Vietnam climbs up three spots to rank 47th out of 105 countries in Brand Finance’s Global Soft Power Index Report 2021. (Photo: Brand Finance)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has climbed up three spots torank 47th out of 105 countries in Brand Finance’s Global Soft PowerIndex Report 2021.
Vietnam was the only country among 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to seeimprovement this year.
Its overall score was 33.8 out of 100 points, 2.5 pointshigher than last year, putting it ahead of the Philippines (53rd),Cambodia (89th) and Myanmar (90th).
Among other ASEAN countries, Singapore was at 20th,Thailand 33rd, Malaysia 39th, and Indonesia 45th.
According Brand Finance, the improvement was largely owingto the fact that Vietnam has objectively managed the COVID-19 pandemic extremely well.
“Vietnam was spared a year of lockdowns and besiegedhospitals, and has one of the lowest COVID-19 infection and death rates in theworld,” the report said. “Not only is the response to the pandemic impressive –given its shared border with China – but Vietnam also experienced one of thehighest economic growth rates globally in 2020 – one of a handful of countrieswith positive growth in 2020.”
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved the VietnamNational Brand Programme from 2020 to 2030, which aims to increase the value and rankingsof the nation brand while targeting over 1,000 products to become strong nationalbrands.
The brands from the country are managed through specificefforts and initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’sDepartment of Trade Promotion (Vietrade), under their nation mark programme “Vietnam Value”.
At a national level, Vietnam had established diplomaticrelations with 187 out of 193 member states of the United Nations and completedthe process of negotiating and signing new-generation Free Trade Agreements,including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), making the country animportant factor in all regional and intra-regional economic links.
At the same time, the Vietrade and the MoIT have activelysupported Vietnamese enterprises to improve their capacity through consultingbusiness development, establishing information systems, and updating brandingknowledge.
All these initiatives and efforts have helped increase theawareness of the public, international consumers, and customers about theProgramme and Vietnam Value products through various domestic and internationalmedia channels.
The MoIT also focuses on building and promoting geographicalindications and collective marks of Vietnam in foreign markets; supporting toimprove the competitiveness of businesses based on quality reputation, environment-friendly production, and professionalism,thereby contributing to consolidate the position of Vietnamese brands in the worldmarket.
The Brand Finance Global Soft Power Index is a comprehensiveresearch study on perceptions of 100 nation brands from around the world. It surveysthe general public as well as specialist audiences, with responses gatheredfrom over 75,000 people across more than 100 countries.
The countries weregraded on awareness and familiarity, influence, global reputation, andperformance in key sectors like trade and business, governance, culture andheritage, media and communication, education and science, and people andvalues./.
