Firms should attach greater attention to building their brands to enhance competitiveness in the context of rapid global integration as Vietnam has few globally-recognised brands.

A product of national diary company Vinamilk. Building brand was important to firms
to increase competitiveness in the context of rapid international integration.
(Photo: taichinhdoanhnghiep.net.vn)

A survey of more than 500 enterprises carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Trade found that only 20% of the firms invested in building their brand with most focusing on registering brands in Vietnam and ignoring registration in international markets. Firms also paid little attention to managing and exploiting brands.

According to Le Tat Chien from the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam under the Ministry of Science and Technology, despite having a position in the domestic market, many Vietnamese products were still struggling to expand in foreign markets because most firms still ignored brand promotion.

Deputy head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Huu Nghia said firms still lacked solutions to build and manage their brands. Some enterprises had not really considered brand as a way to bring products to consumers and some lacked awareness of the importance of brands, he said.

Mac Quoc Anh, Deputy President of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, said that 90% of firms in Vietnam were of small and medium scale, even micro-scale with limited financial capacity, making it difficult for them to invest in developing brands.

Anh said firms expected more effective mechanisms and policies would be introduced to protect domestic goods, adding that the legal framework also needed improving to ensure a fair business environment for domestic and imported products.

Director of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency Vu Ba Phu said the Ministry of Industry and Trade was developing a national brand project which would focus on brand promotion for Vietnamese products via international media.

It was important that Vietnamese firms must be well aware of brand value and building recognition for Vietnamese products, to create prestige and confidence among domestic and foreign consumers, said Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute for Brand and Competitiveness Strategy.

According to Brand Finance, the Vietnamese national brand was valued at US$247 billion in 2019, US$12 billion higher than 2018, ranking 42nd in the world.