Photo for illustration (Source: VNA)
This statement was shared by many experts at the conference " Improving competitiveness of Vietnamese brand in international integration" held by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in Hanoi on December 27th.
Weak competitiveness
Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Head of the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that although businesses have made a lot of progress in product improvement, more than 90% of small and medium-sized enterprises all lack capacity and experience in brand development. This is a negative factor in the context of competition with imported goods and products of multinational companies in Vietnamese market.
Evaluating eight years of implementing the campaign "Vietnamese give priority to use Vietnamese goods," Deputy Head of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Truong Thi Ngoc Anh said that the campaign has contributed to change awareness and consumption behaviour of Vietnamese people. Consumers have been interested in goods made in Vietnam. The capacity of Vietnamese businesses has been improved and they have actively invested in technology, improving quality, reducing prices of products to suit consumers.
She asked the businesses to further invest in technology, management to not only meet the requirements of domestic consumers, but also continue to reach out to the world during the integration process.
Representative for retailing businesses, Mr. Nguyen Thai Dung, Deputy Head of Big C Thang Long, said that although Vietnamese products have stunning quality and flavour, they suffer weak brand construction and unattractive packing. Particularly, preliminary treatment and after-harvest preservation have not meet strict requirements of selective markets such as Europe, Japan and the US.
Solutions
According to Ms. Le Viet Nga, Deputy Head of the Department of Domestic Market under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, globalization and international economic integration are becoming a strong trend worldwide. However, countries tend to focus on strengthening and developing their domestic market. In the context, internal resource promotion to build an autonomous and non-dissolved economy during the integration process is an urgent requirement for Vietnam.
Ms. Nga said that over the past time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has coordinated with other ministries, sectors and associations to support domestic market development, especially strengthening connection between supply and demand to promote the development of Vietnamese businesses and goods.
"The percentage of Vietnamese goods in supermarkets is up to over 70%. At some big supermarkets such as Big C, Coopmart, the percentage of Vietnamese products is over 90%," she said.
She also emphasized that production businesses should pay more attention to update investment information, improve services, quality and design to meet consumers’ demands. Besides, it is necessary to have policies to give priority to domestically-made goods, support businesses and farmer households in producing goods reaching domestic standards and toward export.
Dr. Dinh Thi My Loan, Head of the Association of Vietnamese Retailers, said that there is no solution that is suitable for all businesses, for all types of businesses but each individual and business need to have their own strategy.
According to Mr. Vu Ba Phu, the Trade Promotion Department will have activities to support businesses in building branding as well as help businesses work out effective solutions and action programs to stand firmly during the integration process.
Through a research of the Association of Vietnamese Retailers, Ms. Loan said that in order to improve the retail sector, it is necessary to have a development strategy for this sector and it should focus on: promoting growth through creativeness; increasing productivity through technological application in distribution and retailing sector; building a high productivity retailing workforce, which is ready for the future; supporting Vietnamese retailing businesses to expand market to connect new customers from ASEAN and around the world./.