Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has affirmed the Government’s responsibility to work together with businesses in promoting Vietnamese brand names.

He appreciated the businesses’ efforts to maintain the National Brand title in 2012, when many had to halt production due to difficulties, at a ceremony to present the National Brand Award to 54 outstanding businesses in Hanoi on January 7.

Hai, however, reminded them of other challenges to lie ahead in 2013, asking them to further improve their governance capacity and fully tap the domestic market along with following measures and objectives set by the Government.

The Deputy PM asked the enterprises to continue seeking ways to boost exports and taking the advantage of the campaign to encourage “Vietnamese people use Vietnamese goods” to have a bigger slice of the cake.

According to Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, who is also Chairman of the National Brand Council, the Prime Minister has approved the National Brand Programme with a view to promoting the image of Vietnamese products.

The programme has attracted active support of the local business community, hoping that it will help them build and enhance their brand names on both local and international markets, he said.

It also aims to increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese products and services on both domestic and foreign markets, helping spur export of industrial and processed products while limiting export of unprocessed products and raw materials, he added.

One of the primary elements of the programme is to assist businesses gain market access and affirm the prestige of their products. Through the programme, they will have a chance to favourably impress local and international distributors.

The 54 firms initially selected to join the programme operate in engineering, textile and garment, leather and footwear, financial services, electronics, IT, energy and food industries.

The criteria for their selection was that their products were well-recognised by consumers, built on sustainable development strategies, committed to allocating resources for brand development strategies, and dedicated to allocating resources for brand development.-VNA