Brand - Platform for exports in the long-term

	Vietnam plays important role in supply chains of major global sporting goods brands
	Vietnamese brands in the CPTPP market still modest
	Vietnam needs brand building to boost exports to CPTPP market

Vietnamese brand rice appears on French supermarket shelves. Photo: T.L

International certification is a passport

Sharing about the issue of developing Vietnam's national brand, Ms. Trinh Huyen Mai, Deputy Head of Trade Promotion Policy Division, Department of Trade Promotion (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that according to the assessment of Brand Finance organization - a global brand valuation organization headquartered in the UK, Vietnam's national brand was one of the national brands with the strongest value growth in the world. According to Brand Finance's 2023 assessment, in the period 2019 - 2022, Vietnam's national brand had increased by 74%, and in the assessment table, Vietnam was in the top 121 countries with strong brands in the world, ranked 33/121 countries. At the corporate level, after the persistent efforts of enterprises, a number of "Made in Vietnam" products were going abroad under their own brands.

As a leading enterprise in the field of rice export, including exporting to the EU market, Mr. Nguyen Duy Thuan, General Director of Loc Troi Group Joint Stock Company, said that exporting rice to Europe would be the most difficult if enterprises were simple exporters, that meant enterprises only bought goods to resell or they had factories to buy and mill paddy and then sold rice, it was almost impossible to build a brand in the European market.

Vietnam is considered one of the most prestigious and trusted exporters in the world for rice, first of all, Vietnam has a very solid foundation in rice production, rice cultivation, and stable supply in the world. Up to this point, Vietnam is considered the most reputable source of rice in the world, which is a necessary condition to build a brand in the European market.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen, General Director of Vietnam Cinnamon Anise Production and Export Joint Stock Company (Vinasamex) shared that international certifications were passports that helped enterprises sell products in difficult markets with high standards. Up to now, Vinasamex's orientation was to focus on four main markets including Europe; the USA and Canada; Japan, and Korea. These were four markets with very strict and demanding requirements in terms of quality standards, but it was the path to sustainable development for enterprises.

“Since 2013, we started returning to Vietnam and building a value chain with farmers. At that time, it was difficult to come up with a concept for an organic product. However, because of market demand, especially difficult markets, Vinasamex has trained farmers and registered for international certifications, which are passports that help us sell. get products with higher value and gradually affirm the brand of Vietnamese cinnamon and spice products in the international market”, said Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen.

Strong enterprises create strong national brands

Many experts believe that Vietnam's brand image is still relatively modest in many markets. From the perspective of building export brands for enterprises, Mr. Ngo Chung Khanh, Deputy Director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that enterprises should not be too rigid about building brands. “To build a brand we should walk on two legs. On the one hand, we do not refuse processing orders, because it will help stabilize the source of money to survive. But if we only go with one value, the market opportunities gained from FTAs will gradually decrease. If enterprises only settle for processing orders, today they can order from us but the next day they can go to Cambodia, Ecuador or some other country. Furthermore, many enterprises shared that the value gained from outsourcing orders was very modest”, Mr. Ngo Chung Khanh analyzed.

Giving an example of brand value, Mr. Ngo Chung Khanh said that Loc Troi enterprise shared that they signed a contract to sell rice for 1,500 euros/ton, which was a very good number; even Trung An also sold for more than US$ 1,000 /ton, which was double or even two and a half times than the processing price. The price for those goods was 4,500 euros/ton in the supermarket, which was nine times higher than the normal selling price.

Therefore, according to the leader of the Department of Multilateral Trade Policy, if enterprises only made pure processing way, although it would help stabilize orders in the short and medium term, in the long term they must consider building their own brand.

According to Ms. Trinh Huyen Mai, in a modern economy with those changes, building a brand was also very important. For example, the more national brands dominated the world market, the stronger the economic position this country had, especially in the context of Vietnam joining and signing many freedom trade agreements, building brands played an increasingly important role.

“Many strong corporate brands will create a strong national brand. On the contrary, a strong national brand will also support the success of the corporate brand", Ms. Trinh Huyen Mai commented and said that from a trade promotion perspective, the Ministry of Industry and Trade also directed the Department of Trade Promotion and related units persistently continue to build and develop the brand. The first was to continue to raise awareness at all levels and industries about the meaning, role, and necessity of building a brand, especially at the business leadership level. Besides, strengthen activities and improve capacity in building, developing, and managing the brand of enterprises.

At the national level, advertising, propaganda, and promotion activities will be strengthened for the Vietnamese national brand, for products with national brands, and for Vietnam's key export products. At the same time, the management agencies continue to encourage and support enterprises that have products with national brands, and enterprises that have the potential, and desire to bring Vietnamese brands to conquer the world market. and have trade promotion activities long-term for each product for each market and join hands with the State in building the national brand.