The PM was speaking at a meeting with representatives of nearly 100 domesticenterprises who earned the top honour of 2018 in Hanoi on December 20.
‘National brand’ products represent Vietnam as a country, which means they mustbe able to capture the international recognition. Failure to do so would impedeour efforts integrating into the global economy, he said.
He said the ardent patriotism was one decisive factor in the making of“valuable brands and the products’ competitiveness in both domestic and globalmarkets alike.”
Cherishing and upholding the ‘national brands’ also constitutes a gesture ofrespect for the country, he said.
PM Phuc reiterated that “the health of enterprises is equivalent to the healthof the economy” and that the strength of the brands is the most importantmeasure to gauge this.
He also expressed his optimism at the capacity of Vietnamese enterprises,saying the annual list of national brand products is important but still “arelative frame of reference.”
“I trust there are many more other outstanding brands with huge potential buttheir true worth has not been recognised by the programme or the customers,”the Government leader said.
He also told businesses to be “consistent” with the offerings, avoiding adecline in quality in the future, which he deemed “a notable weakness”.
Referring to a complaint that Vietnamese customers’ preferences are heavilyskewered towards foreign products, the leader urged businesses to do serious“soul-searching” to see whether their offerings and services have been goodenough, urging businesses to pay more attention to the domestic market.
The event honouring the 97 enterprises attaining the ‘national brand’ titleswas the sixth edition of the programme that was first launched in 2008. Lastyear, 91 enterprises gained the titles.
In 2017, total revenue of the honoured 97 firms reached 924 trillion VND (40.8billion USD), an increase of 28 percent on 2015’s figure. They contributed 63trillion VND to the State budget, 19.3 percent higher than that of 2015. — VNS