for developing Viet Nam," Ta Ba Hung, general director of NASATI, said.

NASATI has organised several events to help companies, research institutes, and universities get access to waste-treatment technologies from Israel, Sweden, and Switzerland.

Ha Noi attracts more investment

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flew into the capital city during the first nine months of this year, tripling last year figure for the same period to US$999.6 million, according to the municipal Statistics Office.

Of the total, $494 million came from 190 newly licensed projects while the remaining capital came from 49 existing ones, raising levels of investment capital, the office said in its socio-economic report for September.

The most significant new project was a $322 million Yen So sewage treatment plant, developed by the Gamuda Land Viet Nam Company.

Ha Noi expected to attract 455 foreign-invested, valued at $1.5 billion by the year-end, up 76 per cent year-on-year and including 390 newly licensed projects worth $760 million and 65 existing ones registering to scale up charter capital with a total of $740 million.

The city's foreign-invested sector posted its highest industrial production growth rate at 16.4 per cent in the first nine months, followed by the non State-owned sector, 11.2 per cent and the State-owned sector, 7.5 per cent.

Reforms urged for intellectual capital

Viet Nam's Intellectual Property Law needs improving to ensure its consistency, transparency and feasibility as well as to match real situations and international norms, experts say.

At a workshop yesterday, held by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, comments targeted the law's regulations relating to patents, trademarks, industrial designs and authors' rights.

Pham Associates lawyer Duong Tu Giang said the law covered too many fields that were not relevant to each other while law enforcement and public awareness about intellectual property rights were still limited.

He recommended that a court specialising in intellectual property be set up because under the present situation cumbersome administrative procedures were proving major obstacles for claimants.

He said that in cases where a product patent had been granted in another country, the Viet Nam authority should set a different fee level to that applied to a patent granted locally.

Under the current law, the same patent fee is imposed for both Vietnamese and foreign applicants. However, Giang proposed that different fee levels should be imposed, depending on the foreign company's scale or the production of its country.

This would ensure the reasonableness of the fee, because if it was suitable for domestic authors but low for foreign ones, less money would be added to the State budget while if it was suitable to foreigners it would be too expensive for Vietnamese.

Giang also proposed to omit the regulation which said foreign lawyers could not provide an industrial-ownership-representing service in Viet Nam because the country was committed to the principle of "National Treatment" by joining the WTO.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, from Investip Company, said the law did not mention intangible assets, such as smell, taste or celebrities' names, nicknames and fame.

He also said the regulated time for enterprises to submit their complaint was not consistent, three months and 90 days were not the same.

Doan Hong Son, director of IP-MAX Law Ltd Co, said that under the law, holders of intellectual property rights could use technical measures to avoid violations of their asset but the move also prevented subjects from accessing the products, especially under the principle "fair use" under copyright law.

So a mechanism was needed for the sake of both holders and subjects, Son said. For example, the subjects who wanted to use a product had to ask for a favour from the holder(s) and the holder(s) had an obligation to facilitate the access.

Vu Hai Yen from Ha Noi Law University said the law allowed the copying of products for the purposes of study and inclusion in a library but did not have any regulations about the copying for entertainment or for individuals.

Moreover, the definitions of author and co-author also needed to be clarified in the law because it mentioned copyright owners but in many cases the author and the copyright owner were not the same.

Export growth dependent on better product quality, additional markets

Local companies must seek new export markets and improve product quality to improve overall export growth, experts recommended at a seminar held in HCM City yesterday.

Co-organised by the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV), the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the seminar was held to assess the current export situation in the country and propose measures to boost export in the coming time.

Pham Quang Tung, deputy general director of BIDV, said despite facing many difficulties, the country had achieved positive growth in exports in the first eight months of the year.

Exports reached an estimated US$60.8 billion, up 33.7 per cent over the same period last year, and exports of many products, including agricultural, forestry and fishery, had increased strongly.

However, the country mainly exports raw and pre-processed products with low added value.

The number of exports of products made with high technology was much lower than that of China and other ASEAN countries.

Higher export growth of the past was mainly due to higher prices, he added.

Delegates at the meeting agreed that multiple challenges lie ahead for the export sector because of import barriers set by other countries and competition among other exporters in price and quality.

Do Thang Hai, director of the MIT's Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency, said that the crisis in Egypt and the EU would continue to affect the rest of the world, including Viet Nam.

Some importing countries have been inclined to increase applications of new trade barriers, while large import markets had increasingly required higher product quality and adherence to food safety and environmental regulations, Hai said.

They also agreed that Vietnamese products' competitive advantage of low prices would gradually disappear because exporters in other countries had also focused more on cutting prices to raise competitiveness.

In addition, the current high interest rates and difficulties in accessing capital from banks have caused difficulties for businesses to develop, Uong Tien Thinh, executive director of the Viet Nam Garment and Textile Group, said.

Hai said in the current situation enterprises should look to new markets, especially in eastern, western and southern Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

"Companies should also take advantage of free trade agreements and preferential tariffs under the ASEAN Free Trade Area to boost exports, especially to China and Japan," he said.

He also suggested that companies strengthen market research and forecasting so they can make products that meet consumer demand and improve product quality to avoid export risks.

"Despite financial difficulties, local firms should invest more in trade promotion programmes to market their products in other countries," he said.

Vu Tien Loc, VCCI chairman, said the country should work to raise competitiveness of the economy and enterprises.

"The period of boosting exports at any cost has ended," he said. "We must think of exporting high value-added products or advanced processed goods."

Hai said the MIT had submitted to the Government an export strategy until 2020, with a focus on reducing exports of raw products while raising exports of high value-added ones.

The country also plans to pay more attention to developing its support industry and to set up Vietnamese trade promotion offices in provinces of China and other countries to provide market information for Vietnamese firms, he said.

Enterprises at the meeting called on the Government to have a long-term, stable macro-economic policy and a suitable foreign exchange policy that would facilitate their operations.

PV