Le Ngoc Dao, DeputyDirector of the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade, unveiled theimpressive numbers at a recent meeting with industry and trade leaders.
Thethird conference of the programme took place on October 31 with theparticipation of more than 1,100 enterprises from 38 cities andprovinces nationwide.
To effectively implement the tradecooperation programme between HCM City and other localities in thesoutheastern and southwestern regions in 2011-2015, the HCM CityDepartment of Industry and Trade kicked off the first connectivityprogramme in December 2012 to help localities sell farm produce,processed food, and specialties to distributors and retailers in HCMCity.
The meeting that year attracted 198 enterprises from 14provinces and cities and 43 deals were struck. As a result, many specialproducts like pia cake of Tan Hue Vien in Soc Trang province,gourd-shaped pomelo, gold bullion-shaped watermelon, Cao Lanh mango inDong Thap province entered the distribution systems of Co.opmart,Citimart, Big C and Lotte Mart, among others in the city.
Oneyear later, the programme was expanded and the number of participatingbusinesses rose to 347. Not only enterprises of 20 southern provincesbut also those of Bac Giang, Bac Kan and Quang Ninh provinces in thenorth joined the programme and inked 394 trade deals with supermarketand restaurant chains in HCM City.
The programme enabledenterprises from other provinces to find outlets for their products inHCM City while partners here in the city were able to expand theirdistribution networks to other parts of the country to increase sales.
Inaddition, enterprises in HCM City joined the price stabilisationprogrammes in other provinces like Vinatexmart and Co.opmart.
Talkingabout the fruit of the supply-demand connectivity programme, Ta MinhSon, Director of Tu Son Supermarket in An Giang province, said hissupermarket has benefited much from the programme.
Son added thatof 100,000 products at the supermarket, 70 percent are supplied bypartners in HCM City and annual growth at the supermarket is 30-35percent.
With good results in previous years, the scale of thisyear’s programme is bigger with enterprises coming from 38 localitiesnationwide, including HCM City, 20 in the southern region and 17 in thenorthern, central and Central Highlands regions.-VNA