HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam needs a fundamental shift in mindset and approach to promote trade as the country aims to expand exports and ensure sustainability, Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency Vũ Bá Phú said at the Viet Nam Export Promotion Forum 2025 on Wednesday in Hà Nội.

Themed Go Global – Winning Global Markets, the forum was co-organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Swiss Government-backed projects and discussed solutions for Vietnamese exporters to strengthen competitiveness and seize new market opportunities as global supply chains are reshaped and trade competition intensifies.

Phú pointed out that the global economic landscape is changing dramatically with production shifts, fiercer trade competition and rising demands for quality, standards, sustainability and compliance.

The rapid development of e-commerce and the digital economy is also creating both opportunities and challenges for exports, Phú said, adding that the Vietnamese economy, with high openness and an extensive network of free trade agreements (FTAs), has significant opportunities to expand market share, diversify markets and participate more deeply in global value chains.

He noted that 2021–25 marked a period of substantial export expansion with double-digit growth and a stable trade surplus. 

“However, in a changing world shaped by geopolitical shifts, trade conflicts, rising protectionism and pressing needs for green and digital transformation, trade promotion is forced to renovate,” Phú said. “Old thinking will not open new doors. We need to change the way we work, the tools we use and the mindset. The new model must be based on data, technology and system linkage.”

Phú highlighted three significant challenges, including low domestic added value, weak links between domestic firms and foreign-invested enterprises and a fragmented trade promotion network that lacks data-sharing and practical performance evaluation.  

These challenges underscore the need for a new trade promotion ecosystem that is modern, professional and capable of connecting resources at home and abroad, Phú said.

He added that the national trade promotion programme for 2026–30, now being developed, will focus on promotion along value chains and product clusters to strengthen regional industry value chains and brands.

Green transition and sustainability will also be incorporated into export promotion, Phú said. “Trade promotion is not just about bringing products to the world, but about bringing them through a green pathway,” he said, emphasising the importance of green and digital transformation. “If we are not green, we will be excluded from global supply chains.”

Data will be the core asset of the new trade promotion ecosystem, Phú added.

Việt Nam also plans to build a unified national export identity that reflects quality, credibility, and cultural values, helping establish the country as a reliable and dynamic producer. 

He added that under the Go Global programme, internationally competitive firms will be selected to lead and bring entire value chains to international markets. This is considered the new development model of modern trade promotion, Phú said.

Experts at the forum urged domestic manufacturers and exporters to focus on three key pillars — process standardisation, traceability, transparency and digital transformation — to expand global reach amid the rise of green and digital trade.

Việt Nam ran a trade surplus of nearly US$20 billion in the first 10 months of 2025, while total exports and imports exceeded $762 billion, up 17.4 per cent year on year, the ministry’s statistics showed.

The country is poised to reach a record high trade revenue of $900 billion this year. — VNS