Hanoi (VNA) - Enterprises in certain sectorshave mapped out plans to increase their presence in the domestic market as mostforeign ones have become frozen due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jeans and khaki producer Viet Thang Jean Co. has beenundergoing restructuring since the beginning of April and used domesticmaterials to produce face masks as a temporary production alternative amid theoutbreak.

Company General Director Pham Van Viet said Vietnamesegarment and textile firms will experience difficulties in the US and the EUthroughout this year and have therefore turned towards the domestic market andAsia.

“This is an opportunity for local enterprises to growin the domestic market and its nearly 100 million people, beginning withbuilding brand names and offering new, suitable products,” he said.

Given the gloomy outlook the pandemic has created, woodenproduct enterprises are also revamping their operational methods, such asreviewing exports, building a complete supply chain in Vietnam, and stepping uponline transactions.

Experts have pointed out the domestic market is muchmore stable and resilient at the moment than foreign markets.

To Xuan Phuc, a senior advisor with the US-basednon-profit organisation Forest Trends, and his colleagues have noted that productsconsumed domestically generate higher profits than exports.

Therefore, apart from expanding export markets, the woodand wooden product sector needs to also roll out mechanisms and policies tooperate sustainably in their own backyard.

Figures show that about 20-30 percent of the householdproduction in wooden furniture villages have been as normal despite frozenexport markets.

Phuc said the Government’s request for bidding on timberproducts in public procurement is a fine start in encouraging businesses toengage in the sector.

The Government should also facilitate the participationof corporation in the supply of wooden products, he proposed.

Further encouragement would contribute to greater connectivityand the establishment of a domestic supply chain involving firms, processingfacilities, and forest-owning families to serve public procurement.

Once successful, the segment would then promote the developmentof other segments in the domestic market, he added./.