A customer looks at milk at Co.op Mart Thanh Hà in southern Ninh Thuận Province. Experts urged local manufacturers to improve product quality and distribution so their products can reach more local consumers, especially in rural areas. – VNA/VNS Photo Lan Phương

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Experts urged local manufacturers to improve product quality and distribution so their products can reach more local consumers, especially in rural areas, where sales of low-quality, fake products remain rampant.

Lai Xuan Mon, permanent deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Association of Farmers, said at a recent conference to revise the results of the campaign "Vietnamese prioritise Vietnamese products" that low-quality products still occupied rural markets, where some 70 per cent of the country's population lived.

Businesses should boost efforts to bring their products to these markets while improving product quality and selling products at more reasonable prices.

The fight against poor-quality fake products must be stepped up at the same time, Nguyen Van Hung, Deputy Head of the Commission for Mass Mobilisation, said.

Vu Trong Kim, deputy head of the campaign's steering committee, said consumer awareness of the need to use Vietnamese products to ensure the country sees sustainable economic development must be enhanced, adding that many people still preferred imported or low-priced products.

The relevant ministries and organisations must provide support for companies bringing Vietnamese products to rural markets, Kim said.

The distribution system in rural markets faced problems that could only be tackled with coordination among firms and with the government, Bui Van Cuong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Central Enterprises Bloc, said.

Cuong said it was necessary to focus on a few major products for boosting distribution and consumption, such as garments and milk products.

Chairman of Viet Nam Front Fatherland Nguyen Thien Nhan said the campaign had taken root only after seven years, and it was now critical to have measures in place to quantify its efficiency, such as increases in consumption or changes in consumer awareness.

Ho Thi Kim Thoa, deputy minister of Industry and Trade, said the ministry would hold programmes to inject Vietnamese products into foreign distribution systems to ensure that overseas Vietnamese have the opportunity to purchase Vietnamese products.

The ministry is also focused on developing points of sale for Vietnamese goods across the country and on building Vietnamese brands. — VNS