HCM CITY – The HCM City Department of Industry and Trade has launched a programme to help businesses develop brand names and add more value to key products.

Nguyễn Phương Đông, the department’s deputy director, said a survey conducted by the department found that most small- and medium-sized enterprises lacked the financial capacity to build their brands.

Brand names play an important role in creating added value for enterprises’ products and a stable market, and attracting business partners.

The city approved the department’s proposal to identify typical products and certify brand names for them.

The department has worked with relevant departments and agencies to select typical products to carry out brand name certification this year.

The programme will focus on groups of products that contribute to the city’s industrial development as well as its economic structure transfer.

In the mechanical engineering industry, the department will give priority to select materials, components, machinery and equipment serving industrial and agricultural production.

The rubber and plastic industry will focus on rubber and plastic products, which require high technology and accuracy and can serve other industries such as mechanical engineering, food and foodstuffs.

Products of the electronic industry will be given priority. They include products that meet international standards (DIN, JIS, and ASTM), materials and components serving manufacturing of export products, energy-saving products, and products in the value chain.

Light industry will focus on food and foodstuff, garments and textiles, and footwear.

The criteria for selecting products in these two sectors will be based on consumer awareness and the ratio of components locally made.

Hồ Minh Sơn, director of Amura Precision Co Ltd, said that building brand names was one of six measures that any enterprise must implement.

Developing brand names help businesses improve their images, especially brands officially certified by authorised agencies.

Đông said the programme would help companies achieve certification and authorised agencies would offer assistance to enterprises with certified products to expand market share.

The programme will also target forming a list of the city’s typical products of industrial sectors and the part supplying industry, which would provide a foundation for investment activities in the industries. - VNS