According to the Da Nang Department of Trade and Industry, over the first half of the year the city has maintained relatively stable growth in export activities.  The city earned an estimated 535 million USD from exports, up 10.7 % compared with the same period last year but only fulfilling 41.3% of the year’s target.  Of this total, 275 million USD was generated by foreign direct investment (FDI) businesses operating in the city.

However, the General Director of the Thuan Phuoc Seafood and Trading Corporation, Mr Tran Van Linh, remarked that the operation of local export businesses was not strong enough to ensure sustainable growth.

Workers at a local seafood company

Currently, many local businesses are facing production difficulties due to the rise in the value of USD against VND and the hike in fuel and electricity prices.  The city depends heavily on the key exports of seafood, textiles and garments, but many local seafood companies are worried about the current instability of their raw materials sources, whilst textiles and garments businesses are facing a hike in the cost of their raw materials.  In addition, trade and technical barriers are proving a challenge for Vietnamese firms trying to export their products to many markets worldwide, especially to the USA and EU.

According to the latest statistics from the Department, the city earned only 69 million USD from exporting seafood in the first half of this year, down by 2.8% against the same period last year.  In particular, local shrimp exporters are facing an anti-dumping duty levied by the US Department of Commerce.  Also, there has been a sharp decline in the demand for shrimps in the city’s traditional foreign markets including the EU and Japan.

The city is aiming for a total of 1,787 million USD in exports of goods and services by the end of the year, up 13.5 % against last year.  Of this, 1,295 million USD was expected to be from goods exports with the remainder from services.

In an effort to achieve these targets, the city authorities will help local export companies to access preferential loans and help them seek out the leading importers in the USA, Japan, the EU and other foreign markets.  Renewing trade promotion activities abroad will be a priority in order to help local businesses expand their consumer markets and increase their market share.

Effective measures will be taken to implement more technical support projects for local businesses to help them grasp opportunities to boost their production activities within the current context of intensive global economic integration.