HCM City (VNS/VNA) - To sell theirproducts to foreign distribution channels, Vietnamese businesses need to paymore attention to product design, quality assurance and after-sales services,speakers said at a training workshop held in HCM City on July 13.

Yuichiro Shiotani, Director General of AeonTop Value Company Limited, said that local companies should add more value totheir products.

Aeon Top Value has been working to put anumber of made-in-Vietnam products, which are available in Aeon Vietnam retailstores, on the shelves of its stores in Japan, according to the directorgeneral.

Many Vietnamese goods are available atforeign retailers’stores in Vietnam, but they are still for domesticconsumption only.

To be offered abroad, the products mustmeet other requirements.

Nick Reitmeier, executive vice presidentfor international food & alcohol buying for Central Food Retail, which ispart of Thailand’s Central Group, said that besides focusing on qualityassurance, Vietnamese producers needed to improve product design.

Cao Thi Phi Van, deputy director of theInvestment and Trade Promotion Centre of HCM City (ITPC), said: “Besidesproduct quality, nice design, competitive prices, and good financial capacity,local businesses need to understand the export process and norms set by foreigndistribution systems."

ITPC this year has helped more than 30Vietnamese companies enter the Aeon Vietnam supermarket system.

ITPC is in charge of selecting firms basedon technical criteria provided by Aeon, and through an introduction by ITPC,businesses can connect directly with the purchasing managers of thesupermarket. 

Nguyen Ngoc Luan, Director of the Lam SanAgriculture Cooperative, said Vietnamese firms still encountered difficultiesin accessing foreign distribution systems because, to sell through modern tradechannels, they needed to ensure consistent quality as well as other qualitystandards.

Paul Le at Central Group Vietnam said thatBig C and Central Group Vietnam in 2016 launched the programme “Supporting Smalland Medium Enterprises” to help firms understand modern trade, expand theirmarket, and contribute to the development of Vietnamese brands.

Enterprises in the programme received fullsupport via training (modern trade integration, packaging, merchandising and soon), financial advantages in terms of payment terms, logistics, and capital forinvestment through Central Group’s banking partners.

“We strongly believe in Vietnamese productsand we will contribute to including domestic brands in our network in Vietnamand help brands be ready for international expansion,” he said.

Organised by the Ministry of Industry andTrade, Central Group, Japan’s Aeon, and France’s Auchan, the training workshopis part of the governmental project “Developing Direct Participation ofVietnamese Enterprises in Foreign Distribution System up to 2020”.

To effectively implement the project, theMinistry of Industry and Trade has called for close cooperation between statemanagement bodies, trade promotion agencies, local governments, enterprises anddistributors.

The ministry will also partner with severalforeign distributors and hold Vietnamese Products Week in many countries,including Japan, Thailand, the US, Russia, Australia and others, to promotequality Vietnamese products and connect Vietnamese firms with internationaldistribution chains.

“Vietnamese Products Week” events have beenheld in the EU and Asia since 2011, which have helped Vietnamese firms exportthrough foreign distribution channels, cut intermediary costs, and bring highervalue, according to the ministry.-VNS/VNA