Production and export activities of localities that contribute to large export turnover are facing a sharp decline. In the first 7 months of 2023, Vietnam's export turnover reached 195.42 billion USD, down 10.3% over the same period in 2022. Data from the General Department of Customs shows that, in the southern region alone, many locations The one with export turnover of tens of billions of USD is Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai all saw sharp declines compared to the same period last year. Among them, City. Ho Chi Minh City decreased by more than 5 billion USD compared to the same period in 2022 (reaching 19.95 billion USD).

World aggregate demand decreased, businesses have difficulty in finding orders, however, according to businesses, in the last months of 2023, exports still have opportunities to regain growth momentum.

Mr. Nguyen Dang Hien - Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Food Association. Ho Chi Minh said that in the first months of the year, the domestic and international economic situation faced many difficulties, making businesses also difficult. Many businesses in wood, seafood, textiles, leather and footwear, etc., saw a sharp drop in orders.

For businesses in the food industry in the first 6 months of the year, despite the growth of more than 20%. However, businesses face difficult challenges because the cost of input materials is higher than the selling price. The price of input materials increased sharply, but the selling price only increased by 3-5%, causing difficulties for businesses.

It is forecasted that in the last months of the year, the domestic and world economic situation will continue to face many difficulties and challenges due to the world economic recession, high interest rates... causing orders to decline.

Businesses expect year-end growth

In that context, businesses must find their own way. For example, with Birdico, in the first months of the year, business still grew by more than 26%. This result, besides producing goods, enterprises also process products. On average, enterprises process about 3 million products per month. By September, it will process about 9 million products. This helps businesses stabilize production activities and maintain jobs for workers.

Along with that, although the domestic market has positive signals, the reality is going down. Therefore, enterprises must promote exports. However, currently the European market is still very difficult, consumers cut spending due to the impact of inflation and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Therefore, businesses and trade promotion units need to target markets that are peaceful, less affected by conflicts such as China, India ... countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen - General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said that in the first half of the year, vegetables and fruits were one of the export items with high growth rates. Statistics of the General Department of Customs show that, in the first half of July 2023, the country's fruit and vegetable exports reached nearly 240 million USD, estimated in the whole month of July 2023 about 475.5 million USD, down 28.2% compared to the previous year. last month and increased by 90.7% over the same period in 2022. Accumulated in the first 7 months of the year, export turnover of vegetables and fruits reached 3.16 billion USD, an increase of nearly 70% compared to the same period in 2022. Thus, vegetables As a result, it is the commodity with the highest export growth rate of the agricultural, forestry and fishery industry.

However, in order to maintain this growth momentum, the Ministry of Industry and Trade needs to strengthen trade promotion so that Vietnamese fruit and vegetable exporters have the opportunity to have direct contact with companies and corporations that buy goods. fruit and vegetable producer in the world to conduct contracts for the sale of fresh and processed fruits and vegetables.

In addition, to maximize the role of the system of Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad - a direct, unified and fastest information exchange channel with functional units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other relevant agencies. Ministries, other central branches, localities, associations, and import-export enterprises across the country in researching and assessing the market, new mechanisms and policies on economy, trade and investment of the host country. At present, supporting the quick and efficient export of agricultural products when in the harvest season.

At the same time, combining with relevant units and agencies to forecast the market, helping businesses have a lot of knowledge in the field of foreign trade. Propagate guidelines and policies of the State for associations and businesses to grasp.

With the domestic market, many seasonal fruit products such as mango, avocado, dragon fruit... are mainly exported to China. Like dragon fruit, due to its seasonal nature, from June to December every year, China has domestic dragon fruit, so there is little import demand. Therefore, it is necessary to stimulate domestic consumption demand, increase the confidence of Vietnamese consumers to serve as a platform for the market, to avoid falling too deeply when exports have problems.

Along with the efforts of businesses, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is also organizing a series of events "Connecting the international supply chain" (Viet Nam International Sourcing 2023) in Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh in September 2023.

The event is expected to attract 8,000 visitors, dealing with 150 international delegations from 30 countries and regions. The organizers also coordinate with localities to bring purchasing delegations to survey businesses in some localities.

Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said that the event is expected to effectively support businesses in their efforts to participate more deeply in the global production and supply chain and export. directly into foreign distribution networks; invest methodically to innovate the production process from input materials to machinery and equipment, thereby producing high-value added products with good quality.