Working with foreign retailers helps local firms boost innovation
Thanks to their cooperation with multinational groups and foreign retailers, many Vietnamese businesses have been stepping up innovation to meet standards in both domestic and foreign markets, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said.
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At a workshop of AEON Vietnam’s suppliers in Ho Chi Minh City on June 11, Hai said promoting the presence of made-in-Vietnam products in modern distribution channels is now an important task of the industry and trade sector.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade always creates the best possible conditions for multinational groups and retail firms, including Japanese-invested AEON Vietnam, to develop in the country, he affirmed.
Hai urged AEON Vietnam to enhance coordination with local agencies to help improve the production and business capacity of domestic firms, as well as the quality of and requirements for Vietnamese goods, which, he said, is critical for the retail market of the country.
Some market research agencies reported that in the local retail market, consumers’ habits are being modernised while businesses are adopting more methodological production and business models. As a result, companies are gradually improving their competitiveness and further engaging in global supply chains.
Sharing the view, Vietnamese enterprises said boosting the purchase and export of goods through modern distribution channels create chances for them to change production and business models and better integrate into the world economy.
Through the distribution networks of multinational groups and foreign retailers, Vietnamese products are sold in the domestic market as well as other potential markets where these firms have distribution systems, they added.
Yasuo Nishitohge, General Director of AEON Vietnam, said after five years since it entered the Vietnamese market, AEON Vietnam has set up nine member companies operating in various fields and opened four trade centres.
It is planning to inaugurate two other shopping malls in the capital city of Hanoi and the northern port city of Hai Phong and expand its shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Phu district in the time ahead, he said.
The firm is also going to open stores specializing in certain products like bread or bicycles, he said, noting that it wants to expand its investment and business network by cooperating with Vietnamese localities and companies.
AEON Vietnam also hopes to enhance cooperation with domestic and foreign suppliers to serve local consumers and increase Vietnamese exports to Japan and other Asian markets, Nishitohge added.
The workshop attracted 150 representatives of 75 potential suppliers in such industries as food, garment and household appliances.
