A Swiss-funded trade promotion project to develop regional export and production plans has helped Vietnam’s small and medium scale enterprise become more competitive, thus boosting the country’s exports. For the last five years, trade promotion centres at localities have received assistance to improve their capacity. Thousands of enterprises have been trained to raise export ability. Nguyen Thi Hien, Director of Ha Thai Tea Export Joint Stock Company: "Through the training courses, we’ve learnt to apply advanced technology in processing and production and produce clean products to ensure tea hygiene and quality." The project has also supported exporters with potential export products, such as litchi, green tea, pepper, fresh fruits and tra fish. Do Kim Lang, Deputy Director of Trade Promotion Department, Ministry of Trade and Industry: "Their capacity has improved a lot. They can make detailed export plan and we helped them to realise the opportunities. We see this is a model that we will share with other small and medium scale enterprises in other localities in the future." The project promises to achieve more positive results in the future when the new phase will be implemented in August this year.-VNA