State President Truong Tan Sang met with representatives of the 63 businesses winning the Vietnam National Trademark Award 2014 in Hanoi on December 25, urging them to seize opportunities stemming from free trade agreements to accelerate the country’s growth.

He lauded the businesses for making good performances against difficulties hitting the national economy, reminding them that the country is integrating widely into the regional and global economies.

The State leader asked the firms to further improve their products’ quality by applying advanced production methods and technology and building a healthier financial capacity for enhancing their competitiveness in the world market.

He also lauded the outcomes of the National Trademark programme and expressed hope that the awardees will share their experience with other enterprises to make Vietnam’s brand names highly competitive globally.

According to Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, head of the Vietnam National Trademark Council, the 63 awardees include 48 recognised earlier last year by the National Trademark programme and 15 newly-honoured names.

In 2013, branding and trade promotion activities within the framework of the programme brought together 7,000 businesses which signed 280,000 deals totalling 1.4 billion USD and 162 billion VND, he said, adding that contracts sealed at trade fairs valued nearly 1.9 billion VND (89,300 USD).-VNA