Harmony of interests…

As assessed by provincial People's Committee, import-export activities in 2024 got many favorable conditions, with exports continuing maintaining positive growth. The production and business activities of enterprises were gradually restored, with the investment environment improved constantly. Most key export items showed growth compared to 2023. Enterprises in the province made good use of opportunities to export their products to markets signing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Vietnam, creating many positive impacts for them. So far, enterprises have continued taking advantage of opportunities to export their products to markets having FTAs with Vietnam while focusing on improving productivity and the quality of exported products at customers’ demands.

However, reviews by various ministries and sectors showed that most enterprises that have effectively utilized the FTAs are foreign direct investment (FDI) ones, particularly those in industries of electronics, footwear, garment-textile... Domestic enterprises, on the other hand, have made relatively limited use of these agreements. Regarding this issue, a representative from the Multilateral Trade Policy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that there are various solutions for businesses to better uphold FTAs. One of these solutions is to collaborate with FDI enterprises to form up a supply chain. This is because FDI enterprises are multinational corporations, with financial capacity, global management experience, advanced technologies…

In Binh Duong, domestic enterprises believe that if they can join the supply chains of FDI ones, they would have opportunities to learn for faster growth and better integration. However, in order to join the supply chains of FDI enterprises or engage directly with foreign enteprises and partners, domestic enterprises must make efforts to change and adapt in order to seize opportunities presented by the FTAs. On the other hand, it's not only domestic enterprises that need to change; there must also be a "give-and-take" collaboration from FDI ones. This is because when FDI enterprises invest in Vietnam, they also benefit from the FTAs that Vietnam has participated in. Therefore, there should be "responsible clauses" for FDI enterprises, ensuring they truly collaborate with domestic ones by providing training, sharing experience, technologies and improving management capacity so that domestic enterprises can grow and meet standards required to become suppliers for FDI ones.

Reported by Khai Anh-Translated by Kim Tin