The Ministry of Industry and Trade and MM Mega Market Vietnam Co, Ltd signed a MoU to promote consumption of Vietnamese goods at home and abroad. — Photo dantri.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and MM Mega Market Vietnam Co, Ltd signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Hà Nội on Thursday to promote consumption of Vietnamese goods at home and abroad.

According to the MoU, the ministry will help MM Mega Market seek partnerships with reputable Vietnamese processors and manufacturers, raising the rate of Vietnamese goods in the Thai-owned retail chains to 90 per cent.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Đỗ Thắng Hải said that the purpose of this MOU helps promote consumption of Vietnamese goods in MM Mega Market's distribution system in the domestic market as well as exports via international distribution networks and other companies of the TCC Group – the parent company of MM Mega Market Việt Nam.

Thereby, it helps improve the quality of goods and services provided to domestic consumers and enhance business opportunities as well as promote further contribution of MM Mega Market to the development of Việt Nam's economy, he said.

The two sides will also work closely together in organising Vietnamese goods weeks, seminars and training courses to promote Vietnamese products to TCC Group’s foreign distribution channels.

The firm will work with the HCM City Department of Industry and Trade to hold a Vietnamese goods week in Thailand this October.

At the same time, they will help Vietnamese businesses and producers improve their product quality to the standards and requirements of the distributors.

The agreement follows the success of cooperation between the MoIT and other major foreign retailers in Việt Nam, such as AEON from Japan, Central Group from Thailand and Lotte from the Republic of Korea, in supporting Vietnamese manufacturers to develop the domestic market and enter foreign ones.

The cooperation with foreign retailers is one of activities of the Domestic Market Development Project in the period 2014-20 and the project of promoting Vietnamese enterprises to join direct foreign distribution networks by 2020.

After three years of implementing the project of promoting Vietnamese enterprises to join direct foreign distribution networks, according to the MoIT’s Department of Domestic Market, the Central Group has annually exported Vietnamese goods worth US$46 million every year via its Big C supermarket system since 2017. The exports are expected to increase.

Meanwhile, MM Mega Market has established four centres to purchase local agricultural products in Việt Nam such as dragon fruit and sweet potatoes for export to Thailand.

The MM Mega Market exported Vietnamese agricultural products to Thailand for the first time last year. The products include frozen tra fish, squid, star apple, pink grapefruit and dragon fruit.

AEON supermarket is exporting $250 million per year of goods through the Top Value brand. According to AEON's commitment, the export value of Vietnamese goods via its distribution system will increase to $500 million in 2020 and $1 billion in 2025.

This year, it has doubled the export volume to 200 tonnes of Vietnamese farming products per month.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade also said that the foreign distribution system will help businesses bring Vietnamese goods to four million overseas Vietnamese living and working abroad. — VNS