Rousing domestic market potential

This is the first time a promotion program has been organized on a national scale in up to one month (July 1 – 31).

The program is taking place in the context of businesses trying to overcome difficulties caused by the Covid-19 epidemic, showing that the domestic market is an equally attractive opportunity and playground.

The program to stimulate domestic consumption has drawn the participation of manufacturing and trading enterprises in various fields, including those previously only specializing in producing exports.

Stimulus programs have been implemented not only for traditional shopping but also in the field of e-commerce with tremendous discounts of up to 100%.

Many people believe that the national concentrated promotion month was initiated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade at this point mainly to help enterprises clear out goods in stock due to the impact of the epidemic.

The above assessment is partly true since implementing the program at this time is appropriate for businesses to evaluate the domestic market more precisely.

Enterprises having only exported goods so far will have to re-assess the potential of the domestic market, re-study market segments, and find out products suitable to consumers.

Europe, America, and many other countries which are considered as major markets of numerous exporters are facing difficulties because of the Covid-19 epidemic. Exporters' turning to the homeland will benefit domestic consumers. If many enterprises provide the same type of goods, competitiveness will increase and people will have more options in shopping with reasonable prices...

The domestic consumption stimulus program launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade focuses on promotion, discounting, and introduction of new products; however, its impact is greater than that.

Apart from shopping stimulation and opportunities for many enterprises to revive after the Covid-19 epidemic, such programs also help domestic businesses seek opportunities and enhance their competitiveness with a series of imported goods which have had, are having, and will have favorable opportunities to enter Vietnam.

A lot of free trade agreements have been applied; especially, the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement will come into effect in early August.

This can also be considered as a necessary exercise for domestic businesses in the face of impacts of free trade agreements. Goods from other countries will enjoy certain incentives and be easily available in Vietnam.

This program of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is also the realization of the Government's guideline in domestic market development.

The domestic market is always a platform helping enterprises develop. Experience indicates that businesses wanting sustainable development should both care about export and attach special importance to the domestic market.

This success has been proved by the past lychee season when the province-based enterprises not only paid attention to export but also took full advantage of the domestic market to sell lychee. Therefore, though China (accounting for a large market share in lychee consumption) encountered difficulties because of the epidemic, lychee prices were still high and stable.

A lot of garment exporters in the province also switched to producing face masks to serve the demand of domestic consumers when export markets were interrupted.

At this moment, many garment exporters in the province are also seeking and developing products to serve the need of domestic consumers.

The campaign "Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods" at times widely spread from urban to rural areas. However, in fact, in recent years, it has somewhat subsided.

Therefore, the domestic consumption stimulus program of the Ministry of Industry and Trade can be considered as a warm-up for a new process to help enterprises and people pay more attention to the domestic market and goods. This is also a way to help the national economy sustainably develop with high competitiveness.

HAI MINH