28 branches named for high competitive advantages Twenty eight of industries/branches have entered the draft list of the industries which have high competitive edges and need preferential policies to develop. A lot of professional associations have responded that the listing is unreasonable.   The Ministry of Industry and Trade on August 15 organized a workshop to collect opinions from relevant ministries on the list of the industries with high competitive edges to enjoy preferential policies. According to Hoang Thinh Lam, Deputy Director of the Planning Department, the head of the compilation committee, the branches/industries to be selected as having high competitive edges must meet the majority of the seven criteria. The seven required criteria include: 1) using domestic labor force 2) using the domestic material sources 3) get benefits from integration policies 4) have big investment opportunities 5) have the domestic large market or have good export opportunities 6) have developed supporting industries, and 7) pay attention to the green economic development. Twenty eight industries which can meet the above said requirements have been nominated for enjoying preferential policies to develop. Too many, but not enough Twenty eight industries with competitive edges to enjoy investment incentives is a big number. However, enterprises still think that the list does not cover all “deserving” industries. A lot of Vietnamese competitive industries have not been found in the list. Deputy Director of the HCM City Industry and Trade Department Le Van Khoa has suggesting adding the wood processing and food processing into the list. The two industries, according to the official, not only can satisfy the seven requirements, but also are the competitive industries which would help develop agriculture and fisheries. Secretary General of the Cashew Association Dang Hoang Giang said he could not understand why cashew processing has not been listed as a competitive industry, though it can satisfy all the seven requirements. Vietnam is now the biggest cashew nut exporter, while it does not meet the obstacles like the importers’ trade remedies or technical barriers. Chair of the Vietnam Mechanical Engineering Dao Van Long disagreed with the compilers, saying that it is unreasonable to give preferences only to engine motors. “Vietnam can make high quality components for cement and chemicals factories which help reduce the trade gap. However, the industry has not been found in the list,” he said. Meanwhile, the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) does not feel happy when rice faming has been listed as having high competitiveness. “This does not truly reflect the reality and this comes contrary to the Vietnamese policy on restructuring the agriculture production,” he said. The official went on to say that the more farmers grow rice, the bigger loss they incur. Meanwhile, the farm produce processing which can bring high added value to Vietnam has not been listed among the most competitive branches. Also according to him, it would be better not to count how many tons of products the industries can put out and export when considering their competitiveness, but to consider if the industries can make the products at the lowest costs and what the industries can bring to farmers. According to Nguyen Duc Van, Deputy Director of the Enterprise Renovation Department under the Government Office, MOIT should have submitted to the agency the plan on prioritizing to develop the industries with high competitiveness in June. However, it’s still unclear which industries are “competitive.” Source: SGTT