Containers at Saigon Newport Corporation in HCM City (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Identifying HCM City’s typical export productsshould not be based simply on their export volume or value or subjectivedecisions, but on careful analysis, experts have said.

The city Department of Industry and Trade recently held a seminar to identifythe city’s top export products and collect opinions from experts, businessgroups and enterprises for its Export Development Project in 2017-20 beforesubmitting to the People’s Committee for approval.

The project’s objectives are to forecast opportunities for and challenges toexports, identify the most competitive export sectors and products, and proposesolutions and strategies for developing exports.

Nguyen Ngoc Hoa, the department’s deputy director, said the department isworking with the Institute of Public Policy - University of Economics HCM Cityand experts from Fulbright University to develop the project.

The consulting team has used a variety of research methods to identify thecity’s top export products as well as used data from nearly 14,000 exportenterprises combined with surveys and interviews of some 200 enterprises in 14sectors to determine the competitive advantages of and value addition in exportproducts, he said.

Hoa said the city has paid close attention to shifting its export structure,reducing export of low added-value products and increasing export of highlyprocessed products and services with high added value, with programmes designedto encourage the shift in recent years.

But the results have been below expectations, he admitted.

Analysing the city’s export structure in the 2008-15 period, Dinh Cong Khai,director of the Institute of Public Policy, pointed out exports had mainlygrown in volume terms and followed the market, and lacked a strategic directionfor development.

The city’s production and exports are not very competitive, with the formerbeing mainly contract-based and not deeply participating in the global valuechain, he said.

As a result, the city’s export growth is fully dependent on global marketfluctuations, making it hard to implement strategies or programmes to shiftexport structures, he said.

Besides, the city has not identified industries with high export growthpotential and competitive advantages based on scientific analysis or newmethods, and relies on the traditional approach based mainly on export value,he said.

Programmes to support the shift in the export structure and develop exports arenot cohesive, making it difficult for stakeholders to implement them, he said.

To achieve the objectives of export restructuring, it is necessary to evaluatethe competitiveness of existing exports, delegates said.

Designating the major exports now as the key exports is easy, but their valueaddition and comparative advantages would be low, they said.

On the contrary, sectors that currently do not export much but have highpotential would need investment and strategies to develop, they said.

Tran Viet Anh, deputy chairman of the HCM City Union of Business Associationsand chairman and general director of Nam Thai Son Company, said the city needsto assess the competitive advantage of products through international exportfairs and exhibitions to identify key products.

🍨 Dr Tran Du Lich, a member of the Government’s economic advisory group, said thecity needs to change its mind about what are typical export products since evenits four key industry groups and nine service sectors need to be changedbecause they may not be suitable in the current time.-VNS/VNA