The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has said it will focus on renewing and enhancing trade promotion activities targeting new markets of potential in order to boost exports, such as India, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

Attention will also be given to markets that are less affected by inflation and have recorded positive growth, such as ASEAN.

MoIT will promote the effective exploitation of free trade agreements (FTAs) and facilitate digital transformation in granting certificates of origin to help businesses make full use of FTAs.

Measures will be taken to boost the development of logistics services to help cut costs and improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese exports.

The ministry will regularly organize meetings between relevant agencies, localities, businesses, and associations to keep parties updated on demand and new regulations in various markets.

It will also promote imports and exports via cross-border e-commerce.

Assessing export results in the first four months of the year, MoIT said a decline was recorded as a result of falling orders from key export partners such as the US and Europe. Meanwhile, industrial production sectors depend on the global market for consumption, particularly sectors like textiles and garments, footwear, and electronics. Around 10 per cent of products in these sectors are for the domestic market while the remaining 90 per cent are exported.

Prices of many export products have also fallen, especially agricultural products such as cashew nuts, coffee, pepper, and rubber, affecting production and exports.

Moreover, China reopening its borders has created competitive pressure for many products from Vietnam, while local enterprises still face a range of difficulties due to high production costs, falling orders, low domestic consumption, and problematic access to credit.

The global economy still faces difficulties and recovery is uneven among countries, resulting in lower global consumption, according to the MoIT.

However, it also said there remain positive signs. Giant economies such as China and the US have recorded higher growth than forecasted and some emerging economies in Asia have posted positive development.

At the same time, certain State policies have proved effective in promoting production activities. The Index of Industrial Production is heading upwards and imports of materials are also on the rise, signaling positive development in export activities.

Total trade value in the first four months of this year reached $206.76 billion, a year-on-year decline of 15.3 per cent, figures from the General Department of Vietnam Customs show.