The event was co-organised by the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Hanoi Promotion Agency (HPA) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT)’s Domestic Markets Department, under the direction of the Hanoi People's Committee and the MOIT. The conference attracted the participation of the Departments of Industry and Trade of 63 provinces and cities nationwide, together with representatives from over 400 enterprises, cooperatives and manufacturers, as well as more than 500 distributors from nearly 60 provinces and cities.
The provinces and cities participating in the event introduced their local specialties, especially agricultural products grown under safety standards, with geographical indications and source codes that ensure food safety and hygiene and are currently being developed on a large scale. The provinces also expressed their desire to find new consumption markets and expand output for safe agricultural products, thereby contributing to changing consumption and farming habits.
At the conference, localities shared their experiences on promoting their products.
Ha Thi Minh Hanh, Vice Chairwoman of Ha Giang Provincial People's Committee, said that Ha Giang has some specialties, such as thick-skinned oranges, shan tuyet tea, seedless persimmon, mint honey and Xin Man rice, many of which have been granted geographical indications. Some products have been selected by the province to put into large-scale production to turn them into Ha Giang’s key economic development spearheads, such as tea and orange trees. Ha Giang is aiming at sustainable development, linking production with consumption. The province is also aiming to build a sustainable brand for its thick-skinned oranges.
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Ha Giang oranges introduced at the local specialty fair.
In addition, Hanh said that in recent years, through trade promotion, Ha Giang has expanded agricultural export markets, bringing its products to China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Taiwan (China) and some European markets.
Ha Giang has also been looking for opportunities to connect and boost trading, as well as coordinating to organise product introduction weeks, looking for opportunities to consume products and expand consumption markets. Ha Giang hopes to have support from the MOIT, Hanoi and the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade in bringing Ha Giang products into major retail and distribution systems in the capital city.
Nguyen Cong Truong, Vice Chairman of Lang Son Provincial People's Committee, introduced a series of Lang Son specialties, with the extremely familiar dishes that everyone coming to the event would like to enjoy and bring home as gifts, such as roasted pork, roasted duck, Mau Son wine and Dong Banh custard-apple. Truong said that Lang Son is currently connecting the supply and demand of goods with the Chinese market, mainly in exporting fruit. “We also hope that through the conference, with the available potentials, Lang Son would like to establish investment cooperation with provinces and cities across the country in the field of agriculture, creating opportunities for businesses in the province to promote production and product introduction.”
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Nguyen Van Phuong, Deputy Head of Bac Giang Province’s Department of Industry and Trade, said that for a long time, Bac Giang has been referring to Luc Ngan litchi, but there are many other products, such as orange, grapefruit, chicken and pig, that the province provides in large amounts annually to surrounding areas, especially the Hanoi market.
Phuong said that in 2018, the province deployed a range of programmes to introduce and promote its local products at fairs and events, while supporting to introduce and promote products in supermarkets and advertising products in programmes broadcast on the mass media. The province has also organised the Week of Thieu litchi and agricultural products of Bac Giang in Hanoi, so that consumers could learn of other products of Bac Giang besides litchi.
At the conference, distribution businesses also shared their experiences as well as requirements and desires regarding products provided.
Branding Manager at AEON Topvalue Vietnam, said that AEON had a number of meetings and discussions with agricultural production enterprises, guiding them on standards for selling goods into the system of AEON all over the world related to manufacturing and packaging. Tomoaki also said that some items that AEON wants to have on its shelves include longan and litchi. Up to now, AEON has negotiated with 18 Vietnamese companies on product distribution and is continuing to hold talks with 20 other companies.
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Director for the Big C supermarket system in the North, Khuc Tien Ha, said that Big C also had many product introduction programmes at its supermarket to introduce seasonal local specialties, such as orange, longan, litchi and avocado. Big C has also supported remote farming households in terms of capital and product consumption. Specifically, there were about 10 northern provinces with farmers receiving support from Big C, including Lao Cai and Son La.
Big C also regularly organises product introduction weeks, such as Mango Week, Da River’s Fish Week, the Week of Hoa Binh Province’s Orange and Citrus Products, and Luc Ngan Litchi Week. These are good opportunities for localities to introduce their safe products to Hanoi consumers, while retailers can also find good products to put into their supermarkets.
Ha also announced his willingness to support manufacturers in consuming their products.
Trade conferences are always an important part of Hanoi's annual product promotion activities. In contrast, as a large market with increasing demand, Hanoi is also always a destination for products of many localities. Therefore, according to Nguyen Doan Toan, Vice Chairman of Hanoi Municipal People's Committee, the most important content of the conference is to connect the needs of the parties. In recent years, Hanoi has cooperated with the relevant provincial Departments of Industry and Trade to organise agricultural product introduction weeks. Toan asked the concerned provinces to direct their departments and agencies to actively support local businesses to have more opportunities in cooperation and trading to develop production - business and product consumption in a sustainable way, meeting consumer needs and contributing to stabilising the Hanoi market.
The Hanoi’s vice chairman also said that in the near future, goods brought to Hanoi from other provinces will be given the best conditions for circulation and transportation, in accordance with the actual situation of each province, to reduce unnecessary costs. He also expressed his wish that localities would pay more attention to collaborating with Hanoi in connecting supply and demand, while urging enterprises to be more proactive in helping to achieve the goal of socio-economic development.
