According to the plan, a conference to summarize the ‘Trade Cooperation Program in the period from 2016 to 2020’ and the ‘Connection of the Supply and Demand of Goods between HCMC and Provinces in 2020’, organized by the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, will be held from September 24 to 27 at the Phu Tho Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City.

By September 18, 531 enterprises from 35 provinces across the country have registered to participate in the goods exhibition within the framework of the conference. Specifically, 409 enterprises from 34 provinces registered to display their goods at 232 booths, and 122 HCMC-based enterprises registered to participate in the exhibition with 224 booths. Nine major distribution networks in the city registered to participate in the connection of the supply and demand of goods including the Ho Chi Minh City Union of Trading Cooperatives (Saigon Co.op), Saigon Trading Corporation (Satra), Lotte Mart, Big C, Aeon Citimart, Aeon Vietnam, MM Mega Market, Bach Hoa Xanh, Emart, and import-export enterprises that desire to connect to bring qualified and food-safety ensured products into the distribution system.
This year's conference continues to establish the supply chain from production to consumption between HCMC and other provinces across the country, focusing on supporting regional specialty products, industrial consumer products, agricultural products, food that meet safety standards and have traceability, and products with export potential. It also looks for sources of specialty goods across the country to supply the city market, supplementing the supply to stabilize the market, contributing to the campaign ‘Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods’, and expanding the market for domestically-produced goods with high quality, reasonable prices, and export potentials.
According to the city’s Department of Industry and Trade, for the conference to connect the supply and demand of goods to achieve high results, the department has updated information of reputable enterprises of provinces on the website at www.ketnoicungcau.vn and provided a list of products and prestigious city-based enterprises, as well as urged local distribution networks to seek information and select potential suppliers.
The trade cooperation program between HCMC and 20 provinces in the Southeast region and the Mekong Delta was signed in 2011. By March 2016, the departments of industry and trade of provinces continued to sign an industrial and trade cooperation agreement for the period from 2016 to 2020.
To effectively carry out the agreement, the provincial departments of industry and trade have proactively developed plans to deploy, assign contact points to exchange information, coordinate with relevant departments and agencies to organize research task forces, exchange experiences in State management, industry planning, investment cooperation, and association in the field of commerce and services; participate in seminars and events organized by provinces, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, implement effectively and improve the quality of the program.
In the field of commerce, the program focuses on implementing the following contents including coordinating the implementation of the Market Stabilization Program, promptly updating and sharing market information, coordinating goods, and cooperating in handling market fluctuations (if any); supporting and removing difficulties for enterprises, connecting investment in production and business, developing distribution networks, building raw material growing areas, and creating the sources of market-stabilized goods. Moreover, it also coordinates the development of distribution networks, builds up the supply chains, and efficiently circulates goods throughout from production and farming to distribution.

The program coordinates the implementation of activities to connect supply and demand, trade promotion, support the consumption of local products, prioritize agricultural products and specialties that meet food safety standards, and are grown under the VietGAP and GlobalGAP processes. It also aims at building brands for agricultural products and specialties in each province and region, improving the efficiency of the distribution networks to serve domestic consumption and export demand.

HCM City's trade co-operation programme with provinces a big success

Products from other localities are showcasing on the sidelines of a conference held recently in HCM City to review the trade cooperation programme between the city and other cities and provinces in the south over the past five years.

 HCM CITY — The trade co-operation programme between HCM City and southern provinces has over the past years helped significantly promote consumption of his province’s products, enabling businesses to expand production and trading and contributing to socio-economic development, a Bến Tre Province leader has said.

Nguyễn Hữu Lập, vice chairman of its People’s Committee said, “The programme has helped manufacturers in the province find regular outlets for their products, making them feel secure about investing more into expansion and improving product quality.”

Châu Thị Lệ, deputy director of the Long An Province Department of Industry and Trade, said HCM City, a large market for her province’s products, played an important role in guiding provinces’ agriculture by fixing standards their produce have to meet to sell to it. The province actively encouraged farmers to change their methods towards safe production in accordance with VietGAP standards, but achieved very limited results. When HCM City set the purchase standards … farmers immediately changed their production methods to enable their produce to meet these requirements. Mr. Bùi Tá Hoàng Vũ, director of the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade said, “Enhancing demand-supply links is an indispensable and important aspect of trade.  The Trade Cooperation Programme between HCM City and other provinces and cities has had a positive effect, creating comprehensive co-operation in the field of trade between the city and provinces and cities in the south-eastern and south-western regions. During the last five years, 3,193 contracts and MoUs have been signed between city businesses and those in the southern region worth an estimated VNĐ4.5 trillion (US$194.06 million) a year on average. Provinces and cities have created favourable conditions for HCM City businesses to set up shop there and to collaborate with farmers for animal breeding and cultivation. Twenty eight firms participating in the city’s price stabilisation programme have invested more than VNĐ18 trillion ($778.1 million) in 47 production facilities and 63 agricultural farms in their localities. A system of warehouses, logistics and supermarkets throughout the country and is a large buyer of agricultural products has been developed. Nguyễn Huỳnh Trang, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade said most enterprises participating in the city’s price stabilisation programme distributed at a single price nation-wide. Thus, they contributed to stabilising markets around the country, she pointed out. Following the resounding success of the programme, the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade will continue to work with its counterparts in other cities and provinces for another five years. They plan to enhance exchange of information, sharing their experiences in management of industry and trade, production, and trading and discussing the strengths of each province and city. In the next phase, the programme is expected to not only expand domestic consumption, but also promote export of industrial consumer products and household appliances and build brands for agricultural products and specialities of each locality. Government agencies will work to improve the efficiency of the programme to enable more businesses to meet, exchange information and explore co-operation opportunities. Mr. Lập said the Ministry of Industry and Trade, HCM City and businesses should continue to provide businesses in his province with information about the market and requirements for goods to help connect them with distributors and create favourable conditions for their goods to enter the city’s modern distribution network. Mr. Dương Anh Đức, vice chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, said that the city will continue to direct relevant departments and agencies to clear obstacles to furthering trade between the city and other cities and provinces.