HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese products can only be worthy of the ‘national brand’ honour must secure “a standing” in the global value chain, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc said.

He was speaking on Thursday at a meeting with representatives of nearly 100 domestic enterprises who earned the top honour of 2018 in Hà Nội.

“’National brand’ products represent Việt Nam as a country, which means they must be able to capture the international recognition. Failure to do so would impede our efforts integrating into the global economy,” PM Phúc said.

He said the ardent patriotism was one decisive factor in the making of “valuable brands and the products’ competitiveness in both domestic and global markets alike.”

Cherishing and upholding the ‘national brands’ also constitutes a gesture of respect for the country, he said.

PM Phúc reiterated that “the health of enterprises is equivalent to the health of the economy” and that the strength of the brands is the most important measure to gauge this.

As the customers and the market are getting more demanding and with the diversity of products available, being recognised as the country’s brand “is not an easy achievement”, he said.

According to the Prime Minister, only the market, people and the society have the final say in the existence and growth of a brand.

He also expressed his optimism at the capacity of Vietnamese enterprises, saying the annual list of national brand products is important but still “a relative frame of reference.”

“I trust there are many more other outstanding brands with huge potential but their 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 a decline in quality in the future, which he deemed “a notable weakness”.

Referring to a complaint that Vietnamese customers’ preferences are heavily skewered towards foreign products, the leader urged businesses to do serious “soul-searching” to see whether their offerings and services have been good enough, urging businesses to pay more attention to the 100-million-strong domestic market.

The event honouring the 97 enterprises attaining the ‘national brand’ titles was the sixth edition of the programme that was first launched in 2008. Last year, 91 enterprises gained the titles.

In 2017, total revenue of the honoured 97 firms reached VNĐ924 trillion (US$40.8 billion), an increase of 28 per cent on 2015’s figure. They contributed VNĐ63 trillion to the State budget, 19.3 per cent higher than that of 2015. — VNS