Hanoi (VNA) – Businesses should be made the centre of innovations and a development focus of the industry and tradesector, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at a conference in Hanoi onFebruary 3.

The event, held by the Ministry of Industry andTrade (MoIT), aimed to promote domestic production and consumption, and expandexport markets in 2023.

Noting challenges to the sector this year, the PMsaid they should be turned into opportunities, contributing to building aneconomy of independence, self-reliance, and intensive, extensive and effectiveinternational integration.

The MoIT needs to coordinate with other ministries,agencies and localities to diversify markets, products and supply chains, whileaccelerating administrative reform, infrastructure construction andinstitutional building, and promoting the three growth engines of consumption,investment and export, he said.

The leader also stressed the importance of digitaltransformation, green economy, circular economy and climate change response,and urged the ministry to quickly complete the four master plans onelectricity, energy, minerals and oil and gas infrastructure.

Solutions should be rolled out concertedly torecover and spur production, boost export, and strengthen external economic relations aswell as bilateral and multilateral cooperation to maintain and expand markets,and maximise export potential, he continued.

Market diversification is needed to offset difficulties intraditional markets such as the US, China, the EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea(RoK) and ASEAN, he explained, suggesting expansion to Eastern Europe, the MiddleEast, South America, South Asia and Africa.

To stimulate the purchasing power at home, the PM urgedthe sector to launch more trade promotion programmes, and enhance goodsdistribution via digital platforms and e-commerce, with attention paid to ruraland mountainous areas.

The ministry was also asked to step up marketmanagement and the fight against smuggling and trade fraud, and take specificsolutions to mobilise and bring into full play resources, especially those fromdifferent economic sectors.

According to a report presented at the conference,last year, industrial production recovered in almost fields and localities, ofwhich processing and manufacturing remained the main growth driver with a rate of8.1%.

Export-import also hit a new record of over 732.5billion USD in revenue, representing a 10-fold rise year-on-year. Trade surplushas been maintained for seven consecutive years, reaching 11.2 billion USD in 2022.

The total retail sales of goods and servicesincreased by nearly 20%, exceeding the set target by 2.5 times.

Notably, Vietnam has been among the top fivecountries worldwide for e-commerce growth.

At the meeting, the sector proposed the Government continuewith policies to boost production and business, attract more foreigninvestments, and soon build and approve national, regional, provincial andsectoral planning schemes, and further consolidate institutions relating to thesector./.