- IN AGRICULTURAL EXPORT. - However, agricultural export activities to fastidious markets with strict trade protection barriers such as US, EU and Japan is still a big challenge for Vietnamese enterprises, especially for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). - Play- ing an important role in the country’s economy, Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs firmly need supports from local and government agencies. - Apart from training, further support programs such as consulting activities, seminars and websites should be provided to Vietnamese agricul- tural export SMEs to improve their management capacity to overcome technical barriers. - This paper focuses on support solutions for Vietnamese SMEs to improve their management capacity to overcome barriers in agricultural export. - Agricultural export plays an important role in the economic development of developing countries, including Vietnam. - In recent years, Vietnam’s agricultural export value has significantly contributed to Vietnam’s total export value and GDP, increasingly asserted its position in the in- ternational market. - In 2019, agricultural export turnover reached about 41.3 billion USD, an increase of 3.2% compared to 2018. - However, the agricultural product export to promising but difficult markets of Vietnam such as USA, EU, Japan, China is still a great challenge.. - Recently, Vietnamese agricultural export has gained advantages in expanding foreign mar- kets due to incentive policies from free trade agreements. - Agricultural export SMEs often have small-scale production, limited finance resources and management capacity. - On the other hand, achieving success in foreign markets requires a lot of strives from SME managers, and thus, improving management capacity is believed as one of the most important solutions for Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs. - port should include a range of activities, ranging from financial services to market development, especially capacity building for SME managers (Shamsuddoha 2009. - Recognizing the importance of support to export SMEs, many programs have been developed and provided by governments such as those related to export products development. - Furthermore, the paper is also expected to make theoretical contribution by examining the support needs from SMEs, in the context of developing and integration economic such as Vietnam.. - Agricultural Export and the Impact of Trade Protection Policies on Agricultural exports of SMEs. - Agricultural export accounts for a great proportion of total domestic products by selling abroad advantageous and high quality products. - Due to advantageous differences which may be related to factors such as capital, labor, technology, natural conditions, government policies, the contribution of agricultural export in total export in various countries is not the same. - However, agricultural export is still generally considered as an important source of capital for import and production development, serving the industrialization and modernization of the country.. - Major export markets such as US, EU, and Japan, with large consumption volumes, have been developing numerous protection policies for agricultural products under the form of technical standard barriers.. - Support programs may include financial and technical supports, particularly those to assist SME managers to master export markets to reduce risks in export (Hang 2016). - Countries all over the world have been creating various supports for their agricultural export SMEs. - Vietnamese Agricultural Export. - Agricultural export has played an important role in Vietnam’s economy because it employs more than 70% of the population, facilitating the development of other manufacturing industries. - When agricultural export is main- tained stable and growing, the whole economy has more development opportunities and condi- tions. - Vietnam’s agricultural products such as rice, coffee, pepper, cashew nuts, dragon fruits, etc. - In addition to global standards, each country also has its own specific requirements, mainly related to technical-environmental standards such as labeling regulations, food safety regulations, regulations on voluntary certification (ISO 14001;. - In the short term, it causes difficulties for Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs to immediately meet such standards, and thus, a number of SMEs had to shift to export to other markets (Tuan 2015). - Playing an important role in the country’s economy, Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs firmly need supports from local and government agencies. - In addition to training, further support programs such as consulting activities, seminars and websites should be provided to Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs to improve their management capacity to overcome technical barriers.. - Vietnamese SMEs in Agricultural Export and Supports to enhance Management Capacity to overcome Trade Barriers. - Because of a small scale, Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs have to collect agricul- tural products from farmers, which make it difficult to meet the requirement of great volume of importers, as well as those of the product sameness. - Besides, the current Vietnam’s logistics system for agricultural export has not effective enough for the preservation.. - The limitation in accessing to capital, credit sources, and capacity to conduct international trade are other challenges of Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs. - Therefore, it is an urgent need for government agencies to develop support programs for Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs. - This study examines support programs other than training activities for Vietnamese SME managers