Viet Nam has been in top 10 countries that showed fastest improvement in national trademarks in 2013-14. — Photo thanhnienviet

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese businesses have yet to pay adequate attention to building trademarks, especially in the context of integration and increasing competition, said Lai Tien Manh from Brand Finance.

Manh told the 2015 Viet Nam Trademark Forum as part of the "Proud of Vietnamese trademarks" held in Ha Noi on Tuesday that by last year, the value of Vietnamese brandnames had increased by 30 per cent to US$172 billion. Viet Nam was placed 42nd among 100 countries in the world and 15th in Asia.

Within the ASEAN bloc, Viet Nam was ranked sixth in the field, after Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.

He noted that Viet Nam has been in top 10 countries that showed fastest improvement in national trademarks in 2013-14.

However, only a few trademarks actually rose to international level, such as Viettel, while most enterprises remained hesitant to make their mark at the global level, he added.

He said Viet Nam exported several key items such as agricultural products and seafood, but businesses have failed to build a trademark in exports but do so in case of raw materials.

"Investing in building national trademarks is an important factor to increase competitiveness of the Vietnamese enterprises as it could affect the balance of payments by impacting investment, capital attraction and export promotion. That is why companies should invest in building trademarks with a specific target," he said.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Northern Liquefied Trading Company, Tran Trong Huu, underlined the need to support enterprises in developing trademarks in accordance with their respective sectors by forging trade associations in addition to enhancing promotion activities at international trade events.

He shared his com-pany's experience in developing trademarks, noting that support in training and consultation is necessary to improve business production and competitiveness.

Tran Dinh Thien, the director of Viet Nam Economic Institute, said the country's sector structure has been at low level and tended to exploit available resources instead of enhancing competitiveness.

In the context of Viet Nam's deep integration by way of free trade agreements (FTAs), and with limited national ability, Vietnamese businesses would have no competitive advantages when they do business at regional or international arenas.

Bui Huy Son, the deputy head of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE), said despite Vietnamese businesses having raised awareness about building trademarks, there still remained some limitations.

Therefore, VIETRADE would need to continue to support Vietnamese businesses' participation in national branding programmes and training courses in this regard. — VNS