Hanoi (VNA) – Several measureshave been recommended to help Vietnamese exporters cope with dwindling demandin many markets around the world.

In the first half of 2022, countriestook bold steps to resume economic and tourism activities after the COVID-19pandemic was controlled, leading to a surge in consumption demand. Thanks to that, Vietnamrecorded 187.2 billion USD in export revenue during the period, up 18% from ayear earlier, statistics showed.

Since the third quarter of 2022, inflationhas soared and even peaked in such key markets as the US and the EU compared tomany previous years. Meanwhile, unimproved incomes and high unemployment rates haveresulted in a sharp fall in consumption demand, especially for non-essentialgoods that are among Vietnam’s key exports.

In 2023, though counter-measures against inflation have been taken for acertain period of time in many countries, inflation is still high and theireconomies have faced risks of recession.

Besides, China’s post-pandemicreopening has also created a big source of supply, causing a strong competitionpressure on Vietnamese goods because the two countries’ export structures arerelatively similar.

Complex developments of the Russia - Ukraine conflict have also prolongeddisrruptions to global supply chains, which have kept input material priceshigh.

All these problems have caused order shortages, forcing many exporters toreduce or even halt production.

Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director ofthe Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that exportwas highly vibrant and posted double-digit growth rates in 2021 and 2022. However,growth has slowed down this year due to inflation, recession, and lowerpurchasing power in many traditional markets.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, foreign trade totalled 316billion USD in the first six months of 2023.

In June alone, exports were estimated at 29.3 billion USD, rising 4.5% month onmonth. This was the second consecutive month overseas shipments had increasedafter a long decline thanks to bolstered trade promotion activities. However,the June revenue still dropped 11.4% year on year.

The six-month export value decreased 12.1%from the same period last year to 164.45 billion USD.

Analysts pointed out thatdifficulties may linger on through the end of 2023, even until 2024.

Therefore, enterprises should organiseproduction activities flexibly, strive to fulfill small and difficult orders, makein-depth investment instead of focusing on expansion programmes.

As global consumers are stillconcerned about economic prospects, enterprises need to keep a close watch onmarket developments to flexibly and appropriately respond to any changes, andcut unnecessary expenses, analysts said.

On the other hand, authorities shouldavoid issuing regulations and policies that many add difficulties tobusinesses, they noted.

Vietnam targets 393-394 billion USD in export revenue and 6% in year-on-year exportgrowth for 2023.

To that end, Minister of Industry andTrade Nguyen Hong Dien stated that aside from tapping into new markets, theministry will continue capitalising on free trade agreements (FTAs).

It will step up digital transformationin the grating of certificates of origin to help firms make use of the FTAs;facilitate logistics services to reduce costs and improve Vietnamese goods’competitiveness; and boost foreign trade via cross-border e-commerce.

In particular, it will hold monthlymeetings between its agencies, Vietnamese trade offices abroad and localities,associations, businesses, and related ministries and sectors to update firmsand associations about marke-related information so as to fuel overseasshipments, according to Dien./.