to improve their management capacity to successfully export agricultural products, overcoming international technical barriers. - In this study, qualitative methods were conducted in the format of semi-structured inter- views with 124 managers of Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs. - Enterprises participated in various business sectors, from investment, manufacturing, trading, exports of agricultural products such as tea, sugar cans, coffee, fruit and vegetables, organic food, etc. - From the view of SME managers in this study, consulting activities can be conducted in specific topics. - It can be consultancy for penetrating into general export markets or specific ones such as target markets, potential markets, or consultancy on certain agricultural products.. - Besides consultancy on approaching export markets, Vietnamese SME managers also needed other consultancies “to choose export sectors and products” (M_124) or to develop and/or innovate products to meet the needs of target export markets.. - For SMEs exporting agricultural products, production technology is always a key factor for success, thus SME managers in this study showed the need for “technology support and con- sultancy” (M_110). - This can be “ad- vice on banking policies such as incentive interest rates to stimulate SMEs’ exports” (M_122), advice on procedures and documents required in agricultural export, or in-depth consulting on technical standards applied for their agricultural export products.. - Consultancies on topics related to technical standards to overcome trade barriers have re- ceived great attention of Vietnamese SME managers in this study. - In-depth consultancy on agricultural export &. - Understanding the differences between exporting and trading in the domestic market, SME managers in the study also showed the need for in-depth consultancies on agricultural export.. - Although SME managers are required to self-solve problems arising in export, there are many situations where SME managers need in-depth consulting to take advantage of business opportunities as well as to avoid big loss. - With regard to above consulting topics, Vietnamese SME managers in this study expected to receive ‘the consultancies from both Vietnamese and foreign experts, especially the skillful ones” (M_49), as well as “consultancies from experienced SME managers exporting in the same export fields” (M_100).. - In addition to consulting activities, Vietnamese SME managers in this study also expressed the need to participate in workshops/ seminars to improve their management capacity to overcome technical barriers standards in agricultural export. - laws To begin with, SME managers in this research expressed their desire to participate in work- shops/ seminars to gain an overall understanding of the international business context, thereby being able to “update international business trends which may lead to the changes in technical standards” (M_113). - These can be “workshops on governmental support mechanism and policies”(M_74), or “seminars on banks’ incentives such as preferential interest rates to stimulate export activities of SMEs” (M_122).. - From the view of SME managers in this study, topics related to particular technical stan- dards in agricultural export should also be included in the workshops/ seminars. - Not only knowl- edge provided, the SME managers also expected to learn from experiences of experts or other SME managers in coping with such technical standards. - More specifically, seminars to clarify technical standards and requirements of particular markets and nations were also addressed by the SME managers.. - Workshops on agricultural export, Specific agricultural export products &. - Topics related to export activities and agricultural export in particular were also addressed by SME managers in this study. - Furthermore, specialized seminars on agricultural export products such as coffee, dragon fruit, and vegetables are topics that the Vietnamese SME managers wished to join. - In such specialized seminars, knowledge related to these export products such as potential export markets, relevant laws and technical requirements should be discussed in more detail to provide necessary preparation for SME managers. - As shared by one SME managers “I wish to. - Vietnamese SME managers in this research also wished to participate in seminars on sci- ence and technology in order to earn more knowledge and better apply advanced technology in manufacturing and exporting agricultural products.. - Moreover, sufficient understanding of Vietnam’s agriculture and key export products is an important knowledge that SME managers expected to be equipped during seminars. - Joining workshops, in addition to acquiring knowledge, SME managers also wished to get. - further benefits such as to develop networks and/or to seek and share export opportunities Workshops to develop relationship with international agricultural partners. - For example, one SME manager shared his desire to participate in “seminars connecting Viet- namese agricultural SMEs with partners from difficult markets such as Korea and Japan”. - One of the most important reasons for SME managers to attend workshops is to look for export opportunities. - In particular, particular sem- inars for SME managers exporting similar products such as coffee, dragon fruit, or approaching similar markets were the need of SME managers. - By doing so, SME managers may cooperate, support each other and jointly deploy export contracts successfully. - Especially, under the influence of international and regional trade policies, Vietnamese SME managers in this study wished to participate in the conference to “connect Vietnamese enterprises to business partner from coun- tries which signed trade agreements