The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has kicked off the program on developing the domestic market, a part of the series programs on preventing economic recessions.

Deputy Director of the Domestic Market Policies Department under MOIT, Vo Van Quyen

In the last ten years, there has been a big gap between the export turnover and the domestic consumption value, but the gap has been narrowed. We got US $62 billion from exports last year, while the total retail value on the domestic market reached VND 980 trillion, or nearly US $60 billion, which represented the 31% increase over 2007. As such, you can see that the gap between the turnovers from the two markets is not really big.

In the long term, when the economic growth rate is high and people’s income increases, the scale of the domestic market will be bigger. If the export continues the current slide, the domestic consumption may become even bigger than exports.

How will the program on domestic market development be implemented?

The program aims to stimulate personal consumption demand. Of course, the State will not stimulate demand with administrative orders. We need to follow the market mechanism. The Ministry of Industry and Trade will give some suggestions and call for the joining of the business community and consumers.

What will be the new things in trade promotion and sales boost strategies?

We will have trade fairs to serve domestic consumption. The State will give support to some trade fairs at the regional level, and the support to go to the categories of products made by local producers which can be purchased by domestic consumers.

Regarding the activities to boost sales, we will connect the distribution network to organize the Week of Vietnam-made goods, and the Month of Vietnam-made goods. As far as I know, businesses are ready to pay money for the events and the only thing they need is the sponsor by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Experts have advised enterprises to pay more attention to the rural areas as the potential market. What would you say about that?

I agree with them. We will also plan the sales programs in rural areas. 83% of the Vietnamese population lives in rural areas, and 60% of the domestic market is in rural areas. Meanwhile, Vietnamese producers have just either export their products or sell their products in urban areas.

We will also try to boost sales in industrial zones where the demand proves to be very big with many young labourers.

Which Vietnam-made products do you think can be competitive in the domestic market?

I think that farm produce, cooking and foodstuff, apparel, and footwear prove to have big competitive edges which are in no way inferior to foreign made products. Plastics, consumer products, and home appliances also have good quality. The problem is how to reorganize the market.

Vietnamese people seem to favour foreign made products. Do you think that this will hinder the demand stimulus program?

I don’t think that this is really worrying. The percentage of people who have much money to afford foreign made luxurious products in Vietnam remains modest.

I hope that the program will help Vietnamese people understand that many Made in Vietnam products really have high quality. I personally have been wearing shirts made by Viet Tien, because I believe the company’s products are good.

Diep Anh