Hanoi (VNA)꧟ – The Ministry of Industry and Trade(MoIT) on August 31 held a workshop on promoting the export of Vietnamesemechanical products.

Representatives from localities across the country andVietnamese Trade Offices abroad attended the workshop online and in person. Speaking at the event, Director of the ministry’s Vietnam TradePromotion Agency (Vietrade) Vu Ba Phu said that mechanical engineering is one of theindustries that plays a driving role in the growth of the national economy. Recently, the mechanical industry has experienced remarkablegrowth, increasing the localisation rate, creating a driving force for industrial and economic development, and millions of jobs. According to the MoIT, the industry has space to thrive butmechanical enterprises still find it difficult to diversify and expand the markets because their competitive capacity and branding development are not strongenough to reach potential customers. Therefore, the Government and the Prime Minister have urgently directed ministries, sectors, and localities toimplement solutions to remove difficulties and boost the growth of theindustry. Nguyen Chi Sang, Vice President and General Secretary of theVietnam Association of Mechanical Industry (VAMI), said that althoughthe mechanical industry's import and export are large, they are mostly fromforeign-invested enterprises. He said foreign customers see limitations of Vietnamesemechanical enterprises, for example, modest skills in searching for consumers,no traditional products, and limitations in using e-commerce for production andbusiness. Moreover, Vietnamese enterprises mostly compete with cheaplabour, rely on material sources from China, and have not mastered theprovisions in commercial laws of markets such as the EU, the US, andAfrica. The association called on Vietnamese trade offices inforeign markets to support domestic mechanical enterprises, especiallyin providing market information. At the same time, the MoIT needs to supportdomestic businesses in connecting with foreign buyers, and participating ine-commerce channels. According to Truong Thi Chi Binh, Vice President and GeneralSecretary of the Vietnam Association for Supporting Industries (VASI), enterprises sawthe number of orders decreasing by 20% and some even suffered a 40% fall in their orders. However, the mechanicalsector has new customers due to the shift in production. She said the capacity of domestic enterprises has seen positivechanges, particularly in the production stage. Vietnamese enterprises arecapable of competing with Chinese and Indian companies in this regard. Ta Duc Minh, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Japan, said that Japanis implementing a new policy to avoid supply dependence on China and expandingits imports from ASEAN countries, including Vietnam. On the other hand, Japanese mechanical enterprises are mainlysmall and medium-sized and long-standing. The owners of the enterprises find itdifficult to transfer the production because of the country’s aging population.So, they are looking to Vietnam for production cooperation opportunities, he said. However, the mechanical engineering industry in Vietnam is still dependent onimported raw materials, he said, adding that domestic mechanical enterprisesneed to invest more in research and product development to participatefurther in the global supply chain./.