Lê Việt Nga. — VNA/VNS Photo

Lê Việt Nga, deputy director of the Domestic Market Department, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, speaks to Vietnam News Agency on the current campaign to encourage Vietnamese people to use Vietnamese goods.

What are the achievements of the campaign launched by the Ministry of Industry and Trade a decade ago?

Since the launch of the campaign we have gained a lot of success, particularly with Vietnamese goods sold in our current distribution system.

We have launched many advertisement campaigns to encourage Vietnamese consumers and enterprises to use Vietnamese-made products. This is a key driving force for Vietnamese-made products and after sales service to improve.

However, Vietnamese goods have faced big challenges in competing with foreign-made goods on their quality, packaging and post sales.

That’s why the Ministry of Trade has launched a campaign to raise the awareness of “Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods” while helping enterprises develop Vietnamese trade marks for their products.

We have also encouraged them to improve the quality of their products, particularly as Việt Nam is part of the world economy. And Vietnamese- made goods will face strong competition with foreign made goods in terms of import tax, prices and product quality.

To overcome such challenges, Vietnamese enterprises, particularly small and medium enterprises as well as individual households should focus more on producing higher quality goods.

Meanwhile the distribution network should help Vietnamese enterprises distribute and sell their products. The presence of Vietnamese-made goods reached up to 90 per cent in the distribution network in the country. 

Meanwhile, Vietnamese-made goods sold at foreign invested enterprises like BigC or AEON account for up to 80-90 per cent of the total.

However, in Vietnamese traditional markets, just 60 per cent of Vietnamese goods are being sold.

What is the reason for the significant difference in 80 per cent of Vietnamese goods displayed against 60 per cent at traditional markets?

It is indisputable that almost all supermarkets are big buying and selling points. This is a key reason why many manufacturers have their goods displayed in the supermarkets including many well-known Vietnamese-made products.

However, it is not easy for the buyers to see where the goods they buy are made at traditional markets, particularly in remote regions. This is a reason why goods at markets are not obliged to have trademarks or quality stamps.

Last but not least, many local people don’t want to spend much money on a certain article.

This is food for thought for people working in the field of mass communications to exert more efforts in the campaign to protect Vietnamese consumers; and for enterprises to pay attention to the low cost of goods for people living in rural areas.

Furthermore, the Vietnamese Association of Retailers should play the role as a mediator between goods producers and sellers in the markets.

Worthy of note is that Decision 634/QĐ-TTG dated April 29, 2019 set a target that by 2020 all provinces and cities nationwide must be a bridge to link suppliers and buyers.

Whether the campaign calling on Vietnamese to use Vietnamese-made goods is a success or not, it depends very much on the market surveillance authority and other concerned authorities.

To make the campaign a success, a core issue is the quality of the goods and their prices are suitable for people living in the countryside. What’s more important it is the accessibility of the goods by people living in the countryside. And good examples in this field are Vinamilk, Masan and some others.

Last by not least, connection between enterprises has become an important factor or trend in securing a business success.

Does the Ministry of Industry and Trade have plans to help Vietnamese enterprises bring Vietnamese goods to Vietnamese people?

From now till 2020, the Ministry of Industrial and Trade will carry out many projects which have been approved by the Government, including the programme “Vietnamese use Vietnamese goods”, the programme “We’re proud of Vietnamese made goods” and others.

In addition, the Việt Nam e-commerce and Digital Economy Agency has worked closely with the Domestic Market Department to launch an E-Commerce programme for some 20,000 selling points nationwide with stable prices.

The MOIT hopes that within 2019, the Government approves a Strategy for Domestic Trade Development by 2025. Hopefully the Strategy will create a good chain in the consumption of Vietnamese made goods in the domestic market and the foreign market. — VNS