with Vietnam” (M_86).. - With the aim of improving management capacity to overcome technical trade barriers, SME managers in this study also expected to “learn from other export SMEs’ experience, espe- cially from those operating in the same fields” (M_99).. - Understanding above wishes of Vietnamese SME, from the sharing of Vietnamese SME managers in this study, workshop organizers should provide opportunities for them to maximize their benefits. - The workshops calling the participation of the presentative of foreign business associations also help SME managers better understand the requirements of specific markets and develop networks with partners from these nations.. - Vietnamese SME managers in this study also wanted to receive supports related to trading promotion activities for export. - Business fieldtrips to earn practical experiences, including short courses on management or workshop to share business opportunities from both Vietnamese and foreign partners are also activities that SME managers want to join. - When it comes to workshop organized during field- trips, the involvement of not only SME managers and foreign partners but also state support agen- cies was perceived useful by SME managers in this study.. - Table 1: Consultancies and seminars to improve management capacity to overcome echnical trade barriers needed by Vietnamese agricultural export SME managers. - In the era of industrial revolution 4.0, accessing to useful information through the devel- opment of electronic portals and websites was also a content that SME managers in this study wanted to be supported. - They perceived portals and websites as a source of “providing prompt, timely, regular and accurate information for agricultural export SMEs” (M_73). - Following are some kinds of online information that Vietnamese SME managers wish to receive via the channels of portals and websites. - on specific agricultural products SME managers in this study wanted to get online information about markets that they are exporting to, as shared by one SME manager “We need accurate and updated information on websites to better understand market needs to make adjustment properly” (M_57). - In addition, the SME managers also expected to get online information about specific export products, such as “detailed information about coffee products and markets on websites” (M_85).. - From the view of Vietnamese SME managers in this study, export laws and policies are constantly changing, therefore they needed to be updated legal regulations related to technical standards in agricultural export on websites. - The guidance and notices for SMEs to manufacture products to meet specific requirements of export markets are also a content that Vietnamese SME managers expected to acquire via websites.. - When it comes to online information, it could be delivered to SME managers via various channels such as portals, websites or online manual guidance book. - Manual guidance documents may provide SME managers with detailed description about technical requirements in specific markets, as well as instructions to overcome these barriers. - Online seminars may provide more opportu- nities for SME managers – who live far away from big cities where traditional seminars are often organized. - Table 2: Developing electronic portals and websites to improve management capacity to overcome technical trade barriers, needed by Vietnamese agricultural export SMEs.. - on specific agricultural products. - Also, government agen- cies may develop further suitable supports in accordance to the needs shared by SME managers.. - Consulting activities and seminars providing updated information on agricultural export markets for SMEs should be regularly organized. - New regulations on tariffs and non-tariff measures are therefore increasingly sophisticated, resulting in challenges for exporters, including Viet- namese agricultural export SMEs. - In order to proactively react and deal with changes from mar- kets, especially from difficult ones, the government supports to provide adequate and updated information on agricultural export is strongly needed. - Besides issues related to laws and technical requirements, consultancies/seminars may cover topics such as developing/ selecting appropriate export products and markets. - Seminars may include the discussion on exporting specific agricultural products such as coffee, dragon fruits, and the introduction on technical trade barriers of some specific markets such as China, Australia, and the US. - There should also be in-depth consultancies for SME managers when they need to urgently solve problems encoun- tered during the export process.. - As expected by SME managers in this study, consultancies should be delivered by both Vietnamese and foreign experienced and skillful experts. - Also, support organizations should turn the workshops/ seminars into opportunities for export SMEs to share, cooperate and work together to overcome technical barriers, enhancing efficiency of agricultural export.. - Trading promotion organizations need to increase the provision of trade promotion support services to SMEs such as providing information about markets and competitors. - Furthermore, there should be more supports focusing on developing e-commerce activities for agricultural export SMEs, including constructing information technology infrastructure, de- veloping media campaign and organizing discussions to raise awareness about the role of e-com- merce. - By using in-depth qualitative research methods, the paper has discussed the perceptions of Vietnamese agricultural export managers with regard to support programs to assist them better export, overcoming technical trade barriers. - export agricultural products
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