Measures needed to regain export momentum in second half of this year
Although the export of goods has faced many difficulties, there have been encouraging signals in the past two months as enterprises and state management agencies have been actively implementing solutions to regain export momentum.
Phan Van Co, Marketing Director of VRICE Co. Ltd, said that India's official ban on rice exports will make world rice prices increase sharply in the coming time. Vietnam is in the world's top three rice exporters, so it will have advantages in shipping rice abroad, especially in terms of selling prices, he added.
Vietnam’s 5% broken rice was offered at US$533 per tonne while those of Thailand, India and Pakistan were US$541, US$493 and US$533, respectively. The price of Vietnam's 25% broken rice was also up to US$513 per tonne, marking the highest prices in history, Co said, adding that the prices of Vietnamese rice will continue to rise.
Rice is one of the commodities seeing an increase in export turnover in the first six months of this year. According to the General Department of Customs, about 4.27 million tonnes of rice worth US$2.3 billion was shipped abroad in the reviewed period, rising 22.2% in volume and 34.7% in value year on year.
Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Agency for Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), said that the export of goods in the first half of this year decreased by about 12% compared to 2022, but the last two months (May and June) experienced growth compared to the previous months.
Exports of many products still achieved positive results, of which exports of vegetables and fruits increased by 64% and rice exports increased by 34% over the same period, he noted, saying it reflected the efforts of enterprises in expanding markets as well as the recovery of export activities.
However, Hai said that the export of most other goods, especially industrial products, has still faced many difficulties.
According to the official, the decline in commodity exports was due to a decrease in demand caused by high inflation and economic slowdown in the main export markets. The high inventory of goods in major import markets in the post-pandemic was also a reason.
To achieve the target of 6% export growth this year, the MoIT is continuing to support businesses to take advantage of free trade agreements (FTAs) through training and improving understanding to make effective use of rules of origin. Trade promotion activities are being promoted along with diversifying forms of promotion to access to new markets.
Enterprises will be supported to join the distribution network of foreign retail chains as well as promote exports through e-commerce platforms.
According to Hai, Vietnam has a lot of experience in dealing with such a situation, so it is time for businesses to apply the lessons learned in the past to be able to come up with appropriate strategies for their business activities.
Special attention should be paid to newly-emerged trade barriers, he added.