Many suggestions to help trade and services develop in Nghe An.

Overview of the seminar. Photo: Thu Huyen

The workshop took place on the morning of August 18th with the participation of: Mr. Truong Dinh Tuyen - Former Member of the Central Committee of the Party, former Minister of Trade, former Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Dinh Thien - Former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics; Mr. Ho Xuan Hung - President of the Vietnam Association of Agriculture and Rural Development, along with numerous scientists from various departments, bureaus, and institutes.

Representing Nghe An province were: Mr. Thai Thanh Quy - Alternate Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Department; Mr. Le Xuan Dai - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Mr. Le Hong Vinh - Member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, Chairman of the Provincial Party Committee's Inspection Committee; and representatives from various departments and agencies.

In his opening remarks at the workshop, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Dai emphasized: In recent years, thanks to the attention of the Party, the State, and central ministries and agencies, along with the efforts of all levels of government from the province to the grassroots in developing and exploiting the potential and strengths of the locality, conditions have been created for the trade and service sector in Nghe An to develop and achieve many significant achievements.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Dai delivered the opening remarks at the workshop. Photo: Thu Huyen.

Trade and service activities have developed rapidly and diversified across many sectors and regions. The average value of service production during the 2016-2018 period increased by 7.1%, exceeding the target of 9-10%. Total retail sales and consumer service revenue during the 2016-2018 period increased by 11.8%. In 2016, it reached VND 61,632 billion, of which retail sales amounted to VND 42,705 billion; in 2017, it reached VND 69,388 billion, of which total retail sales amounted to VND 47,564 billion. In 2018, it is estimated to reach VND 75,400 billion, of which total retail sales are estimated at VND 53,700 billion.

Trade and services have developed rapidly with the participation of many economic sectors and increasingly modern business methods. To date, the province has over 5,500 enterprises and more than 143,000 individual business households operating in the trade and service sector; the total average annual production and business capital of enterprises and business households reaches nearly 150,000 billion VND; and the workforce in the trade and service sector is approximately 290,200 people, accounting for approximately 15.6% of the total workforce in the province.

However, Nghe An's trade and service activities still face many limitations and shortcomings. The Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Le Xuan Dai, hopes that scientists and experts from central ministries and agencies will use their practical summaries to clarify the current state of trade and services in Nghe An. They should also analyze and identify the context and conditions for development in the coming period; provide information and scientific arguments; and share valuable experiences to help Nghe An achieve its set targets.

Associate Professor Dr. Tran Dinh Thien – Former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, delivered a speech at the conference.Photo: Thu Huyen

At the workshop, experts and scientists discussed various topics to propose solutions for the development of trade and tourism in the province. The workshop analyzed the opportunities and challenges for the development of trade and services in Nghe An in the context of international integration; solutions to attract investment projects for the development of trade and service infrastructure in Nghe An province up to 2020, with a vision to 2025; and solutions to enhance the competitiveness of businesses and products. The workshop also analyzed and forecasted the development of global trade and services and assessed the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the development of trade, services, and Nghe An up to 2025...

Creating a market for service development.

Speaking at the seminar, former Central Committee member and former Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen stated that the issue of international economic integration, with Vietnam's accession to the WTO and participation in numerous free trade agreements, including new-generation agreements such as CPTPP and VEFTA, opens up great opportunities but also poses many challenges to the development of the province's service sector, especially challenges for service providers in Nghe An in particular and Vietnamese businesses operating in the province in general.

Former Central Committee member and former Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen speaks about the opportunities and challenges in developing the service sector in Nghe An province in the context of international economic integration. Photo: Thu Huyen.

"Competition among localities to improve the business environment to attract investment will increase, while Nghe An is not yet among the top localities nationwide in the PCI index, only ranking 20th, but the criteria measuring the quality of the public administration are at a low level. Competition between domestic and foreign service providers is also increasing, while most Nghe An businesses operating in their hometown are small-scale with limited capital. The living standards of the people are lower than the national average… these are the challenges for Nghe An," Mr. Truong Dinh Tuyen emphasized.

With foresight, former Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen suggested solutions to improve the business environment through competition among localities; mechanisms to encourage investment in manufacturing industries, create markets for service development, and strongly develop logistics services, building logistics centers in Vinh City, Thai Hoa town, and Hoang Mai district on an appropriate scale; creating connections between regions within the province as well as with neighboring provinces to develop goods circulation, increase the value of distribution services, and develop tourism services...

Loading and unloading goods at Cua Lo port. Photo: Thu Huyen

We need to change the mindset of "prioritizing agriculture over commerce".

On another aspect, Mr. Ho Xuan Hung, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Agriculture and Rural Development, emphasized the importance of trade based on an analysis of the agricultural product problem: bumper harvests leading to low prices, and high prices coinciding with poor harvests. He argued that the focus on commercial consumption is receiving little attention. Trade is lagging behind, prioritizing production over trade. Therefore, Nghe An needs to reorganize its trade, paying particular attention to developing wholesale markets. According to the delegate, wholesale markets are the gateway to food safety and hygiene, ensuring product safety and longevity for consumers; they are a direct link between production and consumption.

"Nghe An currently has a mindset of 'prioritizing agriculture over commerce' - if this doesn't change, it will be difficult to develop," worried the Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Also this morning, the workshop heard several presentations, including: "Solutions to enhance the competitiveness of businesses and products in Nghe An" by Dr. Nguyen Dinh Cung - Director of the Vietnam Institute for Economic Management Research; and "Forecasting the development of trade and services worldwide and assessing the impact of the 4th industrial revolution on the development of trade and services in Vietnam and Nghe An until 2025" presented by Dr. Pham Ngoc Hai - Deputy Director, in charge of the Institute for Strategic and Policy Research in Industry and Trade...

In his concluding remarks at the workshop, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Dai acknowledged and highly appreciated the frank and heartfelt opinions of the delegates regarding Nghe An. This was one of the important events aimed at evaluating and reviewing the results of implementing the Party's Resolution objectives, and also served as a message reflecting the concerns and aspirations of the leaders and people of Nghe An in seeking and determining the direction for the development of trade and services in the province, contributing to Nghe An's early achievement of the goal of becoming a trade and service center in the North Central region.

"Following this workshop, I request the Department of Industry and Trade to coordinate with other departments, agencies, and localities to gather and synthesize the opinions of the delegates for further research and to continue advising on the implementation and successful completion of the program and objectives of the Resolution of the 18th Congress of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee and Resolution 26/NQ.BCT of the Politburo," Comrade Le Xuan Dai emphasized.