Thursday, February 4, 2010

Border fairs target Cambodian market

04/02/2010

AN GIANG — The Business Studies and Assistance Centre and southern An Giang Province's Investment and Trade Promotion Centre held two trade fairs to promote Vietnamese goods at the Khanh Binh and Tinh Bien border gates.

Vu Kim Hanh, director of the BSA – a non-profit trade promotion organisation based in HCM City – said they were the first step in a programme of 10 trade fairs on the Cambodian border through which high-quality Vietnamese goods would be popularised.

The network of markets and retail outlets on the border was too meagre and supply could not meet demand, she said.

"Many Cambodians come shopping to the Vietnamese border outlets daily."

It is to take advantage of this demand that the BSA, along with An Giang, Dong Thap, Long An, Tay Ninh, and Binh Phuoc Provinces, plans to organise the 10 fairs.

Besides selling goods, the fairs will also enable Vietnamese enterprises to get in touch with Cambodian authorities for developing distribution networks in the country.

They will also make preparation for enterprises to take part in the Trade Fair of High Quality Vietnamese Goods in Cambodia next April.

A survey last August by the BSA and Truong Doan Market Survey Company in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh and Battambang and Ta Keo Provinces found that many Vietnamese products have become more popular than their Thai and Chinese rivals.

Vietnamese dried foods, spices, frozen processed products, household plastic items, exterior and interior decoration items, toilet equipment, footwear, and leather and leatherette products hold between 33 and 93 per cent of that market.

Its milk and milk products, tinned foods, soft drinks, beers, wines, rubber products, and fabrics are as popular as Thai products and more popular than Chinese.

Viet Nam can grab a larger market share if its firms come up with improved designs and packaging, lower prices, and strengthen promotion, the survey pointed out. — VNS

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