Vietnam trade fair, Over 100 trade villages attending trade fair
More than 100 trade villages in provinces and cities nationwide are attending the trade fair on handicrafts opened yesterday in Hanoi.
According to Bach Quoc Khang, Head of the Agricultural Product Processing Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the trade fair has 150 stalls offering products from trade villages, associations, and craftsmen nationwide. Products displayed include silver and gold jewellery, fine arts, bronze castings, porcelain and pottery, silk, sculptured products, oyster-inlayed products and ornamental plants and flowers.
On the sidelines will be contests in creativity for Vietnamese craftsmen, organised every two years by MARD and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). The primary examination began in August and the awards ceremony will take place on November 19.
According to MARD, more than 40% of the products made in rural areas have been exported to 100 countries worldwide and could bring increased export turnover. In 2004, for example, turnover on handicraft products reached US$450mil (excluding wooden furniture), an increase of 23% over 2003.
Currently,1.42mil households throughout the country earn their income from handicrafts.
Capital to host international trade fair
Foreign and local firms have registered 400 stalls for the 16th Annual Vietnam International Trade Fair - one of the country's most important trade promotion activities, organisers announced yesterday at a press conference in Hanoi.
The international participants include South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, mainland China, Myanmar, Russia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The fair, known as Vietnam Expo 2006, will be held from April 5-9 at the Giang Vo Exhibition and Fair Centre in the capital.
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Vietnam Expo 2006, whose theme is "Vietnam: Integration and Development," is jointly organised by the Ministry of Trade's Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency and the Vietnam National Trade Fair and Advertising Company (Vinexad).
The organisers hope that the number of participants will reach more than 870, up 20% from last year's expo, said Vinexad director Nguyen Khac Luan.
Also at the press conference, the Deputy Minister of Trade, Luong Van Tu, expressed that the fair would help the country notch up an export turnover of US$38bil this year, rising 18% from a year earlier.
Import taxes on many goods from the ASEAN block (Association of South East Asian Nations) will drop to 0-5% by 2013-15, as will products from China and Japan during or shortly after this period, Mr Tu added.
"Thus, local exporters have to make great efforts to obtain a firm foothold not only at the domestic but also the regional market," he said.
"Our exports to neighbouring countries still remain poor. To minimise the country's import surplus, the enterprises have to boost exports to these nations," said the deputy minister.
Specifically, Vietnamese firms should also invest in neighbouring nations such as Laos and Cambodia that will likely enjoy the zero import levies offered by developed nations of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) under agreements at the 6th WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong in mid-December, he said.
The expo will mainly feature wooden furniture, handicrafts, agro-products, processed food, electronics, information technology, machinery, textiles and garments, construction materials and fashion products.
Seminars such as "Controlling quality of export goods" and "Designing and developing products" will also take place during the expo.
According to the organisers, the total value of contracts signed by local and overseas participants at the Vietnam Expo 2005 reached more than $286mil.
The annual expo has seen solid growth in recent years, with deals totalling $160mil in 2001, $211mil in 2002, $253mil in 2003 and $275mil in 2004.
At the expo, the State offices - ministries of trade, science and technology and directorate of measuring and quality - will award a golden medal to the best locally - made products.
