Promotion Activities: Good and Bad

(Baonghean) - In recent times, industrial promotion activities have contributed to the socio-economic development of the province, especially in the fields of industry, handicrafts and craft villages. However, to improve the effectiveness of industrial promotion activities in the coming time, there must be highlights and projects with influence and spread.

"Boost" for thebusiness

With capital support from the Department of Local Industry - Ministry of Industry and Trade, Minh Anh - Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company and a number of other enterprises have had more favorable conditions and opportunities to improve production and business efficiency. Ms. Quang Thi Hoa - a worker at the garment factory of Minh Anh - Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company (Bac Vinh Industrial Park) recounted: "As a family in difficult circumstances in Long Thanh - Yen Thanh commune, I came to Vinh to study to become an industrial tailor at Minh Anh - Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company. I was supported with vocational training fees, lunch provided, and the company also paid an additional salary allowance of 1.8 million VND/month. After 3 months of studying industrial sewing supported by the industrial promotion program, I have mastered the job and now have a stable income of over 3 million VND/month." Ms. Hoa and 300 young workers at Minh Anh - Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company were fortunate to benefit from the 2013 industrial promotion program invested by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Bamboo and rattan production at Duc Phong Company Limited.

Minh Anh - Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company is one of the garment enterprises in the province that employs a large number of workers (currently has more than 1,100 staff and employees). To support enterprises with highly skilled labor, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has invested capital to organize industrial sewing training with enterprises. In 2013, the industrial promotion program of the Department of Local Industry - Ministry of Industry and Trade supported vocational training for 300 workers learning sewing at Minh Anh - Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company (training period from June to September 2013), all of these students currently have stable jobs at the company. Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan - Human Resources Manager of Minh Anh - Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company commented: "Most of the tailors trained by the industrial promotion program of the Department of Local Industry - Ministry of Industry and Trade have performed well and their skills have been increasingly improved, contributing to the company's increase in output and quality".

In 2012, Minh Anh – Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company also trained and created jobs for 200 garment workers through the industrial promotion program. In 2013, Minh Anh – Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company produced 1.5 million products (including export pants and shirts) and in the first 2 months of 2014, produced more than 200,000 products. In addition to Minh Anh – Kim Lien Garment Joint Stock Company, there are also Tuan Phuong Company Limited in Dien Hong Commune – Dien Chau, Northern Construction and Industrial Development Joint Stock Company (in Hamlet 2, Nghi Phu Commune – Vinh City) which received capital support for vocational training.

In 2013, the Northern Construction and Industrial Development Joint Stock Company was also supported to build a demonstration model of high-quality plastic sheet production techniques with a capacity of 2,500 tons of products/year. Because this is a new production model and uses the main raw material of superfine stone powder derived from white limestone in Quy Hop, which is used by the enterprise to produce high-quality plastic roofing sheets. Therefore, support to build this model is very necessary and so that it can be replicated in Nghe An. Although the capital support for this model is only 250 million VND out of the total investment capital of the factory of more than 19.2 billion VND, but thanks to being used for the right purpose, it has been very effective. Ms. Ha Thi Thu Hang - Head of Organization - Administration Department of Northern Construction Industry and Development Joint Stock Company said: "With additional capital support from the Department of Local Industry - Ministry of Industry and Trade, we have compiled documents introducing the production process of high-quality plastic panels for all staff and workers in the company and introduced them to customers. With that capital, we installed some new equipment in the production line of plastic panels, door frame extrusion racks... to improve quality and output, and at the same time organized model introductions for units and businesses to visit and learn." Due to the investment in modern production lines (window frame extrusion racks, window frame molds...), attracting customers, the unit's revenue is quite high. In 2013, it reached 33 billion VND.

Create momentum for small playersindustry and craft villages

The most effective industrial promotion program that the province has built in recent times is vocational training for workers in craft villages in the province. This is the most implemented program, accounting for 33% of the industrial promotion budget because it is suitable for the needs of localities and businesses. Over the past 10 years, the Industrial Promotion Center has implemented 351 training projects in 34 occupations with 23,427 workers for 81 craft villages, focusing on main occupations such as bamboo and rattan weaving, brocade weaving, carpentry, silk reeling, seafood processing, industrial sewing... In the 3 districts of Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Con Cuong, the Center has coordinated with Hai Van Brocade Textile Cooperative and Mon Son Handicraft Cooperative to organize training for 300 workers in the districts. Ms. Ha Thi Hang, Head of Mon Son Handicraft Cooperative, said: Initially, the Cooperative operated on a small scale because not many women knew how to use weaving machines and apply modern techniques. But after the Industrial Promotion Center organized vocational training, many women have performed well in weaving techniques. Currently, the cooperative has 60 regular workers and about 200 seasonal workers in the commune. Each month, the cooperative produces 500 - 600 products to supply the markets of neighboring districts and to sell at fair booths in the province as well as domestically.

