VNA joins efforts to develop national brand

The Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and
Trade, Secretariat of the National Brand programme and Vietnam News
Agency (VNA)’s daily Tin Tuc (News) signed a cooperation agreement in
Hanoi on October 18.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen
Thanh Bien said that the agreement would improve business awareness of
building and developing brand names, protecting Vietnamese brand names
at home and abroad and help the public better understand the necessity
of the programme.

Under the agreement, the daily Tin
Tuc and Secretariat of the programme would open a column in the
newspaper and hold at least two relevant seminars or events per year.

VNA’s Deputy General Director Ha Minh Hue stressed
that as the sole national news agency and a reliable strategic
information channel of the State and Party, VNA had advantages as a
bridge to bring information about businesses and products to consumers
at home and abroad.

The programme aims to build
Vietnam’s image as a country of prestige, showcase its diversity in
high-quality goods and raise the competitiveness of Vietnamese brand
names in domestic and international markets./.

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Pilot training programme on primary bond market

A pilot training programme on the primary bond market and techniques
used in corporate bond issuance in Vietnam opened in Hanoi on
October 12.

During the three-day programme,
co-organised by the Vietnam Bond Market Association (VBMA) and the
International Finance Corporation (IFC), the trainees will study the
process of issuing corporate bonds under international standards and the
bond issuance in Vietnam .

The programme will
also deal with the development of international debt market and barriers
and shortcomings facing the Vietnamese corporate bond market.

The training aims to support the development of the primary bond
market, improve transparency and professionalism in the market as well
as minimise risks to the Vietnamese bond market.

After the pilot programme, VBMA will draw up a set of standards on
corporate bond issuance techniques and hold the course regularly for its
members and those who are about to enter the bond market in the near
future.

VBMA represents more than 60 banks,
securities companies, investment funds, insurance, fund management and
financial companies in Vietnam./.

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Plan to sell goods in rural areas succeeds

A Government programme to distribute domestically made goods in rural
areas had benefited both companies and rural consumers, delegates told a
meeting in HCM City on Sept. 23.

Initiated in
March last year by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the HCM
City-based Business Study and Assistance Centre, it sought to help
domestic producers understand rural customers, creating links between
producers, distributors and retailers, and educating rural consumers,
said Vu Kim Hanh, the centre's director.

The first
phase of the programme, which was reviewed at the meeting, saw 50 trade
fairs held in 18 provinces and sales of more than 30.4 billion VND (1.55
million USD), she said.

Around 649,300 people
visited the fairs while 132 firms were involved in the programme. More
than 2,000 small traders benefited from training courses held to improve
their sales skills.

The programme has enabled many
rural people to buy quality products at reasonable prices. For a long
time they have been accustomed to buying shoddy goods without clear
origins.

Tang Quang Trong of My Hao Cosmetic Company
said: "Through the trade fairs, rural customers know more about many of
our products. We also learnt to tailor our product models, prices,
quality and distribution system to suit consumers."

Do Hoang Nam of Namilux Company said the rural market was very promising
for gas stove makers since many people there still used coal or
firewood for cooking.

"By introducing Namilux gas
stoves in rural areas, our company has achieved strong growth in terms
of market share, especially for mini gas stoves," he said.

Hanh said the early results proved that rural areas were markets of
great potential that have never received the attention they deserve.

"Sales have been so high that even some companies have been surprised," she said.

The second phase of the programme, which opened this month, would see
the distribution of goods in more provinces and districts and
organisation of more training courses for traders, Hanh said.

She urged the ministry to encourage enterprises taking part in the programme for the first time./.

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Denmark to help hone local SMEs

Denmark will help Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises
become innovative and adopt new technologies to increase their export
competitiveness through its three-year Business Sector Programme.

The programme has two other components: helping the Central Institute
of Economic Management, Institute of Labour Studies and Social Affairs
and General Statistics Office improve its economic research and
analytical capacity and providing support to strengthen the national
system of occupational safety and health by improving working
conditions, reducing pollution at the workplace, and preventing
occupational accidents and diseases.

The 422 billion
VND (21.6 million USD) programme will be implemented next year in six
provinces in the central and central highland region — Nghe An, Thanh
Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Lam Dong, and Dak Lak — and An Giang province
and Can Tho City in the south.

The programme is
awaiting approval from the Vietnamese Government. The two countries are
expected to sign the agreement in December enabling the programme to get
under way in January./.

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Denmark to help hone local SMEs

HCM CITY — Denmark will help Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises become innovative and adopt new technologies to increase their export competitiveness through its three-year Business Sector Programme.

The programme has two other components: helping the Central Institute of Economic Management, Institute of Labour Studies and Social Affairs and General Statistics Office improve its economic research and analytical capacity and providing support to strengthen the national system of occupational safety and health by improving working conditions, reducing pollution at the workplace, and preventing occupational accidents and diseases.

The VND422 billion (US$21.6 million) programme will be implemented next year in six provinces in the central region — Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, Lam Dong, and Dak Lak — and An Giang Province and Can Tho City in the south.

The programme is awaiting approval from the Vietnamese Government. The two countries are expected to sign the agreement in December enabling the programme to get under way in January. — VNS

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Expo eyes quality of Mekong producers

TIEN GIANG — Forty-five companies are participating in a four-day fair in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang as part of a national programme to promote high-quality goods in the rural market.

The event is part of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's programme of bringing Vietnamese-made goods to rural areas.

The fair, held in Cai Lay and Go Cong Dong districts, is organised by the Viet Nam Business Studies and Assistance Centre (BSA) and the Tien Giang Province People's Committee.

The 45 companies, which produce high-quality products, are showcasing processed food, garment and textile products, household utensils and cosmetics.

Since the programme's first fair in the Cuu Long Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta province of An Giang last year, the BSA has organised 46 such fairs in 18 cities and provinces, with total participation of 132 companies.

The fairs have earned VND30 billion (US$1.5 million) in revenue and helped raise consumer awareness of Vietnamese-made products.

Under the programme, more than 60 companies have committed to regularly sell goods in rural areas at the fairs.

This year, Vissan, one of the companies in the programme, has participated in 15 fairs in several provinces, including Dong Thap, Ben Tre, Lam Dong, Vinh Long and Bac Lieu. It also reduced the prices of its processed foods by 10 per cent.

In addition, the Sai Gon Co-op supermarket chain is organising at least 20 trips to sell Vietnamese products in rural areas every month, according to its marketing department.

Sai Gon Co-op uses vans as mobile shops to sell essential goods, including fish sauce, cooking oil and monosodium glutamate.

Vu Kim Hanh, BSA director, said: "We plan to continue the programme of taking goods to rural areas, industrial parks and export processing zones."

Ever since the campaign was launched by the Government more than one year ago, 58 per cent of consumers have shown an interest in locally-made goods, compared to 23 per cent previously, according to a survey conducted by the TV Plus Company. — VNS

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