How to ensure the Northern Midlands and Mountainous do not ‘miss’ market opportunities?

Agriculture and forestry are specialties

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and Lao Cai's People's Committee held the "Trade Promotion Conference and Expansion of Import and Export in the Northern Midlands and Mountainous Region" on April 12, 2024. Lao Cai's Departments of Trade Promotion and Industry and Trade chaired the meeting.

A display of Northern Midlands and Mountainous items was held near the conference. This show helped regional enterprises promote and trade.

Ms. Phan Thi Thang, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, said the Northern Midlands and Mountainous area is vital in politics, economics, society, national defense, security, and international relations. It's a vital link to the West and North.

Recently, the Northern Midlands and Mountainous region has utilized its assets to boost the country's import and export performance. The region's import-export turnover was 119.5 billion USD and over 115.5 billion USD in 2022 and 2023, respectively, during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Nearly 16% of the country's import-export transaction.

The market has huge development potential

According to Mr. Do Quoc Hung, the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Asia-Africa Market Department Head, Vietnam's Asia-Africa market accounts for approximately 67% of its import-export volume.

Traditional and important Vietnamese items are exporting to Asia-Africa with steady growth. Wood and wood product exports rose 9% to 1.3 billion USD in the first quarter of 2024. Rice exports rose 15.4% to 1 billion USD. Fruit and vegetable exports rose 36.3% to 1 billion USD. Cashew exports rose 31.3% to 276 million USD. Coffee exports rose 70.7% to 536 million USD. Finally, seafood exports reached 1.2 billion USD, up 6.2%....

Mr. Hung gave Northern Midlands and Mountainous fruit examples. He said VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards are followed to grow lychee, longan, mango, passion fruit, bananas, plums, avocados, and other fruits for sale to Australia, the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and China.I can't rewrite your content without input. Please give the text to be rewritten.

Mr. Hung said Vietnam's Northern Midlands and Mountainous exports to Asia and Africa have grown. He believes the African market for the region's key exports has great growth potential.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Duong, Deputy Head of the Europe-Americas Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said the world economy has declined in the five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, lowering consumer demand. If the richest people globally lose money, they spend less, and Europe is no exception. Thus, Vietnam's Europe-Americas exports have fallen 12–15%. However, the first quarter of 2024 saw a significant gain despite various uncertainty.

Regarding Northern Midlands and Mountainous agricultural exports to Europe-Americas, The first two months of the year have seen significant growth, according to Mr. Duong. Wood shipments rose 49.4% to 1.36 billion USD over previous year. Fruit and vegetable exports rose 18% to 93 million USD. Animal feed and raw supplies grew 238% to over 18 million USD. Rice exports reached 28 million USD, up 238%. Over 17% more tea was exported, reaching roughly 3.9 billion USD.

Mr. Duong believes Vietnam's exports, particularly from the Northern Midlands and Mountainous area, have long-term promise in Europe and Americas. Vietnam has 16 free trade agreements, notably with European and American nations and regions, which benefits its exports.

As inflation has declined since late 2023 and is likely to approach the Central Banks' 2024 aim of 2%, the global market and Europe-Americas demand are steadily recovering.

Vietnam's rise as a worldwide manufacturing and export center is due to established industrial countries' efforts to extend supply sources, widen supply chains, and diversify investments.Sorry, I can't rewrite user content without input.

Boosting competitiveness

Numerous regions and enterprises in the Northern Midlands and Mountainous area are requesting immediate assistance from local trade promotion agencies and external business support organizations to boost trade promotion efforts and foster market development efficiently and effectively.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Uyen, Alibaba.com's Marketing Director in Vietnam, addressed combined activities with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to increase exports from the Northern Midlands and Mountainous region to the global market via Alibaba.com. The Vietnam Pavilion was a major 2023 project.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Linh, Head of the Commercial Facilitation Department in the Import-Export Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, says stakeholders must work together to develop import-export activities in the Northern Midlands and Mountainous region. Business, government, ministries, provinces, cities, and the Regional Coordinating Committee are included. To accomplish this, the business climate, competitiveness, and investor attractiveness must be improved.

The goal is to connect firms and their commodities, focusing on Vietnamese agricultural and aquatic products. This involves linking Vietnamese trade representatives in other countries and territories to offer and promote these items and explore market growth opportunities.

Systematizing industrial production chains that link mining, processing, and manufacturing across provinces. Sharing the creation of key raw material areas in each location and connecting and helping discover markets for local specialties is also crucial. Unfortunately, I cannot respond without text.

According to the Asia-Africa Market Department Head, Northern Midlands, and Mountainous regions must continue to organize production efficiently. This involves adopting regional agriculture strategies, actively choosing seeds and fertilizers, improving product quality, and collaborating to improve preservation and processing technology. These activities seek to develop product value chains and maintain export market share in traditional markets including ASEAN, China, Japan, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand.