Accordingto Le Tuong Van, a strategy consultant, competitive advantages shouldbe improved to develop Vietnamese brands. This is critical forincreasing the added values of products and services. Van said thatnational branding required the participation of both the government andthe enterprises.
The Government should formulate a long-termnational branding strategy and provide support to enterprises withleading brands to conquer the regional and global markets, and to buildbrands at the international level, she said.
Currently, manyVietnamese brands cannot reach the international level due to the lackof a national strategy, experts said, pointing out that many productsare exported without branding, while many low-quality products exportedunder Vietnamese brand names are destroying the nation's prestige andleading to low added value.
Stephen Kreppel, an expert in nationbranding in the Nation Consultancy, said at a recent conference thatexports were important in national branding.
Brands could bebuilt with sustainable economic development, environment-friendlypolicies and social responsibility, together with natural and culturalheritage and national pride.
Pham Thi Thu Hang, General Directorof the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said thatVietnamese enterprises should invest more in branding based on theirknowledge of the customers' demands.
During global integration,branding is becoming an urgent issue for businesses. However, manyenterprises in the country did not pay adequate attention to branddevelopment as they were not well aware of the importance of branding orfaced financial shortages, experts said.
Nguyen Quoc Thinh,professor at the University of Trade, said that developing brandswithout a strategy could be a "danger". He pointed out that manyVietnamese firms did not have their own branding strategies.
Facts show that firms that have successfully developed their brands have had methodical strategies.
Accordingto Hang, it is important that firms pay attention to enhancing thequality of products and services to develop brands.
Tom Vu, asenior expert of the Masso Group, said that Vietnamese businesses shouldassociate with each other to develop brands for each sector andindustry to enhance competitiveness.
Branding should focus on sectors with competitive advantages, including agriculture, tourism and fisheries, he added.
TheNational Branding Programme, approved by the Prime Minister in 2003,aimed to promote the national image and national brand through brandedproducts.-VNA