Over the past 10 years, the center has developed 36 projects with a total capital of up to 1,295 million VND (an average of 38 million VND per project) for businesses to purchase equipment and innovate technology. A number of demonstration models have been implemented and are now creating high efficiency such as: Production of rattan and bamboo materials for export at Duc Phong Company Limited, processing fish sauce at Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company, production of green tea at 3/2 Industrial and Agricultural Company, production of tunnel bricks using new technology at Nghe An Construction Joint Stock Company No. 3... Thanks to support from the industrial promotion fund, businesses have reduced difficulties and boosted production. Mr. Thai Dai Phong, Director of Duc Phong Company Limited, said: Although the support from the industrial promotion fund is not large, it has helped the company create a stable source of raw materials. Previously, the company had discarded all the excess materials, but thanks to the use of recycling technology, it has saved quite a bit of money. Thanks to that, the company's operations are more stable and the workers' lives are better.

At Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company, with support from the provincial and national industrial promotion funds, in the period of 2002 - 2010, the company participated in many booths at most fairs and exhibitions in Vinh City, Dien Chau and some fairs in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Can Tho... Mr. Vo Van Dai, Director of Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company said: Through the fairs, the company has opened more stores, agents and some consignment points for selling products. Brand building and market development have helped the company's products to be present in most domestic markets and are also very popular in the Lao market. In 2012, the company exported 1,800 liters of fish sauce to the Malaysian market. Van Phan fish sauce is now a brand, thanks to the industrial promotion fund's support for promotion.

In the difficult economic conditions, with the attention of the Provincial People's Committee, the industrial promotion budget is arranged stably and increases steadily every year (specifically, in the period 2002-2005, 2 billion VND per year; in the period 2007-2012, 4 billion VND per year). Thanks to the "involvement" of industrial promotion, the value of small-scale industrial production increased by an average of 18.32% per year, rural industries developed strongly, especially export rattan and bamboo weaving, wooden furniture, seafood processing, brocade weaving... Up to now, 119 craft villages have been recognized by the Provincial People's Committee. Some products such as fish sauce, soy sauce, Cua tiles, and Quy Chau incense have had brands inside and outside the province. From a mainly agricultural province, Nghe An has shifted strongly towards industry and services. This affirms that industrial promotion activities are a policy and a suitable direction for developing industry, small-scale industry and building craft villages. These are very important results, creating a premise to continue promoting industrial promotion activities in the coming years.

Need for innovation

In addition to initial successes, industrial promotion activities in the province still face many difficulties. Currently, industrial promotion capital still relies on the provincial budget and national industrial promotion capital without mobilizing many other resources. Meanwhile, the system of officials monitoring industrial promotion activities at the district level is unstable, and industrial promotion procedures are still complicated. Industrial promotion projects with great influence and a role as a core promotion have not been built... Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong, Director of the Center, said: Each year, the average industrial promotion capital is more than 4 billion VND, an average of 70 million VND per project is divided into 2 times, so many units are not "enthusiastic". The content of industrial promotion activities is not close to the needs of production facilities and localities.

The biggest problem is the idea that "easy to do, hard to abandon" has made the scale of industrial promotion activities in the past too small and unbalanced between tasks. Many localities still only focus on implementing vocational training activities and building technical demonstration models, and have not expanded to implement other industrial promotion activities according to the 7 sub-programs in Decision No. 136/2007/QD-TTg. For example, in the 7 contents, vocational training, vocational transmission, and vocational development alone account for 39% of the budget plan. Meanwhile, developing consumer markets, building brands, and building production models only account for 10% of the budget; supporting machinery and equipment, developing products, and transferring technology only account for 4% of the budget...

Some industrial promotion projects have not focused on providing clear and effective support for key industries, occupations, and products that are suitable to the potential advantages of each locality. Therefore, some vocational training projects are not effective, such as embroidery, stone carving, half-joining, bamboo mats, etc. Mr. Nguyen Hong Phong added that the biggest difficulty at present is that at the district level, there are no specialized officials in the field of industrial promotion, so the selection and development of support plans are limited and do not meet the needs of localities. From here, the quality of developing industrial promotion plans and projects is not high. There are still many projects that are inconsistent with regulations on content, estimates, and documents...

In the coming time, to improve the effectiveness of industrial promotion activities, the Department of Industry and Trade needs to strengthen guidance, inspection, supervision and promptly remove difficulties and obstacles, ensuring the completion of the project on schedule. At the same time, promote the linkage between localities, distribution enterprises, and distribution types to find outlets for rural industrial products. Enterprises and rural industrial production establishments must also proactively update information, seek markets, innovate technology, learn management skills and knowledge, boldly invest, and care for workers. Only when the professionalism in industrial promotion activities is improved can enterprises and rural industrial production establishments develop more and more strongly.

Pham Bang - Hoang Vinh