On the afternoon of January 27, ITPC held a conference to review its work in 2025 and roll out tasks for 2026, attended by Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Dung.
In his report to the conference, Acting Director of ITPC Tran Phu Lu said that in the past year, the center carried out 161 trade and investment promotion activities, exceeding the planned target by 14.2 percent. These programs were designed with clear priorities, focusing on helping businesses restore operations, expand markets, and strengthen competitiveness amid rapidly evolving international trade dynamics.
A key highlight was the Ho Chi Minh City International Exhibition of Food and Beverages (HCMC FOODEX 2025), which brought together 500 booths from nearly 400 enterprises, showcasing more than 5,000 products. The event attracted over 20,000 visitors and facilitated 2,392 B2B connections with nearly 40 international buyers, helping to boost trade and promote Ho Chi Minh City’s key products.
At the same time, ITPC carried out 38 investment promotion and international cooperation programs. Notable events included a working session between Ho Chi Minh City leaders and the FDI business community with more than 400 participants; the Ho Chi Minh City–U.S. Autumn Economic Forum, which saw the signing of five memoranda of understanding; and the Ho Chi Minh City–Busan Business Forum, which attracted 250 delegates.
According to Mr. Tran Phu Lu, ITPC’s 2025 promotion efforts focused on key sectors facing market difficulties, strengthened B2B connections to enable direct engagement between local businesses and foreign partners, and expanded access to new potential export markets by effectively leveraging the free trade agreements signed by Vietnam.
In his remarks, Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Dung commended ITPC’s efforts in 2025, especially amid the restructuring and merger of promotion units from three localities. Despite these challenges, ITPC remained proactive in consulting the city and effectively implementing programs assigned by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee.
Entering 2026, Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Dung requested the ITPC to continue improving its organizational structure and enhancing human resource quality, while strongly renewing the content and methods of promotion to better support businesses.
In term of investment promotion, ITPC should closely follow investor needs, develop partner databases, focus on attracting major corporations, and strengthen connectivity and dialogue to promptly address difficulties and bottlenecks.
Regarding trade promotion, he called for market diversification, more effective utilization of free trade agreements, expansion of market share in traditional markets, breakthroughs in new markets, and greater application of digital platforms and e-commerce. At the same time, ITPC should intensify in-depth training in management, digital transformation, and green transition, and soon put the digital promotion ecosystem into operation.
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