Dong Nai supports local businesses

The southern province of Dong Nai held a meeting yesterday in a bid to remove difficulties for businesses seeking financing and help local businesses find new markets.

Speaking at the meeting, Le Van Danh, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, said the province was implementing closer linkages with other regions in the country to improve business co-operation.


For oversea markets, the province would organise investment and trade promotions in the US to assist local business in expanding and developing markets.

In the time to come, by continuously joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, there would be increased assistance for local businesses seeking more opportunities to expand their export markets, he said.

It is expected that export to the US market will increase by 10 per cent. However, the province's Industry and Trade Department warns that the largest difficulties facing Vietnamese goods are trade barriers, anti-dumping and anti-subsidiary policies from the US.

According to the department, Japan is an important market, ranked only behind the US. The export turnover last year from Dong Nai to Japan reached more than US$1.15 billion, from exports such as rubber, timber products, textiles, computer and electronic spare-parts.

The province authorities note that in the near future, many export items to this market will gradually enjoy tax exemptions and fees in line with the TTP roadmap.

Accordingly, commodities such as farm produce, food processing, as well as electrical and electronic appliances from Viet Nam, will have access to the Japanese market with a zero per cent tax.

Also, Dong Nai exports large volume of goods to other countries, such as South Korea and the EU. Additionally, the province has signed trade co-operation agreements with the United Arab Emirates to export farm produce.

Concerning difficulties in receiving credit loans, Tran Minh Phuc, Vice Chairman of Dong Nai People's Committee, said his province instructed the State Bank's branch to work out a flexible lending policy to help businesses gain access to financing.

In addition, businesses also suggested that local authorities continue improving administrative procedures and further simplify and reduce inconveniences to businesses involved in receiving export clearances for goods.

Export leader

Dong Nai is among the country's top five leading provinces for exports, with its Jan-August turnover estimated at over US$8.1 billion, which is a year-on-year increase of 14.5 per cent.

In August alone, the province took in nearly US$1.2 billion from exports, the highest level since the beginning of this year.

The success was largely attributed to efforts by local authorities in organizing trade and investment promotion activities in several countries, said Le Van Danh, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade.

Through these activities, local enterprises, especially those producing textiles, footwear and fiber, set up partnerships and signed long-term orders to ship their goods abroad, he noted.

To reach its export target set for this year, Danh said local authorities would continue to increase promotional activities, as well as create all possible conditions for enterprises to bring their products to new markets, such as Africa, the Middle East and South America.

From now until 2015, Dong Nai would focus on the markets of Cambodia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia, Chile, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which have great demand for the province's key products.

Additionally, officials said the department would regularly hold meetings with firms to swiftly address difficulties facing them when exporting products.