Long-term strategy needed for rural industrial products

Rural Industrial Product Fair 2023, opening on December 15, 2023

Manufacturers of certified outstanding rural industrial products are prioritized to access support of national and local industry promotion programs, said Ngo Quang Trung, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agency for Regional Industry and Trade (ARIT).

Ha Thi Vinh, Chairwoman of the Hanoi Handicraft and Craft Villages Association, said that with industry promotion programs’ support, many craft village-based producers have procured advanced machinery and equipment, and created good quality, highly artistic products at reasonable costs. A long-term strategy is needed to help strong, potential producers of outstanding rural industrial products to look for and expand foreign markets, Vinh said.

Nguyen Thanh Hung from the Nghe An Fisheries Joint Stock Company said it is necessary to have a consistent medium- to long-term (10-20 year) strategy to enlarge the size of micro- and medium-sized enterprises. He has proposed that the Government have preferential credit policies for rural industrial producers, which currently find it hard to borrow loans from the banks to develop and expand production.

On the sidelines of a recent exhibition of rural industrial products organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, representatives of many businesses said they want to be supported in trade promotion inside and outside Vietnam, as well as in procurement of farm produce, forest product and seafood preservation and processing machinery and equipment.

The ARIT’s Ngo Quang Trung said the annual industry promotion capital remains modest – about VND100 billion plus, and relevant authorities have to consider support for specific fields. In this regard, priority is currently given to the procurement and application of advanced production machinery and equipment.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has a national trade promotion program to support and facilitate trade promotion activities, Trung added.

Development of rural industrial products is an important part of the national industry promotion program, he said.