Vietnamese businesses are spreading around the world

Next month, about 150 Vietnamese businesses will participate in the SelectUSA 2025 Investment Summit, scheduled to take place from May 11 to 14 in National Harbor, Maryland (USA). This information was just shared by Mr. Pham Tan Cong, Chairman of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI). Compared to last year's conference, the number of Vietnamese businesses registered to participate has doubled.

“Vietnamese enterprises have become stronger and can proactively seek investment opportunities abroad, seek new partners and new markets. Recently, a number of textile and garment enterprises shared that they are planning to seek investment opportunities in Egypt. The interest of Vietnamese enterprises in the South American market is also increasing strongly. In particular, large enterprises with market strengths and relationships with global partners are working closely with VCCI to find solutions to diversify export markets,” said the Chairman of VCCI.

It is no coincidence that Mr. Cong shared the above information, as well as the plans to promote trade, investment, and support businesses in finding new markets that are being designed and promoted by VCCI. The "earthquake" called the US reciprocal tax has forced many businesses to change their strategies and business plans, especially the strategy of market diversification.

Vietnam should accelerate the implementation of FTAs ​​and diversify its export markets. Some major markets that can be targeted are Europe, the UK, and Asian countries such as South Korea. Diversifying export destinations also helps Vietnam strengthen its integration and economic development amid global instability, thereby reducing the impact of US tariffs.

- Mr. Shantanu Chakraborty, Country Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Vietnam

“For a long time, FDI enterprises have been identified to take better advantage of the 17 free trade agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam has signed, but now, Vietnamese enterprises must exploit them to the fullest. We are continuing to work with each group of enterprises, in each field, to grasp the situation of enterprises and seek appropriate solutions,” the Chairman of VCCI shared with reporters of Dau Tu Newspaper.

Awareness of market diversification

To be frank, we must be aware of market diversification and avoid being too dependent on a few existing markets, but the implementation is not easy. Many businesses even admit that they tend to focus on large markets, with ready routes, orders, and production on track...

However, according to Ms. Do Thi Thuy Huong, member of the Vietnam Electronic Enterprises Association, this must be done at all costs.

“I just returned from India. They are also actively attracting investment, taking advantage of trade and tariff advantages compared to their partners. When the whole world is looking for new markets, the problem of market diversification is very difficult, but it must be raised, it must be done, in the true sense of the word, better late than never. If we do not diversify, are not self-reliant, self-reliant, Vietnamese enterprises will not face difficulties now but will lose later. The weakness of 'putting all eggs in one basket', passively benefiting from global trade has been revealed too clearly, it cannot last,” Ms. Huong frankly said.

This means that the solutions that businesses need to do are not only to cope with the immediate situation, but must be strategic changes, from diversifying markets, products, supply chains, to restructuring production and business towards green, clean, and improving productivity...

In particular, Ms. Huong shared that, in addition to the solutions that businesses are proactively implementing, such as diversifying export markets, maximizing the exploitation of markets with FTAs ​​with Vietnam, promoting niche markets, it is necessary to have a strategy to increase the localization rate of Vietnam's export products, transparency of the supply chain, and strengthening control of origin...

“The government also needs to consider increasing imports of goods from the United States. As a technology company, we appreciate the quality of US technology products to help increase the quality of products manufactured in Vietnam. This is necessary for both sides,” Ms. Thuy Huong suggested.

Waiting for more support from the State

“I just had a talk with 20 leading businesses in the Mekong Delta, mainly in the agricultural sector. They said they felt quite ‘disappointed’ when seeing the support from the state of their partners when participating in the same international fair,” said Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy General Secretary and Head of the Legal Department of VCCI, about the difficulties that businesses are facing when seeking to expand their export markets.

In fact, domestic enterprises have not yet taken advantage of FTAs ​​in terms of markets, tax rates, etc., partly due to the weak internal strength of enterprises, but also due to the lack of support from the State in connecting Vietnamese enterprises with the global market.

“One of the lessons from trade wars is to diversify markets and products. The government has been successful in negotiating FTAs, and businesses have also done a lot, but perhaps Vietnam’s investment in trade promotion is not strong enough,” Mr. Tuan commented.

VCCI and many associations are proposing to change the way of supporting trade promotion towards expanding the participation of business associations and industries, ensuring the practicality and effectiveness of this activity.