Newspaper of Industry and Trade closely collaborates with Vietnamese trade offices abroad in market information

On July 18 and 19, 2024, the Meeting of Vietnamese Trade Counselors in the European region took place in Italy with the aim of promoting economic activities and trade promotion to boost Vietnamese exports to European countries and the rest of the world. Additionally, it aimed to strengthen efforts to connect, coordinate, and support enterprises in their export promotion activities. Speaking at the meeting, Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade (NoIT) Nguyen Van Minh emphasized the particularly important role of communication in international economic integration in general and activities of Vietnamese Trade Offices in Europe and worldwide in particular. He also highlighted the coordination between the NoIT and Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad in market information dissemination. Editor-in-Chief of the NoIT Nguyen Van Minh said that the presence of Vietnamese products in foreign markets is one of the significant achievements of the international economic integration process, which has been a crucial direction of the Party for many years. By participating in the global economy, Vietnam has transformed from an importing country to an exporting nation, with exports being a highlight of the domestic economic landscape in recent years. Notably, by effectively implementing and leveraging the advantages of trade agreements, Vietnam has become one of the world’s top 20 countries in terms of trade. In 2023, the total import and export turnover of the country reached US$681.04 billion. In the first half of 2024, the total import and export turnover reached US$369.62 billion, an increase of 16 percent or US$51.08 billion compared to the same period last year. The sum included US$190.73 billion worth of exports, up 14.9 percent or US$24.74 billion, and US$178.88 billion worth of imports, up 17.3 percent or US$26.34 billion. "Significant contributions to this overall success came from the industry and trade sector’s international economic activities, particularly the network of Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad," emphasized Nguyen Van Minh. Currently, the network of Trade Offices at Vietnamese representative agencies abroad includes 61 Trade Offices and Branches. Specifically, the Asia-Africa region has 28 Trade Offices and 4 Branches; the Europe-America region has 26 Trade Offices and 3 Branches. Additionally, there is 1 Vietnamese delegation to the WTO and 3 Trade Promotion Offices. As the official publication of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the forum for the Vietnamese industry and trade sector, the NoIT has made comprehensive efforts to innovate. From being ranked over 620, after more than two years of transformation, by June 2024, the NoIT had risen to the Top 50, climbing more than 570 places, according to the international ranking site Similarweb. The NoIT is now proud to be one of the 50 most-viewed electronic newspapers in Vietnam, ranking 474^th among hundreds of thousands of websites in Vietnam. The NoIT currently offers a wide range of products, including the print version, the electronic version, the Industry and Trade Media special page, the Trade Opportunity special page, the National Brand special page, the Vietnam Economy special page, and an ecosystem of reputable social media platforms that have been verified with blue and gray ticks, such as YouTube, Facebook, Zalo, and TikTok. Editor-in-Chief of the NoIT Nguyen Van Minh stated that disseminating information about economic activities in different sectors in a timely, accurate, and in-depth manner, the NoIT is proud to have become a "bridge" between Vietnamese Trade Offices abroad, particularly those in Europe, and ministries, sectors, associations, localities, and readers nationwide. Currently, the NoIT has opened new sections: Information about Trade Offices and "Trade Opportunities" on its website which publish news, activities, warnings, and proposals of Vietnamese trade offices abroad on Vietnamese goods, markets, trade opportunities to promote the consumption of Vietnamese goods in international markets and vice versa, contributing to boosting Vietnam's trade relations with countries, regions, and territories. Many Vietnamese trade offices in the European countries like Sweden, Belgium, Austria, and the Netherlands, etc. have regularly coordinated with the NoIT to publish information about their activities, helping spread information to ministries, sectors, localities, associations, and enterprises in the most effective and accurate way. In particular, when there are prominent incidents that need information dissemination and public opinion orientation, the NoIT has actively coordinated with the trade offices and trade counselors abroad to provide accurate information to readers. In recent years, in order to effectively implement communication activities on State policies, the NoIT has produced the Policy and Dialogue Program in the form of a talk show on its electronic newspaper. This is a forum for ministries, sectors, localities, and enterprises on current issues of public concern, including hot issues related to the industry and trade sector. On this forum, despite the time zone difference, the Vietnamese trade offices abroad have enthusiastically participated as speakers who promptly provided information about foreign markets to readers of the NoIT. Alongside with broadcasts on the Industry and Trade Media section of the e-newspaper, these programs are also broadcast on the newspaper's social media platforms such as Tiktok, Youtube, Facebook and receive high views and good interactions. This shows that information from Vietnamese trade offices abroad always receives great attention from readers of the NoIT. Given the important position of Vietnamese trade offices abroad in providing market information, export orientation, acting as a bridge to find partners for domestic enterprises to boost exports... since the beginning of 2022, to follow directions of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Industry and Trade, providing market information and consulting on market information for associations, enterprises and localities have received special attention. Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has initiated briefings on trade promotion of the Vietnamese trade office system abroad with localities, associations, enterprises and related units and organizations under the MoIT, and related ministries and sectors every month to provide information on new policies and regulations on markets and timely recommendations for businesses. To disseminate information about this important activity, the NoIT has used a large space on its publications to promptly report on the events. In addition to articles on publications, it also produces videos and talk shows posted on the Industry and Trade Media section and social media platforms, attracting a large number of readers. It can be affirmed that the NoIT and the Vietnamese trade offices abroad in general, and in Europe in particular, have made great efforts to closely coordinate in communication and dissemination of market information, which have obtained great results in spreading information about the Vietnamese trade offices.