Brands display economic force for the nation

Well over 100 companies have received awards for their contributions in enhancing Vietnam’s image

At the meeting ceremony with recognised enterprises for the programme on November 25, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said that the companies have an important contribution to make towards the industry and trade sector, including devotion to the high trade surplus of nearly $20 billion seen over the first 10 months of this year.

The stability in socioeconomic growth, approximately forecast at 2.5-3 per cent for the whole year, is also a motivation for these businesses to develop their operations.

“The vast majority of the 124 honoured enterprises in the Vietnam Value Programme are from the private sector, showing the important role of this sector in building the country’s image, goods consumption, and export activity – and more so, the role of the programme in innovation, pioneering, and capacity to inspire motivation and prestige for the community,” PM Phuc said.

He recognised the non-stop effort of enterprise leaders, staff members, and other labour sources in maintaining the businesses’ position in the market, simultaneously contributing to the growth impetus of the country in spite of numerous difficulties. He also mentioned large-scale groups such as THACO, BRG Group, and TH true MILK among others as economic motivational forces for the country.

In the framework of the meeting ceremony, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh – chairman of the Vietnam Value Council – reported that the honoured enterprises acquired a total revenue of VND1.4 quadrillion ($60.87 billion), and export turnover of VND137 trillion ($5.96 billion). They contributed VND200 trillion ($8.7 billion) to the state budget and generated 471,000 jobs for people. In addition, they spent VND9.5 trillion ($413 million) on charity programmes.

The number of enterprises with recognised products and services has increased year by year from 30 businesses in 2008 to 97 units in 2018. The figure for this year is fourfold higher than that of the first year.

The prime minister, however, also pointed out that domestic enterprises have numerous problems, with almost all of them on a small scale, and specialising in manufacturing raw products without high added value.

“Thus, these businesses need to find ways to improve capacity and quality of products in order to generate more value for their products, leading to increasing their contribution towards building a more powerful country,” PM Phuc said.

The prime minister has thus assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to study and propose policies to support domestic businesses. The government will also continue to regularly supervise and speed up the operation of domestic enterprises in order to help them to unleash their manufacturing power. Moreover, the government will also pay more attention to entire firms, including micro- and small-sized units, to help them join the team of enterprises with a Vietnam Value Award.

Minister Tuan Anh added that during the past 17 years, the Vietnam Value Programme has contributed to improving the awareness of the business community about the role of building a brand for their companies and products via offering quality, innovation, and pioneering capacity. Many of these enterprises have established their leading positions in their operational sectors and maintain high-speed growth in both revenues and profits.

Addressing the ceremony announcing products with national brand names last week, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh said the increase in honoured enterprises demonstrated the trust of the business community in the government’s policy, simultaneously illustrating that the quality of domestic goods and services has improved and companies are able to maintain their enthusiasm despite the problems 2020 has brought up.

“In order to promote these achievements, honoured enterprises need to continue to take advantage of their pinpointed brand to promote their export activity and innovative spirit, while being proactive in integration,” DPM Binh said.

He asked the MoIT to collect proposals from the business community to create favourable policies in order to realise the target of 1,000 projects earning a Vietnam Value Award by 2030.