The service sector played a very important role in socioeconomic development of Binh Phuoc province in 2010-2016. In 2016, it accounted for 23.59 per cent of the province’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) or VND23,500 billion (over US$1 billion) in value, 2.5 times higher than in 2010 while exports brought home US$1.35 billion, 2.65 times more than in 2010).
According to the Binh Phuoc Department of Industry and Trade, commercial and service activities that support industry are still weak. Traditional services are now still prevailing while modern trade and services are not developed. As a result, the province has yet to develop its advantageous fields like education, healthcare, information technology, tourism, industrial and economic zone services.
Many new domestic and foreign factors have been affecting trade development. The process of regional and global economic integration, particularly the rapid economic, trade and investment development of the ASEAN region and ASEAN’s cooperation expansion with major partners in the world, has posed both opportunities and challenges to trade development of Vietnam in general and Binh Phuoc province in particular. This requires the trade sector to focus its efforts to seize opportunities and while minimising costs needed to address challenges to sustainable development.
In addition, the globalisation tendency is reflected by regional trade links which are being formed all over the world, for example, the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement. Regional connectivity will gradually lead to the removal of restrictions to the movement of goods, services, knowledge and technology in each region and spreading across the globe. External influences as well as the space expansion and socioeconomic development orientation of the province for the upcoming period require the trade sector to develop internal resources as well as structure, size, business mode, organisational level, order of trade types, market space, and commercial and service infrastructure.
To promote the role of trade and service sectors in establishing and expanding domestic and export markets for products of locally comparative advantages and support local trade companies to develop modern distribution systems with strong competitiveness in that context, the 10th Provincial Party Congress issued a resolution on trade and service development programme of the province.
The share of the trade and service sectors is expected to reach 37.6 per cent of the province’s GRDP by 2020, with total retail sales of VND80 trillion and export value of US$2 billion. Modern retail and service forms will make up 40 per cent of total retail and service revenues then.
To achieve these goals, the province will take key tasks and solutions as follows.
– First, diversifying types of distribution organisations and business methods; developing wholesalers and retailers adaptive to different markets, encouraging modern business forms such as trade centres, convenience store chains, online shops and vending machines.
– Second, facilitating all economic sectors, especially non-state economic sectors, to engage in modern trade and services development; developing modern distribution forms, applying e-commerce and gradually establishing electronic payment networks.
– Third, stimulating business startups and supplying services to industrial parks and economic zones, developing distinctive tourist products together with preserving cultural heritages and traditional handicraft villages.
– Fourth, strengthening cooperation with ASEAN countries; embracing advantages of trade agreements by forming agricultural wholesale markets or commodity exchanges to supply supporting services for trade.
– Fifth, improving the quality of human resources to meet new development requirements.
– Sixth, developing professional support services to provide quality services for industrial development; diversifying financial and banking services, focusing on trade and service promotions; focusing all resources for developing modern trade and service infrastructure
Source: Binh Phuoc Department of Industry and Trade
