The result is thanks to the Government's efforts to improve the business environment and promote economic supports and institutional reforms over the recent years, helping boost the brands of Vietnamese products and enterprises.
A number of large companies have built their brands in the domestic and international markets, helping enhance the position of the national brand of Vietnam. According to the Forbes Vietnam 2020 ranking, the total value of the top 50 Vietnamese brands is over US$12.6 billion, including Thaco, Hoa Phat, Vinamilk, Habeco, Vietnam Airlines, Vingroup, and others.
However, there are still many Vietnamese enterprises who are not properly aware of the role and importance of the brand and have not yet built a strong brand. Although Vietnam has strengths and a leading position in exporting agricultural and aquatic products in key product areas such as rice, coffee, and pepper, the country is yet to have a worthy agricultural brand with the ability to dominate internationally.
Vietnam posts a very large export volume of goods with good product quality, but the value that Vietnamese enterprises earn from these is not high. The main reason is that Vietnam mostly exports raw materials or preliminary processing products through intermediaries or through a brand of other trading partners in foreign countries. Consequently, foreign consumers themselves do not know that the commercial product is a Vietnamese product.
Many enterprises worry about costs and wastefulness in brand building, claiming that branding is only suitable for large enterprises. This mindset causes many Vietnamese brands to be inferior to foreign brands of the same form, quality and price.
A survey conducted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade also shows that more than 20% of surveyed enterprises have invested in branding while 80% of them are not interested in brand building and do not consider branding as a true business tool, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
It is time for enterprises to recognise and give due attention to building, maintaining and developing the national brand. This is an urgent job, requiring a long-term and consistent plan in terms of State policy and a consensus of effort among the entire business community in order to improve competitiveness and promote the export of Vietnamese goods to the global market.
In addition, there should be guidance and support for enterprises to protect the intellectual property rights related to potential export goods. Enterprises also need supports to build and promote brands in the domestic and international market so that they can continue to invest in improving product quality and competitiveness and increasing exports.
The success of each product will contribute to increasing the value of the Vietnamese national brand, helping Vietnamese products to assert their prestige and position in the international arena.
