Thai Binh seeks market for rural industrial products

Artisan Pham Thi Ngan, Director of the Tay An Crafts Co., Ltd., said her company exported hundreds of thousands of products annually but mainly sold through third parties, curtailing its initiative in terms of order implementation and storage of raw materials for production. Tay An’s profits are modest since it mainly makes products according to the orders it gets from partners and it sells their products at a far lower price than the price paid by consumers. As a result, the Tay An name remains unknown to consumers, and the company needs assistance to attend trade fairs and exhibitions and look for direct importers, Ngan said.

The province-based Thien Thuan private enterprise sells corn peeling and grass cutting machines in northern provinces. The company is seeking to sell products in the southern market but facing difficulties, as its brand remains unfamiliar to consumers there.

Attempting to ease the problems, in recent years, Thai Binh Province has given priority to market development for provincial products. In 2017 alone, the Trade Promotion Center of Thai Binh Province implemented 25 trade promotion projects/programs at a total cost of more than VND1.8 billion, including ones that enabled rural industrial enterprises to introduce products in trade fairs connecting supply and demand in Hanoi and Hung Yen and Nam Dinh provinces.

A center representative said trade fairs helped many provincial rural industrial products find markets and become familiar to consumers and distributors in different provinces and cities. However, current trade promotion programs just focus on participation in trade fairs and exhibitions and do not enable enterprises to survey markets, especially foreign ones. The center plans to take advantage of the support by Vietnamese trade counselors abroad and foreign promotion organizations in Vietnam to help businesses find partners and increase exports, he said.

Vu Hy Thieu, a member of the jury of the notable rural industrial product contest, said enterprises should invest in product design, use environmentally friendly materials and apply advanced technology to produce machinery, equipment and consumer goods. They should apply automation technology in product design and biotechnology in food processing to ensure food hygiene and safety.

Through trade promotion programs, Thai Binh Province annually assists many enterprises to participate in trade fairs and exhibitions, seek partners and expand markets.