More efforts needed to increase use of local goods

Despite consumers increasingly placing their trust in products made in Vietnam, a number of barriers are holding local products back on the domestic market, heard a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on July 16.
Despite consumers increasingly placing their trust in products made inVietnam, a number of barriers are holding local products back on thedomestic market, heard a seminar in Ho Chi Minh City on July 16.

Vice Minister of Industry and Trade Ho Thi Kim Thoa told participantsthat after five years of implementing Instruction 494/CT-TTg on the useof locally-produced materials and goods for State-funded projects,Vietnamese enterprises have increased the use of locally-manufacturedgoods, thus reducing their production and business costs.

According to the Vice Minister, the instruction contributed toreducing the trade deficit-export turnover ratio from 17.47 percent in2010 to 10.16 percent in 2011, and achieving a trade surplus from 2012onwards. It also helped to improve the competitiveness of Vietnamesegoods.

In the first six months of 2015, themanufacturing and processing sector grew by 9.6 percent compared to thesame period last year.

Huynh Dac Thang, DeputyHead of the Planning Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade(MoIT), said the Instruction had helped boost the production of anumber of new products to replace imported ones.

The instruction has been well implemented in State-run corporations andhelped change investors’ attitudes towards domestically-produced goods.

The business community, however, pointed out a number of challenges faced in selling products and winning contracts.

According to Dinh Van Thanh, General Director of the Bach KhoaMechanical And Refrigeration Engineering Company Limited, mostenterprises which produce equipment for the entire beverage industry aretoo small in scale to be able to compete effectively with internationalcontractors.

The quality and design of localproducts often does not meet investors’ requirements. In this regard,Thanh suggested that the country should remove technical barriers andcreate support policies to reduce the cost of technological transfers ina bid to improve Vietnamese products.

Meanwhile, Tran Tho Huy, General Director of the Thien Nam ElevatorJoint Stock Company, said local manufacturers and suppliers still facedchallenges in winning tenders given that many investors required goodsto be of foreign origin.

Huynh Dac Thangemphasised that increasing the effectiveness of Instruction 494 in thefuture was key to increasing the country’s strengths and competitiveedge.

In addition to enterprises’ efforts toimprove the quality and diversify products, Thang said Governmentagencies would create a legal framework to promote and assist thedevelopment of local supporting, manufacturing and hi-tech industries.-VNA

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