The Vietnam Association of Supporting Industries (VASI) was officially established in Hanoi on March 18 with a view to contributing to relevant policy planning and connecting domestic and foreign markets.
The move is one of the important results of the project “Vietnam Supporting Industries to Europe” within the framework of the European Trade Policy and Investment Support Project funded by the European Union.
The project is being conducted by the Supporting Industry Enterprise Development Centre and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Institute for Industrial Policies and Strategies from June 2014 – June 2017.
Truong Thanh Hoai, Director of the MoIT’s Heavy Industries Department, said Vietnam’s processing and manufacturing sector contributes just 14% of the gross domestic product, much lower than Thailand’s 26% and China’s 36%.
He attributed such weak performance to limited connectivity among domestic enterprises as well as between them and foreign partners, adding that, the birth of VASI is crucial in the current context to help fine-tune relevant policies, thus creating a driving force for support industries.