HCM CITY — Vietnamese companies need to improve their production technologies and strengthen linkages with foreign companies to improve their competitiveness in both domestic and overseas markets, a seminar heard in HCM City on Wednesday.

Lê Hoài Quốc, head of the management board of the Saigon High Tech Park, told the Việt Nam-Korea production technology seminar that 97 per cent of companies in the country are small and use modest technologies.

According to the HCM City Association of Mechanical – Electrical Enterprises, the computer numerical control (CNC) machine manufacturing industry in Việt Nam and HCM City in particular is not developed.

Most machinery used in the local market is imported from other countries, 65 per cent from developing countries and the rest from developed ones.

The association said Việt Nam’s industrial sector is integrating globally and growing rapidly, and rising investment by foreign firms is driving the growth of local supporting industries.

To compete with their foreign rivals and meet the requirements of foreign customers, Vietnamese companies have to use CNC machines to process products.

Quốc suggested that Vietnamese companies should expand co-operation with foreign firms, including Korean, to enhance technology transfer and develop together.

Kim Jung Yeol of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology said Korean firms not only want to expand investment in and trade with Việt Nam but also transfer technology.

They also want to set up joint ventures with Vietnamese firms, which would promote the development of Việt Nam’s industrial sector and enable more Vietnamese firms to enter the global supply chain, he said.

Nguyễn Phương Đông, deputy director of the city Department of Industry and Trade, said there is a shift happening in Việt Nam from outsourcing and assembly to manufacturing products with high added value.

The growth of the hi-tech industry is an important factor in attracting investment, enhancing competitiveness and increasing economic value and creating a development momentum for the city, he said.

Therefore, the city has been adopting many policies to support enterprises with improving their production capacity, he said.

International machinery, supporting industry fairs

The seminar was organised on the sidelines of the Việt Nam International Machinery Fair (VIMAF) and Việt Nam Supporting Industry Fair (VSIF) that opened on Wednesday.

They feature 300 local and foreign exhibitors, including from the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and India.

Organised by the city Centre of Supporting Industries Development (CSID), HCM City Association of Mechanical – Electrical Enterprises, Korea Association of Machinery Industry, and Korea’s Coex Company, they have attracted large brands such as Doosan Infracore, Century Precision, Dae Jin Hydraudic Machinery, Shin Myung Electric MFG, and 3A Engineering.

The products on display include metalworking and machine tools (cutting and moulding equipment, moulds, casting and forging, presses, laser processing equipment, and ultrasonic processing equipment), factory automation and motion control (industrial robots, decelerators, motors, gears, control instrumentation, sensors), factory equipment and energy equipment, construction machinery, parts, materials and industrial machinery, and supporting industry products.

There will be seminars and a business matching event for foreign firms and Vietnamese component suppliers.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Đông said the expos would help local firms, especially in supporting industries to showcase and seek markets for their products.

They also “encourage enterprises to be more active in innovation to improve their production and supply capacity and gradually enter the global value chain.”

Dong-Youn Sohn, CEO of the Korea Association of Machinery Industry, said VIMAF and VSIF are key exhibitions for industrial machinery suppliers and manufacturers looking to enter the Vietnamese market.

The three-day events are on at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre. — VNS