An overview of the forum on "Building a national brand for Vietnamese agricultural products".

On January 7, 2016, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 40/QD-TTg on the “overall strategy for international integration until 2020, with a vision to 2030”, requiring the “improvement of the national competitive capacity; striving to build a national brand and trademark with international reputation.”

According to the recent report on the implementation of the Vietnam National Brand Programme in 2023 launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, many reputable international organisations continue to evaluate Vietnam as a bright spot in the picture of building and developing national brands, and is the national brand with the fastest value growth in the world at 102% in 5 years (2019-2023).

The value of Vietnam's national brand was priced at 247 billion USD in 2019 and at 498.13 billion USD in 2023, increasing one rank to 32nd out of 100 strong national brands in the world.

Master Nguyen Thanh Tung from the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences said the brand value of Vietnamese businesses also increased sharply, led by the telecommunications, banking, and food industries.

Telecommunications brands reached a total brand value of 13.2 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 1%, accounting for about 31% of the total value of all brands in the ranking. The three leading brands are Viettel with 8.9 billion USD, VinaPhone with 800 million USD, and MobiFone with 800 million USD.

Banking has a total brand value of 12.5 billion USD, an increase of 47% compared to 2022, accounting for 30% of the total value of all brands in the ranking. The leading brand is Vietcombank with 1.9 billion USD, followed by Agribank at 1.4 billion USD; BIDV at 1.4 billion USD; and Vietinbank at 1.3 billion USD.

The food and beverage industry has a total brand value of 6 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%, accounting for about 14% of the total value of all brands in the ranking. Among the five most valuable food and beverage brands in Vietnam (reaching 4.9 billion USD), there are two national brands: Vinamilk with 3 billion USD, and Habeco with 200 million USD.

The above results show that Vietnam's leading brands have made remarkable improvements in both brand value and strength index, gradually catching up with the global trend of investing in intangible value in businesses, typically brand value, to significantly contribute to increasing Vietnam's national brand value.

The Vietnam National Brand Programme has helped to improve the capacity of businesses to build and develop their brands; and to propagate and promote national brands and national brand products in the media.

In foreign markets, the programme has propagated, promoted, and provided geographical indications for a number of typical local products, such as Binh Thuan dragon fruit; Son La, Buon Me Thuot, Khe Sanh and Cau Dat coffee; Thanh Ha and Luc Ngan lychee; Shan Tuyet tea; and Yen Chau mango.

As a result, Vietnamese products’ brands have been introduced more widely around the world.

However, according to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Quang Tuan, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the picture of Vietnamese brand still has many unclear spots without many strong brands.

The main reason is that a large part of the business community does not considered branding as an essential tool to bring their products to consumers. In addition, the brand building and protection has been conducted in a spontaneous manner, at a small scale, and with a lack of professionalism and synchronisation. The political system in many localities have not really paid attention to or drastically implemented solutions to support businesses in building their brands.

Additionally, the resources for branding are lacking, and the promotion of images are not synchronous and systematic, causing the Vietnamese brand not to spread as expected. The competitive advantage of Vietnamese exports is still mainly based on price, not much on value. Therefore, the businesses urgently need synchronous and effective solutions to build and protect their brands.

It is difficult to have a brand, but it is even more difficult to have a famous brand that can represent the country, especially for small and medium enterprises and startups. A brand is not simply a name but must contain intelligence about the quality, design, and uses of the products.

In addition to the quality, the important and core factor to create a brand also lies in price and the ability to meet customer tastes.

Scientists said to support businesses in promoting the building and development of Vietnamese brands, it is necessary to deploy diverse programmes and activities, with a focus on protecting the Vietnamese national brand.

Moreover, it is also crucial to raise public awareness of building, developing, and promoting brands as well as consulting, training, and improving the capacity to build and develop brands for businesses. Notably, the products achieving national brand status should be promoted both in the country and abroad.