Entrepreneurs and enterprise are a vanguard force in the national renewal and the international integration process, bringing the country to the same level as others in the world, said Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung.

Deputy PM Hung praised the business circle at a ceremony to present the Golden Star Award to 200 outstanding Vietnamese trademarks in Hanoi on Sept. 2.

He said the country stopped the economic slowdown and its economy is gradually recovering, with an eye towards modernisation, an achievement only possible with the marked contributions of entrepreneurs across the country, especially young ones.

The Golden Star Award 2009, the seventh of its kind, also honours the Top 10 and Top 100 among the 200 trademarks.

Top 10 trademarks must excel in seven indexes, including transparency, revenue, rate between benefit and owned capital, growth rate, the number of workers, contributions to the State budget and social charity, and management capacity, as well as capacity in risk control and sustainable development.

This year’s Top 10 trademarks were presented to the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, the Saigon Jewely Company, the PetroVietnam Fertilizer and Chemicals Corporation, the Truong Hai Automobile Joint Stock Company, the Viet Tien Garment Joint Stock Company, the Kinh Bac Urban Development Corporation, the Vietnam-Italy Steel Joint Stock Company, the Gentraco Joint Stock Company, the Vietnam Electricity Cable Joint Stock Company and the Hoa Sen Corporation.

This year’s 200 recipients have a combined revenue of 453 trillion VND (25.1 billion USD) and an export turnover of 1.8 billion USD. They contributed over 34 trillion VND (nearly 1.9 billion USD) to the State budget and created over 305,000 jobs.

According to the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs’ Association, which organised the event, businesses benefit from the award as it publicises their product lines, promotes their prestige and helps them integrate into the world economy.

On the occasion, the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs’ Association will publish a book of the top trademarks wining the Golden Star award, and organise a trade fair.

Initiated in 2003, after six years, the Golden Star Award has become one of the biggest, most prestigious programmes for trademark promotion in Vietnam .

So far, 1,127 brands and products have received the award.

Many among the award winners later recorded growth rates of between 150-200 percent, as well as expanding business and opening more outlets to new markets worldwide./.