The current situation of rural markets affects the consumption of goods

(Baonghean) -One of the important issues to stimulate consumer demand and rapidly increase domestic consumption of goods, especially in rural areas, is to invest in upgrading and developing the rural market network.

Gam Market (Xuan Thanh - Yen Thanh) is adjacent to Yen Thanh Town. The market opens every afternoon, attracting a large number of people to do business. The market's activities have created jobs for many local workers. However, because of its temporary cover, lack of tents or solid booths, and the market floor is made of dirt, it is muddy on rainy days, making it inconvenient for buying and selling goods.

Not only in Yen Thanh, but also in many localities from the plains to the mountains, the image of the market is very "poor" in form. According to statistics from the Department of Industry and Trade, currently in the province, about 60% of goods are circulated through rural markets. However, the reality is that the infrastructure in the markets is very weak and dilapidated. Most of the markets were formed mainly before planning, so the distribution is uneven among regions; the electricity system, traffic in the market, and water supply and drainage are still weak. The fire prevention and fighting system is absent or very limited; environmental sanitation inside and outside the market has not been given attention, greatly affecting the issue of food hygiene and safety.

Goods in many rural markets are still not abundant.

Although the rural market is still vacant, according to research, many businesses are still hesitant to open distribution channels for Vietnamese goods in this market because of low purchasing power and lack of interest. Thus, businesses have inadvertently left a large market vacant, creating opportunities for products of unknown origin, cheap prices, and low quality to attack and dominate for a long time. Rural consumers are the ones who are suffering many disadvantages in accessing and using good quality Vietnamese goods.

Mr. Tran Duc Chinh - Acting Head of the Trade Management Department (Nghe An Department of Industry and Trade), said: Due to the need to serve the consumption of a part of the population living in villages and hamlets, many markets have been spontaneously formed. These markets only meet in the morning (or afternoon), each session only lasts a few hours, mainly agricultural households with self-produced agricultural products and fresh foods for sale, so the products are still poor. The inadequacies in market planning and management have caused waste. Mr. Chinh also added that in developing rural trade, we are interested in building traditional markets in a modern direction, which means still maintaining people's shopping habits, but must have good infrastructure, people participating in the business of goods must ensure quality, list prices and sell according to the listed prices, and have a polite sales style.

That is the view, but to improve the efficiency of rural markets, meet the development needs of society, stimulate rural consumption is still a long story. Currently, Nghe An province is implementing an investment policy to support the construction of rural markets in accordance with the socio-economic situation and State regulations. During the period from 2010 to 2015, in addition to class I and class II markets, the whole province still has up to 325 markets that need to be invested in and built to gradually replace temporary markets, flea markets, encourage people to develop production, expand the commercial system to residential areas, especially remote communes.

Thu Huyen