Looking for cooperation in European, American markets

In recent years, several mechanical products manufactured in Vietnam have achieved high quality, comparable to those produced by some countries in the region. Domestic mechanical component manufacturers have demonstrated significant capabilities in areas such as molds of various types, mechanical components, electrical cables, plastic components, and technical rubber products.

Given the substantial demand in the supporting industry market, many enterprises have boldly invested in enhancing their production capacity and focused on developing high-quality product lines. These efforts aim to serve foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises and target the export of mechanical products.

In the series of events “Connecting the international goods supply chain 2024” in mid-June 2024, Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad paid a working visit to THACO Chu Lai Industrial Park.

Mechanical engineering enterprises need to practice production according to sustainable standards

A representative of THACO INDUSTRIES Board of Directors briefed the offices on production and business areas of THACO and its members, especially the scale, production capacity, technologies, and its development orientation in different markets in the coming time.

General Director of THACO INDUSTRIES Do Minh Tam wished to receive timely support from the Vietnamese trade offices to take advantage of opportunities and reduce risks in business; thereby, the corporation will make appropriate adjustments on its business orientation and strategies, contributing to realizing its goal to become a large-scale, world-class mechanical and supporting industry corporation.

To improve the effectiveness of cooperation and connection between THACO INDUSTRIES and partners, the working delegation proposed that the corporation develop strategic product groups in accordance with each key market, promote market research and seek for customers and partners, and observe regulations on customer information security in some countries, such as Canada, the US, and the European Union (EU).

Building appropriate export strategies

Nguyen Manh Hung, Chief Representative of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Office in New York, shared that the mechanical sector plays an important role in the US economy, especially in the automobile manufacturing industry. The upcoming trend in the US mechanical industry is to produce electric vehicles, especially sustainable and environmentally-friendly products.

Apart from being a large manufacturer of mechanical engineering, the US also has diverse import needs. Its imported products include industrial and agricultural machinery, civil aircraft, computers, automobile parts. Thus, there is still a lot of room for export to the US market. Domestic businesses need to proactively source goods and comply with market regulations, and have quality certificates to ensure safety standards, depending on each specific sector and product. On the other hand, mechanical engineering enterprises need to practice production according to sustainable standards, harmonize with international standards, and participate in export promotion fairs.

“The trade offices will coordinate with enterprises to promote trade promotion activities so that their mechanical products can access the US market smoothly,” Hung said.

Providing information about the Czech Republic market, Vietnamese Trade Counselor in the Czech Republic Nguyen Thi Hong Thuy said that the mechanical industry of the country is professional, modern and large-scale, with a high degree of digitization. The Czech Republic has the ability to produce finished products, especially cars, airplanes, ships, trains, and more. The strength of Czech mechanical products is that they are of international quality and cheap.

Opportunities for Vietnamese mechanical products to penetrate export markets remain substantial in many regions. According to Ta Duc Minh, Commercial Counselor at the Vietnam Trade Office in Japan, Japan has long been a traditional export market for Vietnamese mechanical products. However, the export turnover of mechanical goods currently accounts for only 5% of Vietnam's total export turnover to Japan.

"Japan is implementing a new policy to reduce its dependence on supply chains from China and expand towards ASEAN countries, including Vietnam. This presents an opportunity for Vietnamese mechanical enterprises to gain access in the near future," Minh said./.