Economic Development Studies Head Nguyen Minh Phong. Photo: NTP
Head of the Department for Economic Development Studies and the Ha Noi Institute for Socio-Economic Development Studies, Nguyen Minh Phong, made the statement at a conference, organised to forecast economic opportunities and challenges for 2012 as well as financial solutions for exporters, held in Ha Noi on November 9.
"Exporters should develop their brand names and take action in preventing forex risks," Phong said, adding that overseas Vietnamese needed to be utilised in terms of assisting exports.
He said it was time for businesses to restructure production chains through mergers and acquisitions.
"Vietnamese export enterprises should develop human resources and risk management to improve effectiveness and take advantage of new agreements between the country and large partners such as Japan, the US and Germany," he said.
Domestic exports have brought in US$1 billion in terms of turnover.Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh said that Vietnamese exporters had faced high interest rates and public debts alongside the global economic meltdown.
He said the country had earned US$78 billion in exports during the first 10 months of the year, an increase of 35 per cent over the same period last year.
"Viet Nam is set to reach an export turnover of $98 billion, a 31 per cent increase against last year," he added, saying that the world economy next year was expected to remain unstable, exposing domestic exporters to risk despite positive results.
In agreement, Vice Chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Committee Ha Huy Tuan said that inflation would be the main concern, limiting the effectiveness of political tools.
He said that world commercial growth had been reduced inparallel with decreasing investment flow into developing countries.
Exporters had been suffering from capital and foreign currency shortages, high lending interest rates and forex fluctuations, Tuan said.
"The current situation requires joint efforts in monetary management and bank response," he added.
General Director of the DHA Garment Export Company Nguyen Van Lo said that the business had taken out limited loans due to high interest rates.
"Our largest concern is that importers could suddenly cancel contracts because of the difficult economic situation," Lo said, adding that they had refrained from increasing prices due to general financial conditions.
Exporters should diversify their products to cope with the economic downturn. Photo: NK
He added that it had been a tough task meeting certain criteria for loan purposes.
"Volatile conditions in import countries as well as tightened spending within the domestic market have put pressure on exporters. We planned to expand our market, but were forced to delay due to capital and human resource problems," said Pham Hong Viet, director of the Ha Noi Rubber Company.
He explained that turnover in the first 10 months of the year saw a 20 per cent decrease over the same period last year while profits only reached 15 per cent of last year's figure.
Exporters had been face with severe capital shortage. Photo: H.T
Viet said that exports this year would reach 60 to 70 per cent of last years total, mainly dependent on European countries, while exporters had to borrow and pay loans with foreign currency, making forex balance tough.
"We suggest a yearly foreign currency lending interest rate of six per cent instead of the current 7.5 per cent," he stressed, adding that exporters should apply suitable payment methods for different markets.
"Exporters should co-operate with Vietnamese counsellors in foreign countries as useful information channels by which to reduce export," he said.
Vu Tuan Giang, general director of the Sunny Ocean Viet Nam Company, said exporters should diversify their products to meet global market demand. Deputy General Director of the Southeast Asian Bank (Seabank), Nguyen Thi Huong Giang, confirmed that exporters had been faced with severe capital shortages.
By NQ