At a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on March 11 experts forecast that this year’s exports will not see a breakthrough growth as Vietnam’s key markets have yet to recover completely. They said earnings from exports in the first two months reached only US$8.9 billion, equal to that of the same period last year.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam made a great effort to get a better foothold in markets in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America in 2010. However, these markets are far away from Vietnam and have various differences in terms of customs, culture and consumption habits. As a result, progress remains limited despite concerted efforts from both sides.

A number of exporters have even refused to ship products to Russia - a traditional market which is expected to help them boost their overall export turnover - due to import tariff barriers and the methods used to calculate taxes.

Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) Le Quoc An said the European Union (EU), Japan and the US remain the top choices for domestic companies.

The opinion is fuelled by the fact that most of the 57 overseas trade promotion projects funded by the Ministry of Industry and Trade target these markets. Along with such programmes, the enterprises join in specialised fairs to introduce their products abroad.

From April to October, a number of associations will participate in fairs and exhibitions in the US. Vitas plans to take part in the GlobalTex Fair in Los Angeles and the Magic Show Fair in Las Vegas, while the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association will join an international fair and exhibition on wooden furniture in Chicago and the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association will conduct a fact-finding tour in New York.

In the EU market, the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, the Vietnam Software Association and the Trade Promotion Centre for Agriculture will participate in fairs in Italy, Germany and France, respectively.

Also, domestic businesses are striving to fully tap the advantages offered by the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement to boost the export of garments, footwear, handicraft products, wooden furniture and agro-fishery products to this market.