The conference was attended by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Luong Hoang Thai, leaders of the Hai Phong City People's Committee, leaders of units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, leaders of the Departments of Industry and Trade of 15 provinces and cities in the northern region, and a large number of businesses operating in the fields of industry, trade, energy, and logistics.
Strengthening regional linkages creates new impetus for industry and trade.
The Industry and Trade Conference focused on evaluating the results of implementing tasks in 2025 and the first nine months of 2026, while also identifying bottlenecks, promoting regional linkages, and creating new growth drivers for the industry and trade sector.
In his opening remarks at the conference, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Luong Hoang Thai emphasized: Given that 2026 is the first year of implementing the Resolution of the 14th National Congress of the Party and the socio-economic development plan for the period 2026-2030, the industry and trade sectors in localities need to proactively innovate management methods, improve coordination efficiency, and better exploit the potential and advantages of each locality in regional linkages.
Deputy Minister Luong Hoang Thai stated that regional linkages should not only involve coordination between state management agencies, but should also be concretized through programs, projects, and substantive cooperation mechanisms between businesses in different localities. This includes strengthening connections between supporting industrial enterprises and FDI enterprises and upstream businesses; linking raw material areas with processing and consumption; and connecting industrial zones and clusters with seaports, border gates, and logistics centers.
Regarding import and export activities, Deputy Minister Luong Hoang Thai noted that businesses are facing increasingly stringent requirements from international markets, especially regulations on origin, environmental standards, green transition, and sustainable development. Therefore, local Departments of Industry and Trade need to work more closely with businesses, helping them improve their capacity to meet standards, diversify markets, and proactively respond to trade defense measures.
Besides expanding exports, Deputy Minister Luong Hoang Thai suggested that localities pay attention to effectively exploiting the domestic market, especially in industrial centers, large urban areas, and border gate regions. The development of distribution systems, e-commerce, connecting supply and demand, and promoting domestic consumption should be implemented synchronously, thereby creating more room for production and circulation of goods.
“The last three months of the year are crucial for achieving the 2026 targets and laying the foundation for 2027. Therefore, localities need to closely assess their ability to implement each target, clearly identify the remaining challenges, projects, and growth drivers that need to be focused on in the fourth quarter; and at the same time propose specific solutions that can be implemented immediately,” Deputy Minister Luong Hoang Thai emphasized.
The Deputy Minister requested that units under the Ministry of Industry and Trade strengthen coordination, exchange information, and directly address local requests; issues beyond their authority should be compiled and submitted to higher authorities for timely resolution. This will create a more favorable environment for businesses, promote production and trade, and strengthen linkages between localities in the northern region.
Hai Phong plays a key role as an industrial and logistics hub.
Speaking at the conference, Vice Chairman of the Hai Phong City People's Committee Hoang Minh Cuong stated that: The activities of the Industry and Trade sector in each locality are closely related to the entire region. From raw materials, energy, production to distribution and export, many activities are linked across multiple localities.
According to the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hai Phong City, the effectiveness of development in the northern region depends not only on the individual efforts of each province and city but also on the ability to connect infrastructure, markets, data, and policies throughout the region.
"Hai Phong City recognizes that its role as a hub is only meaningful when it contributes to reducing costs, expanding markets, and enhancing the competitiveness of the entire region," emphasized Hoang Minh Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Hai Phong City People's Committee.
The Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hai Phong City stated that the achievements were due to the significant attention and support from the central government, the cooperation between provinces and cities, and the partnership of the business community. This also serves as a basis for Hai Phong to continue to promote its role as a hub, strengthening industrial, commercial, and logistics connections with localities in the region.
Based on that practical experience, Mr. Hoang Minh Cuong suggested that the Conference focus on contents that can be implemented immediately after its conclusion, with an emphasis on connecting supporting industrial enterprises with large manufacturers; coordinating trade promotion and expanding export markets; sharing data on supply and demand, logistics capacity and energy needs; and coordinating the resolution of inter-provincial obstacles in transportation, goods circulation and market management.
In particular, the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hai Phong City requested that localities engage in frank discussions on coordination mechanisms between the Departments of Industry and Trade in the northern region, identify potential linkages between industry chains and logistics routes, and clarify recommendations that need to be considered and resolved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Government .
According to Mr. Hoang Minh Cuong, for regional linkages to become truly effective, each cooperation initiative needs to be linked to a lead agency, coordinating units, and specific implementation steps. Through this, the conference results can be transformed into substantive cooperation programs, bringing benefits to businesses and the people.
Furthermore, regional linkages need to be associated with green transformation and digital transformation , improving energy efficiency, developing cleaner production, e-commerce, and market information systems; while also supporting small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance their capacity to meet domestic and international supply chain standards.
Regional development chain linkage
At the conference, delegates focused on discussing many highly practical issues. Representatives from Bac Ninh City addressed solutions for developing supporting industries, enhancing business capacity, and forming a supplier ecosystem. Meanwhile, Lao Cai focused on leveraging its "dual gateway" advantage, developing logistics, border trade, and regional linkages.
For Lai Chau, the issue of energy development and ensuring energy security is addressed in relation to the requirements of local socio-economic development. Hung Yen proposed solutions to accelerate the compensation and land clearance process at industrial clusters.
From a business perspective, representatives from Amazon Global Selling discussed the opportunity for Vietnamese brands to reach global consumers through online exports. Representatives from technology companies also introduced solutions for integrating product and logistics data, contributing to the promotion of digital transformation in trade and supply chains...
The discussions revealed that the current need for industry and trade linkages goes beyond simply exchanging information between localities. It should aim for substantive connections between raw material sources, production, supporting industries, logistics, trade, and exports, thereby reducing costs, enhancing competitiveness, and expanding markets.
One of the overarching requirements is to shift strongly from a management mindset to one of partnership, creation, and support for development; placing businesses and the efficiency of their production and business operations as one of the central focuses of industry management.
For the northern region, strengthening linkages among the 15 provinces and cities is particularly important in exploiting the complementary advantages of these localities. This includes leveraging strengths in industry and supporting industries, energy, border trade, port and logistics systems, consumer markets, and digital infrastructure.
The Industry and Trade Conference is not only an opportunity to evaluate the results of task implementation but also opens up new requirements for regional linkage methods. From policy linkages to infrastructure linkages, from production linkages to logistics and markets, the Industry and Trade sector in the Northern region is facing the requirement to form value chains with higher competitiveness, contributing to the growth targets of each locality and the entire region.
Within the framework of the conference, participating units signed cooperation agreements aimed at promoting e-commerce, supporting businesses, cooperatives, and household businesses in enhancing their capacity to apply digital technology, developing markets, and boosting exports.
The Hai Phong Department of Industry and Trade has also signed cooperation agreements with e-commerce platforms and technology companies, aiming to support businesses in the area in developing online business and reaching domestic and international consumers.
Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/kinh-te/mo-rong-lien-ket-tao-suc-bat-cho-cong-thuong-mien-bac-270958.html
