With the goal of stabilizing the market and supporting the development of domestically -produced goods, the city has launched many programmes and policies to bring Vietnamese goods closer to consumers.

The Phuc Linh Agarwood is one of the favourite products made in Da Nang. Photo: T.Y

In particular, the local authorities have required relevant departments and agencies to strengthen the promotion and create positive changes in people's shopping trends and habits.

Increasing the chances of reaching more customers

Displayed at an exhibition within the framework of the 2022 Routes Asia, products made from natural herbal essences of Central Viet Nam Trading & Service Production Co., Ltd based in Hai Chau 1 Ward, Hai Chau District was highly appreciated by many delegates.

Ms. Luong Thi Anh Thu, the founder of Central company, said that this is a good opportunity for her to promote her products after a period of promoting production and trade and perfecting the design.

According to Ms. Thu, Central's products are made from essences of herbs such as betel leaf, guava leaf, melaleuca leaf, lemongrass stem, cinnamon bark, ginger root, milkweed, betel nut, combined with bran oil, rice and the coconut, olive and sesame oil, ensuring the criteria of clean, safe, benign, natural aroma and suitable for sensitive skin.

In 2021, Thu won the first prize in the Da Nang Women's Union Startup-organised Startup Ideas contest for the idea of ‘Cleansing essence made from natural herbs’.

In addition to the quality and multi-function factors, Central’s products made from natural herbs are highly appreciated by consumers thanks to their diverse and beautiful designs.

After this contest, Central soap and scented candles became one of the typical products in Da Nang, participating in many exhibitions and displays inside and outside the city.

“Since the start of 2022, Central has attended a number of exhibitions of Vietnamese goods, notably in the Routes Asia 2022, the exhibition of typical products of the Central Viet Nam - Central Highlands and South Korea that took place in Binh Dinh province in May, 2022. We see this as a good opportunity to introduce our products to consumers, seek more export markets as well as increase production scale in the coming time”, said Ms. Thu.

Central is one of dozens of facilities producing and trading in One Commune – One Product (OCOP) items in Da Nang made their presence at Routes Asia 2022.

Mr. Tran Phuoc Son, Vice Chairman of Da Nang People's Committee affirmed, in trade and tourism promotion activities, typical products and services are among important factors for investment attraction. Therefore, within the framework of the Routes Asia 2022, the city’s OCOP products were chosen as souvenirs for representatives of airlines attending this international forum.

In addition, the ‘Vietnamese people give priority to using Vietnamese goods’ campaign was widely deployed by functional agencies at all levels in residential areas.

For example, in Hai Chau District alone, in April and May, 2 fairs displaying Vietnamese goods took place in the APEC Statue Park, with the participation of 48 businesses and a combined total of more than 150 Vietnamese products, including many OCOP products inside and outside the city.

Gearing up promotion activities

In order for Vietnamese goods to reach consumers, the Da Nang People's Committee asked relevant agencies to increase display activities and introduce products at fixed points such as the city’s airport, railway station, piers, stopovers, tourist attractions, the Da Nang Exhibition and Convention Centre and the  municipal Administration Centre.

Also, paid will be aid to encouraging commercial centers, supermarkets, and specialty stores citywide to organise product introduction and set up sale points in densely populated areas and large markets.

Another plan is to periodically organize exhibitions of ‘made-in-Da Nang’ products by topic/category at sports centres, cultural houses, the APEC Statue Garden Park, ‘Bien Dong’ (East Sea) Park, public areas with large crowds of tourists and local residents.

Vice Chairman of the Da Nang People's Committee Tran Phuoc Son said that the city will focus on trade promotion activities and organizing booths of Da Nang products within the framework of fairs and exhibitions organised in Da Nang or in cities and provinces at home and abroad, and annually organising conferences on supply and demand connections, and launching trade exchanges in OCOP, typical regional and supporting industry products between Da Nang and other Vietnamese localities with a frequency of 2-3 times/year.

In particular, the city will give a helping hand to businesses to promote their products online on distribution channels and e-commerce platforms. The city will review and evaluate production and business activities of enterprises such as export and supply ability and meeting standards in terms of product quality, safety, packaging, labeling and distribution channel system in a great effort to select suitable businesses and products for major trade shows and fairs," said Son.

Promptly grasping this trend, Ms. Nguyen Thi My Lien, Director of Chau Thong Production, Trade and Service Co., Ltd specializsing in products made from agarwood, wished that the city would facilitate her business to participate in fairs and exhibitions.

“Currently, all the company's products are put for sale on e-commerce platforms such as Adayroi, Lazada, Tiki and Shopee. However, to stimulate the shopping market and clear inventory stocks after 2 years of COVID-19 pandemic, we hope that relevant local agencies will continue to widely promote information on events and fairs so that businesses can register to join them”, said. Lien.

Reporting by TIEU YEN – Translating by A.THU