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| Enterprises expect export growth in the new year. Photo: T.D |
Many new opportunities
The year 2022 ends with many difficulties and challenges, but many export industries of Vietnam have risen and achieved impressive results. Statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that import and export in 2022 will record historical milestones when the total trade turnover exceeds USD 700 billion for the first time.
Besides, there was a trade surplus of about USD 10 billion. Many industries have entered the “billion-dollar and ten-billion-dollar clubs”. There are 35 industries with export values of over USD 1 billion and eight categories exceeding USD 10 billion.
Typically, the year 2022 is considered a successful year for rice exports. Export volume for the whole year is estimated at over 7 million tons. Talking about the achievements in 2022, Mr. Pham Thai Binh, General Director of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company, said that the price of fragrant rice exported to the Middle East and European markets of the enterprise this year average price of USD 650 per ton, especially ST24 and ST25 rice prices are over USD 1,000 per ton – this is the highest export price for rice for many years now.
Mr. Pham Thai Binh said that 2023 will continue to be a positive year for rice exporters. This is reasonable because rice is an essential food that every country needs while the supply of rice in many countries is shrinking due to climate change. The proof is that the enterprise has signed and will deliver about 30,000 tons of rice in the first quarter of 2023 to markets such as Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea.
At the same time, the agricultural sector also negotiated and completed the procedures for exporting mango and chicken to Korea, pomelo and lemon to New Zealand; export feathers, oats and products from oats, milk and dairy products, durian, sweet potato to China and honey to the EU. Surveying the planting area, the factory irradiated so that fresh pomelo is the 7th fruit of our country that is allowed to be imported into the US market.
In 2022, although the wood and wood products industry faced many difficulties, by the end of November, it still reached a value of USD 14.6 billion, up 9% over the same period last year. Equally impressive is the coffee export sector, by the end of November, this item has reached nearly 1.7 million tons, equivalent to USD 3.5 billion, up 31% compared to 2021. This creates opportunities and expectations for export growth in 2023 for businesses.
Restructure, find new markets
According to experts, Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fishery products have conquered many international markets, but exports still mainly focus on four major markets: the US, China, and Japan and Korea. Therefore, Vietnamese enterprises always have to look for opportunities to expand markets, find new customers in order to reduce dependence on some markets and increase their advantages.
Deputy Director in charge of Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Center Tran Phu Lu said that in order to grow exports in the current context, in addition to traditional markets, businesses need to pay attention to markets that have not been approved yet and properly exploiting the market of Arab countries, Islamic countries or product lines dedicated to separate customer segments; at the same time invest in developing organic or organic product lines that are friendly to the environment and human health; promote professional branding and development; diversify forms of advertising, trade promotion, support of international organizations.
Enterprises must also focus on investing in technological innovation to continue to improve competitiveness, constantly improve product quality, and build Vietnamese products with prestigious brands. Enterprises must accelerate the implementation of restructuring, orienting to “green-circular” production, quickly implement the process of digital transformation of business and production management models, and transform business methods on the basis of application to the environment. Using digital technology platforms, it especially is necessary to promote the application of cross-border e-commerce and join the world e-commerce platforms.
Vu Duc Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, said that with the efforts of businesses, in 2023, the textile and garment industry set an export target of USD 47-48 billion. According to Mr. Giang, the textile and garment industry has enough grounds to set this goal. The first is because manufacturing enterprises have begun to convert their production from knitting to woven. Secondly, enterprises are looking for a direction to produce small orders with fast delivery time. The third is to diversify markets. Some markets such as the former Soviet Union, the African market, the Middle East, previously businesses did not care much, now they are more interested. Especially the Chinese market is also a large export market of Vietnam’s textiles and garments.
According to Mr. Diep Nam Hai, General Director of Cholimex Food Joint Stock Company (Cholimex Food), Southeast Asian countries are very potential export markets because of their close geographical location, helping businesses access the market fast.
The enterprise has access to the sales channel of the Philippines and has new orders to export to the Indonesian market. In the near future, Cholimex Food will have orders to export to Brunei and New Zealand.