To implement the campaign “Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods”, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) launched an action programme focusing on two missions: effectively carrying out trade promotion activities and improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods and services, said MoIT Permanent Vice Minister Bui Xuan Khu.

The MoIT also worked with other relevant ministries and agencies to direct a series of trade promotion activities towards the domestic market such as sponsoring “Vietnamese goods week”, helping businesses to sell their products in rural areas, organizing other promotional weeks and months and conducting market research.

Plentiful trade promotion campaigns in 2009 brought about positive socio-economic effectiveness, Mr. Khu said adding that it helped enhance the role of businesses and consumers in improving the competitiveness of Vietnamese products.

According to the report by the Department of Trade Promotion (DTP) under the MoIT on January 5, there were many promotional activities of various forms in 2009. The number of businesses involved was also on the rise.

In 2009, the DTP worked with provincial Department of Industry and Trade nationwide to strengthen the management, supervision and inspection of promotion campaigns. Many penalties were handed out promotional violations.

Exhibition fairs, meanwhile, focused on improving the quality of service. In 2009, there were over 300 fairs nationwide, 90 of which were held in Ho Chi Minh City and 77 in Hanoi).

Also in 2009, trade promotion organisations and businesses participated in 69 exhibitions and trade fairs overseas, 40 of them under the national trade promotion programmes.

DTP General Director Do Thang Hai said exhibitions were organized with greater efficiency in 2009.

The DTP directly held many large-scale trade promotion events including the Exhibition of Vietnamese export products in Moscow, the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning, Guangxi, China and others. The total value of contracts signed at these exhibitions reached US$720 million.

Preparations for national trade promotion programmes in 2010 are being completed. The DTP has so far received and evaluated 269 project proposals 13 of which have been submitted to the Prime Minister for approval.