The initiative forms part of the association’s 2026-2030 private-sector development project, which shifts its focus towards meeting specific business needs and measuring results through contracts, stronger capabilities and new enterprises.
The pilot will begin with buyers’ requirements, identify suitable suppliers and assess where they need support to meet demand.
First-year targets include creating at least three purchasing opportunities and screening about 30 businesses.
By 2030, the wider project aims to help develop an ecosystem of around 5,000 businesses.
These would include enterprises transitioning from household businesses, small and medium-sized suppliers, digital startups, AI companies and businesses focused on science, technology and innovation.
Association chairman Vu Hong Quan said the merger had broadened opportunities for cooperation, particularly between the province’s eastern and western areas.
The west has strengths in land, raw materials, agricultural products and medicinal herbs, while the east offers advantages in trade, services, logistics, distribution and consumer markets.
Quan said connections between the two areas should extend beyond meetings to bring together markets, products, resources and value chains.
Linking producers with buyers, or raw material suppliers with businesses offering technology and distribution, could help companies expand their operations.
Dang Thi Cam Lai, director of Dulah Co., Ltd. in An Hao commune, said cooperation depended on identifying where businesses’ strengths complemented one another. Such partnerships could support better products and access to more distant markets.
The association has already expanded its network and introduced activities including Business Coffee sessions, company visits, trade promotion, e-commerce support, training and international cooperation.
At the province’s Investment Promotion Conference, three member enterprises received investment policy approval decisions and signed memoranda of understanding.
The Gia Lai E-Commerce Forward 2026 programme also connected local businesses with additional organisations and partners in the sector.
Alongside market access, the association has gathered businesses’ concerns for submission to provincial authorities.
More than 300 enterprises participated in the Gia Lai local dialogue round of the Vietnam Private Sector Forum 2026. The association compiled 27 recommendations across 10 groups of issues.
In August, it received five cases, three of which fell within the remit of the provincial People’s Committee and relevant departments. On September 22, the Department of Industry and Trade worked to address difficulties affecting three member businesses.
Under the development project, the association plans to categorise requests and track their outcomes.
Policy concerns will be compiled for submission, skills gaps addressed through training, market needs matched with buyers and technological problems linked to suitable solutions.
The project will also support household businesses seeking to become enterprises, strengthen management and legal capabilities, and help companies apply technology and innovation to specific operational challenges.
Tran Thi Loi, general director of Yen Xuan Cao Nguyen Development JSC in Pleiku Ward, said access to opportunities needed to be matched by businesses’ ability to deliver.
She said the association could help companies find suitable partners and reliable information, but lasting cooperation would depend on product quality and the capacity to fulfil commitments.
Quan said the association’s effectiveness would ultimately be measured by the orders, contracts, new businesses and economic value its work helped generate.