Thursday, February 17, 2011

Local firms urged to further tap Cambodia market

Nguyen Dang Vuong of Dang Khoa Trade Promotion Co. introduces the upcoming industry exhibition in Cambodia at the press conference in HCMC last week - Photo: Mong Binh
HCMC - The HCMC Mechanical Association and Dang Khoa Trade Promotion Co. are working with the Cambodian government over an industry exhibition in Phnom Penh from December 15 to 18, and call for Vietnamese enterprises to further explore business opportunities in Cambodia.

Speaking at a news briefing in HCMC last week, Dang Khoa’s director Nguyen Dang Vuong said the Vietnam-Cambodia International Industry Exhibition would have some 350 booths divided into separate areas for enterprises from Cambodia, Vietnam and other parts of Asia including Japan, Singapore, China and Thailand.

Vuong said 100 booths of the total number would be reserved for Vietnamese enterprises to showcase their products at the event at Diamond Island Convention and Exhibition Center. The organizers target manufacturers of mechanical tools and equipment for light industries.

The Vietnamese-made goods to be on show include machines and equipment for mining, rubber processing, food and foodstuff, apparel, printing, plastic and packaging, electricity and electronics, fishing, building material, construction and farming.

Vuong said Vietnamese enterprises had gained a strong foothold of the consumer goods segment in Cambodia but had not tapped the great potential of the industrial segment in the neighboring market of Vietnam.

“The demand for industrial machines and equipment in Cambodia is enormous,” Vuong told the Daily after the news briefing. He added companies from all over Cambodia would come to the exhibition to find suppliers of machinery and equipment.

Pham Ngoc Tuan of the event’s organizing committee said there would be product introduction sessions as part of the exhibition on December 16.

Nhan Hanh Nhon, managing director of OSC First Holidays, said this local travel firm had designed packages for enterprises to promote their products at and outside the four-day event with prices starting from US$188 per person.

Nhon said that OSC First Holidays would also arrange a caravan tour for business people to drive their cars promoting the image and products of their companies during the trip from Vietnam to the exhibition and other places of Cambodia.

According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, trade with Cambodia has increased by 30% year-on-year over the past decade, and machines are among the products on high demand in the neighboring country.

The ministry expects Vietnamese exports to Cambodia this year to rise to US$1.6 billion from US$1.1 billion in 2009, based on the consignments worth US$728 million to the neighboring market in the first half of this year.

Vietnamese companies have pledged some US$900 million to invest in over 60 projects in the farming, mining, finance, energy and telecommunications sectors in Cambodia.

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