Mr. Nhan quoted experiences from Japan and South Korea that have improved goods quality and brought their products abroad through local market.
At the event, he appreciated results obtained after ten years of the campaign and commended the city authorities of all levels for their efforts and creativeness in implementing the campaign, classes of residents for their positive response to the program.
For the last ten years, Vietnamese firms have made lot of products with better than before quality and more diversified design and types. The number of Vietnamese consumers buying Vietnamese goods has been on the rise. These have contributed in boosting socioeconomic development and affirmed that the patriotism of Vietnamese has been put in the right place to support good quality Vietnamese goods and say no to low quality ones, he said.
According to Mr. Nhan, the campaign is not a purely economic matter. If it is, consumers will choose commodities with lower prices in case they have the same quality. When they decide to buy a product made by Vietnamese, that means they have contributed in increasing income for their countrymen and voices their patriotism.
To businesses, he required them to make unceasing efforts to improve product quality and abide by market principles. Unless creating good quality products with competitive prices, they will not be able to stand firm in the market.
Implementation of the campaign in the upcoming time should head towards “Vietnamese give priority to consumption of good quality Vietnamese goods,” requiring businesses to pay heed to renewing technology and equipment to create good quality products with competitive prices, he added.
All level government and relevant agencies should take more drastic actions in fighting illicit goods and counterfeits, the leader asked.
Talking at the conference, Ms. Hanh Thuy from Vietnamese Goods Ambassador Club, said that the need of using Vietnamese goods has been increasing.
“Being aware that Vietnamese goods use is a way to show patriotism and national pride, my family and I have consumed more Vietnamese commodities from small things like fish sauce and cooking oil bottles to big ones,” said she.
Mr. Nguyen Anh Duc, deputy director general of Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives (Saigon Co.op) said that in response to the campaign, the union has implemented many programs to facilitate businesses’ production of Vietnamese goods such as annually organized program “Proud of Vietnamese goods”. In addition, the union has sided with businesses in export of Vietnamese farm produce and goods, launched activities for the community, encouraged green consumption and gradually limited consumption of environmentally unfriendly products.
Stressing the role of traditional markets in bridging Vietnamese goods and consumers, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Tran, deputy head of the management board of Nguyen Tri Phuong market said that traders have worked towards further providing Vietnamese goods to consumers.
Positive changes, many obstacles
Reporting at the conference, permanent deputy chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front’s HCMC Committee Tran Tan Ngoi said that the policy of launching and implementing the campaign has received consensus and positive support from a crowd of residents and enterprises.
HCMC has attached the campaign with the market stabilization program to create positive changes in consumption of Vietnamese goods. The campaign has raised businesses’ awareness of exploiting the domestic market and improving production and trading operations as well as building brand names, he said.
Under the campaign, Vietnamese goods consumption promotion, advertising and enterprises connectivity activities have positively spread from HCMC to other provinces and cities nationwide especially in localities with trade cooperation relations with the city.
However, the campaign has faced difficulties such as fake and illicit goods production, transport and trading. Commercial fraudulence have not been deterred absolutely.
Aside from improving consumers’ awareness of using Vietnamese goods, the campaign should raise businesses’ awareness of improving their products’ quality, design and types to meeting customers’ increasing demand. Still, the majority of businesses in HCMC and the country are small and medium scaled with limited competitive ability and in front of difficulties and challenges from international economic integration.
In the upcoming time, the competition in the domestic as well as international market will be severer, he said and suggested the city to focus on improving propaganda work for the campaign. Of these, businesses must better quality and offer reasonable price to conquer more Vietnamese consumers.
He proposed the Government to supply guidance in improvement of technical barriers and trade defense measures to import items in line with international commitments. That aims to make sure that goods imported to Vietnam will be tightly inspected according to specific standards, technical regulations and process.
Moreover, the Government should instruct ministries to enhance their roles in boosting coordination together to encourage connectivity in goods production and circulation among businesses in provinces and cities across the country.
