May 03, 2014
Through the support of some American companies, Vietnamese exporters for the first time have a chance to receive advice free of charge to sharpen their competitiveness and find ways out for their products. However, only enterprises meeting the program’s criteria are shortlisted.
A seminar on raising Vietnamese enterprises’ accessibility to regional and international market in the backdrop of integration into the global supply chain was held on April 22 in HCMC by the U.S. – ASEAN Business Council (USABC) and the ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and Investment (ACTI).
After the seminar sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the organizers would select some Vietnamese enterprises for joining the mentoring program with members of the U.S.-ASEAN Business Alliance for Competitive Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Opportunities
Vu Tu Thanh, deputy director of ASEAN cum chief representative of USABC in Vietnam, said in the mentoring program Vietnamese enterprises will receive free-of-charge consultancies from one or some American companies.
For example, Google can provide a free advanced training course for marketing staff to help their enterprises widen the market. UPS specializing in transport and forwarding services will cooperate with Google to offer a supportive package for enterprises to maximize the logistics and customs process in potential markets.
The package is completely free of charge and American and Vietnamese businesses will have some detailed agreements on the duration of the package.
The supportive packages comes from the fact that American enterprises want to prove the effectiveness of services they offer in addition to enhancing corporate capability and finding outputs for Vietnamese and ASEAN exporters – potential customers of the American companies. Thus, the consultants will try their best to ensure that knowledge and experience they transfer will benefit the performance of the recipients.
Vu Tu Thanh said when a company is selected, that means its business will certainly be improved. So, this requires efforts of the two sides. Initially, 10 – 12 Vietnamese business will be selected as long as they meet the criteria of the program.
Criteria
To be selected, enterprises had to register to attend the seminar before April 18. Based on the registration list, the organizers would select potential candidates, each would receive an invitation letter to join the program and would fill up a questionnaire for detailed corporate information. At the seminar, some potential candidates would receive registration forms to join the program. Finally, the best candidates would be selected to join the mentoring program.
Selected enterprises must specialize in export. They must not necessarily export their products directly, but can conduct exports to a supply chain of multinationals.
According to Vu Tu Thanh, selected companies must not necessarily be of large scale, but they must prove the effectiveness of their business models, followed by the access way of corporate leaders. To recognize the prestige and prospect of an enterprise, the organizers may review its business books within the past three years to see whether its money inflow is stable or not, its customer base, list of regular customer, the number of signed contracts and how they are extended.
For example, a company is exporting coffee to Walmart’s store chain. If this company has business experience, its products are of high quality and meet environmental protection requirements, food safety and hygiene standards, and can develop sustainability, the company’s business model can be selected.
(By Thu Nguyet)