HCM City (VNA) – A webinar was held by theInvestment and Trade Promotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC) on June 9 to discuss new connection tools for businesses to access foreignpartners amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at the event, ITPC Deputy Director Cao Thi Phi Vansaid thanks to the successful containment of the pandemic, Vietnam has startedresuming production and business activities and been viewed as a safedestination by foreign investors.
However, the country’s export-oriented economy has beenstill badly hurt by the disease since many of its major markets are underlockdown and global trade has been disrupted by travel restrictions, Van said.
To recover foreign trade, domestic firms must take advantageof IT platforms to maintain connection with traditional partners and seeknew importers, and make them adaptive to the pandemic which may be far fromover.
Echoing her view, CEO of Source of Asia Thiery Mermet said the COVID-19 pandemic has not only caused stagnant production but also disrupted connection betweenpartners. Sellers and buyers are no longer able to directly interact with eachothers, adding more challenges to market forecasting and significantly reducingbusiness opportunities, he said.
Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, firms have two options, he continued,the first is to reduce their production scale and wait for the disease to endand the second is to actively renovate themselves and come up with new businessstrategies and new marketing tools.
The first one is safer but only those who choose to changecan make use of gaping holes in the global supply chains and be fully preparedwhen the pandemic ends, he explained.
Director of international relations at SOA Blandie deQuatrebarber suggested Vietnamese businesses to employ digital tools to seek new customers, saying they should make their products regularly availableon online platforms, such as websites and social media, and maintain closecontact and become familiar with customers and their culture.
Firms must be aware that online business can become moretrending in the coming time as it helps save costs and time so they need tofind suitable marketing tools and strengthen connection with providers ofsupporting services in foreign markets so as to promptly and effectively gainaccess to the markets, experts said./.
Speaking at the event, ITPC Deputy Director Cao Thi Phi Vansaid thanks to the successful containment of the pandemic, Vietnam has startedresuming production and business activities and been viewed as a safedestination by foreign investors.
However, the country’s export-oriented economy has beenstill badly hurt by the disease since many of its major markets are underlockdown and global trade has been disrupted by travel restrictions, Van said.
To recover foreign trade, domestic firms must take advantageof IT platforms to maintain connection with traditional partners and seeknew importers, and make them adaptive to the pandemic which may be far fromover.
Echoing her view, CEO of Source of Asia Thiery Mermet said the COVID-19 pandemic has not only caused stagnant production but also disrupted connection betweenpartners. Sellers and buyers are no longer able to directly interact with eachothers, adding more challenges to market forecasting and significantly reducingbusiness opportunities, he said.
Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, firms have two options, he continued,the first is to reduce their production scale and wait for the disease to endand the second is to actively renovate themselves and come up with new businessstrategies and new marketing tools.
The first one is safer but only those who choose to changecan make use of gaping holes in the global supply chains and be fully preparedwhen the pandemic ends, he explained.
Director of international relations at SOA Blandie deQuatrebarber suggested Vietnamese businesses to employ digital tools to seek new customers, saying they should make their products regularly availableon online platforms, such as websites and social media, and maintain closecontact and become familiar with customers and their culture.
Firms must be aware that online business can become moretrending in the coming time as it helps save costs and time so they need tofind suitable marketing tools and strengthen connection with providers ofsupporting services in foreign markets so as to promptly and effectively gainaccess to the markets, experts said./.
VNA
