At the National Farmers Forum 2025, held on October 1, representatives from businesses and cooperatives expressed keen interest in agricultural product commercialization, developing local agricultural brands, digital trade connectivity, and strategic market orientation for both domestic consumption and agricultural exports, according to a report from Radio the Voice of Vietnam.

Addressing the forum, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien noted that while many products are now being exported globally, farmers tend to overlook the domestic market with over 100 million consumers.

Therefore, the minister urged producers and businesses to support farmers in focusing on and building strategies for developing the domestic market and consumption to ensure safety and effectiveness. 

Ms. Vuong Thi Thuong, Director of Toan Thuong Agricultural Cooperative (in northern Lang Son province), voiced her concern about fake and counterfeit agricultural products that damage brand reputation. She requested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) outline its priority plan for trade promotion of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products in the coming period. She also inquired about what farmers need to do to participate in such programs, promote and sell their products, while seeking solutions to protect farmers and domestic enterprises from external unfair competition.

In response, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director General of the Trade Promotion Agency under the MoIT, stated that to elevate OCOP products from local specialties to international recognition, the MoIT has been and is supporting businesses and cooperatives in improving quality, packaging, labeling, traceability, and meeting international standards.

"Annually, the ministry organizes the OCOP Export Products Fair - VIETNAM OCOPEX. This serves as both a promotional forum and a trade connection channel, helping OCOP products access international distribution systems and participate more deeply in global value chains. The MoIT also supports OCOP products in connecting with domestic e-commerce platforms and international platforms (Amazon, Alibaba, etc.); collaborating with technology and logistics corporations to provide training programs for cooperatives, especially women workers, on digital skills, online promotion, and livestream selling," Mr. Phu said.

The MOIT will continue to prioritize support for key, high-value-added agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products such as fruits, seafood, coffee, pepper, rice, and deeply processed products. Therefore, the ministry recommends that farmers and cooperatives proactively comply with quality standards and traceability, and actively coordinate with local authorities, associations, businesses, and e-commerce platforms to promote their products.

Mr. Pham Hong Duy, Deputy Director of An Phat General Agricultural Service Cooperative, requested the MoIT to outline the essential conditions for businesses and cooperatives to participate in programs, promote, and sell agricultural products.

According to Mr. Phu, businesses, cooperatives, and farmers need to improve product quality, ensure food safety, and traceability. In particular, participating entities need to especially focus on applying green, clean cultivation processes that meet GlobalGAP standards or equivalent international standards to meet the increasingly stringent requirements of the export market.

Along with this, the agricultural production, processing, and supply chain needs to better control pesticide residues, preservatives, and apply post-harvest preservation technology to help maintain quality, extend shelf life, and reduce losses. Crucially, implementing a traceability system is indispensable, allowing consumers and importing partners to check the entire process from cultivation, harvesting, processing, to distribution, thereby enhancing trust and product value.

Regarding brand building and market connectivity expansion, Mr. Phu suggested that farmers and cooperatives need to invest in packaging design and labeling so that products not only meet quality standards but also carry their own unique identity, making them easily recognizable in the market. 

Regarding solutions to protect farmers and domestic businesses from external unfair competitive practices, Mr. Luong Hoang Thai, Director General of the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) under the MoIT, stated that this is a "battle" requiring significant cost and effort. The only measure to protect and fight is for businesses and cooperatives to absolutely register for product protection. However, the current difficulty is that OCOP products are still small-scale and lack linkage.

Therefore, Mr. Thai recommended that the Government should allocate a certain percentage of trade remedies tax revenue (currently around VND1.3 trillion - over $49 million) to support the cost of brand protection for farmers and domestic products, as individual farmers would not be able to afford this on their own.