CP PAPER

Mobile devices and social media 'pushes' the Vietnamese printing industry has to increase exports abroad to develop, but the path is not easy either.

Sharing in the recent seminar on solutions to expand foreign markets for the printing industry, Mr. Ngo Anh Tuan - Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Printing Association said the industry has 3/three basic motivations to "export abroad". This is the trend of economic integration; happenings of US-China trade dispute shorten the process of approaching the outsourcing market for foreign countries because of the need to find more partners and the saturation of domestic publications.

“The market is growing rapidly, businesses have gradually approached advanced trends in the region. However, recently, the situation of finished products is declining due to the development of mobile networks as well as social media” Mr. Tuan said.

To make the door wider for the printing industry to export, many relevant business representatives of this industry agreed on the principle of 6M. That is the international competition criterion, but it is also the obstacles that many businesses encounter when integrating.

First, the environment (Mother Nature). According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Tung - CEO of Inbox Packaging Company, despite the approaching moves, in general, domestic enterprises are still quite confused with the procedures as well as innovation in order to achieve the certificates, waste certificate, landscape protection, energy and resource saving.

To My Chau - General Director of CP Paper, the first Vietnamese paper company has a green building certificate (Leed) - said that this unit does not run under the certificate to invest because it brings practical benefits.

“Do not think that Vietnam currently has low electricity and water prices and used uncontrollably. In the next 3-5 years, the electricity price will increase gradually. At that time, it is not enough to invest in the first place”, Mrs. Chau said.

Thứ hai, is machines (Machines). Enterprises in the printing industry admit that most of the equipment is currently imported. The cost is not small but this is a ‘hard’ investment in the integration process. 

Mr. Phan Van Hoang - Director of Cuu Long Company, specializing in supplying equipment and printers of Japan - said that to save costs, printing enterprises can import old machines but set the machine's shelf life for 10 years. When foreign countries have not fully depreciated, the number of machines is very low, so the price is still high. Therefore, according to Mr. Hoang, the management agency should consider easing the term of machines manufactured by G7 group.

Thirdly, is the material (Materials). Mr. Nguyen Xuan Tung said that the printing industry enterprises in the country must use imported materials, so they are less competitive. The problem is how to support ancillary industries such as paper production to have more products to capture the needs of the printing industry, limiting imports.

Fourth, is the technical method, vocational training (Methods). Businesses admit that their professional knowledge compared to the integration standard lags behind many countries. Thailand has 8 universities specializing in printing and packaging, Singapore also has many schools of design.

In Vietnam, there is a shortage of human resources in the printing industry. Hanoi has a vocational college but cannot afford to supply all the North. In the South, only Ho Chi Minh City University of Technical Education provides a few hundred bachelors each year. "Other institutions and training schools in the industry often have not seen it for a few years," Mr. Tung said.

In addition, Mrs. To My Chau shared that businesses must have a long-term vision to better anticipate the requirements of potential customers. “Instead of 'Let grass grow under o¬ne's feet’, businesses should look broader and farther, into what are called market trends to stay ahead, have better preparation and competition in long time. ”, Mrs. Chau said.

Fifth, is the person (Man). Human resistance includes personal and community challenges. According to Mrs. Chau, soft skills in international trade are very important. “Like a foreign languages, at least English. Even if working with Chinese or Taiwanese partners, the team must have specialized Chinese specialists” Mrs. Chau said.

According to Mr. Tung, in addition to human resources, the business community in the industry or inter-industry must be coherent and cooperative.

Finally, measurement (Measurement). Partner quality requirements are the key to exporting abroad. Mr. Nguyen Thai Dung - Director of Research and Development of Anh Khoa Brothers Company said that, instead of ISO 9000, the world is preferring GMI certification in print process management.

“There are 800 printers with GMI certification, of which China accounts for more than 350 printers. If people find out in Vietnam market, there are 15 printers with GMI certificate, 90% of which are FDI companies” Mr. Dung said.

Source: VNExpress