Vietnam'scosmetic market is seen as having a huge potential, with a turnover ofroughly 15 trillion VND (704.2 million USD) every year.
Onlinenews website VnExpress also quoted a Nielsen market survey as sayingthat spending for cosmetic products per capita among Vietnameseconsumers remains modest at only 4 USD every year, compared withspending for cosmetic products per capita among Thai consumers at 20 USDper year. Based on this, the market potential for Vietnam remains huge.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Chemicals and CosmeticsAssociation, the country currently has more than 400 cosmetic companies,but only 10 of them are well known. Currently, about 90 percent ofdomestic cosmetics market share belongs to foreign companies.
NguyenKim Thoa, Chairwoman of the HCM City Chemicals and CosmeticsAssociation, said it was difficult for Vietnamese cosmetic products tocompete against imported products, as most domestic producers were smalland medium in scale and lack capital for investment in technology,product development and trademark promotion.
Most of thecosmetics made in Vietnam are currently distributed at traditional andoutdoor markets while cosmetics made abroad are showcased at high-classcommercial complexes.
Ly Nguyen Lan Phuong, General Director ofSaigon Cosmetics Company, admitted that her company's distributionnetwork was mainly in rural areas and outdoor markets. The company sellsroughly 500,000 perfumes every year, but exports to Cambodia, Laos andThailand account for 40 percent of her company's turnover.
It isthe same with the Lan Hao Cosmetic Company, whose key markets arelocated abroad in spite of its 30-percent growth rate in the domesticmarket, said Huynh Ky Tran, the company director.
Domesticcompanies are attempting to regain domestic market share by setting upand developing their distribution systems. Their presence insupermarkets nationwide is gradually increasing.
Phuong ofSaigon Cosmetics Company said that besides improving quality andpackaging, her company has also increased the presence of its productsin big city supermarkets and opened stores to showcase its products.
Meanwhile,Tran of the Lan Hao Cosmetic Company said his company, like otherdomestic cosmetic producers such as Vinh Tan Technology, TMTM and HoaThien Phu Cosmetics, have rapidly capitalised on rising customerpreference for products made of ingredients from Mother Nature ratherthan human laboratories.-VNA