Boosting trade promotion to create new momentum in the expanded economic space

After the merger, Phu Tho province with a scale of over 9,361 square kilometers and a population of more than 4 million, has become the regional linkage center for the Northern Midlands and Mountainous areas. The province also possesses a vast development space along with a synchronized infrastructure system. In this context, Trade Promotion (TP) plays a key role in restructuring the production-export value chain, enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises, and boosting local trade and services.

According to assessments, the value of industrial production across the province increased by 26.8% in 2025. Specifically, the processing and manufacturing industries grew by 29.3%; export turnover is estimated to reach 36.8 billion USD, a 5% increase compared to the previous year, maintaining a stable trade surplus. Key commodity groups such as electronic components, wood, processed agricultural products, and textiles/garments continue to hold market share in traditional markets like the US, EU, Japan, and South Korea, while also expanding into India, the Middle East, and South Africa.

Customs statistical data shows a strong expansion of the province’s trade activities in 2025. In October 2025, export turnover reached 3.117 billion USD, and imports reached 3.111 billion USD, reflecting a balance in the merchandise trade balance. As of the end of October 2025, the province’s exports reached 29.684 billion USD, and imports reached 30.643 billion USD, raising the total import-export turnover of the whole province to 60.327 billion USD. According to Mr. Duong Quoc Thang, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade, this scale clearly affirms the leading role of the processing and manufacturing and FDI sectors in forming the province’s key industrial and commercial axis.

Alongside this growth, the tea sector—one of the province’s traditional industries—is facing a great opportunity in Saudi Arabia, a market that imports over 30,000 tons of tea annually and has a long-standing tea consumption culture. Most recently, at the export trade connection conference between provinces in the Northeast region and the Middle Eastern market held on November 28, 2025, the representative of the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade emphasized: Trade Promotion activities have supported enterprises in promoting products, developing the domestic market, and expanding export markets. The province’s key products are supported in brand building, quality improvement, and inclusion in modern distribution channels, opening up increasingly broad consumption opportunities. To achieve these highlights, the province has focused on innovating Trade Promotion activities; digitalization, regional linkage, and connecting export trade between provinces and the international market. This includes concentrating on expanding exports towards new markets.

The 2021 - 2025 period witnessed major fluctuations such as geopolitical conflicts, volatile raw material prices, high logistics costs, and the requirement for greening the supply chain. In the face of this challenge, Phu Tho has proactively transitioned its Trade Promotion methods, harmoniously combining direct and online models, applying digital technology, market database systems, and cross-border e-commerce platforms. The entire province has compiled and published 66 industry and trade bulletins, 58,000 OCOP leaflets, and produced 83 promotional reports to enhance the recognition of local products. To date, 209 OCOP products of the province have entered supermarket systems, convenience stores, and major e-commerce platforms, reflecting the increasingly clear role of Trade Promotion in goods consumption.

According to Mr. Duong Quoc Thang, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, with the advantage of expanded development space after administrative boundary rearrangement, a streamlined apparatus, improved quality of civil servants, and strong digital transformation across the entire system, we have enough basis to believe that the staff, civil servants, public employees, and workers of the Department will well meet the task requirements in the new period. Especially in the context of increasingly strict import market requirements, many local enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, still face difficulties with traceability, green standards, digital trade skills, and branding capabilities.

To resolve these difficulties and obstacles, the province has recently organized 17 training courses on Trade Promotion, international integration, and digital business skills for over 800 enterprises and cooperatives. QR stamp programs, packaging support, and guidance to achieve certifications such as HACCP, GlobalGAP, ISO... have been implemented for products like Long Coc tea, Doan Hung pomelo, thịt chua (fermented pork), Thuong Tien honey, Cao Phong orange...

In the coming period, Phu Tho province identifies Trade Promotion as one of its strategic breakthroughs. Accordingly, to meet the requirements, TP activities will focus on being Green - Digitalized - Regionally Linked - Globally Oriented; prioritizing investment in key products, developing modern e-commerce, and building a digital promotion ecosystem to help Phu Tho’s products participate deeply in the global value chain.

Manh Hung