Customers browse Bitis' shoes at a high-quality Made-in Viet Nam goods fair in Nha Trang City. — VNA/VNS Photo The Duyet

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) will continue promoting its campaign, Vietnamese people give priority to using Vietnamese products, so that more and more local people begin using these indigenous products by this year end.

The ministry planned to promote locally made industrial, semi-finished and farming products, Ho Thi Kim Thoa, deputy minister of industry and trade, said at a conference on Friday in Ha Noi, while reviewing implementation of the campaign in the first half of this year.

In order to achieve the target, the ministry will strengthen business connectivity between northern and southern regions, according to the plan.

The ministry will enhance awareness about the campaign in the rural and remote areas and also combine its efforts with those undertaken in cities and provinces so that people are inspired to consume local industrial products.

"In the rural areas, there was a huge potential for enhancing consumption of Vietnamese products," Thoa said. "Therefore, apart from the state's policies to develop the trade network in these areas, enterprises should pay attention to price and quality of local products being sold in various regions."

She urged the sector to focus on developing the domestic market in tandem with the implementation of the campaign so that domestic enterprises remain competitive and consumption of domestic products can be enhanced.

In the foreseeable future, the ministry will focus on cities and provinces, especially large cities such as Ha Noi, HCM City and Hai Phong, and will undertake activities to identify certain brands of Vietnamese products.

Gov't backing

It also called for government investment in promoting the campaign while mobilising social resources for the drive.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved a project worth VND228.93 billion (US$10.75 million) to increase the consumption of domestic goods in an effort closely linked to the ongoing campaign. These initiatives are aimed at increasing the market share of domestic products in Viet Nam to 80 per cent by 2020.

According to the 2014 survey of Vietnamese people using Vietnamese products, some 63 per cent of Vietnamese people were choosing domestic products, twice the percentage recorded before the campaign was launched six years ago, Thoa said.

During the conference, she reported that 92 per cent of the interviewees said they were aware of the campaign, 54 per cent of whom were personally involved in it.

The deputy minister said the campaign had yielded positive changes, particularly in domestic product quality and design. Le Viet Nga, Deputy Director of the Ministry's Domestic Market Department, highlighted that made-in-Vietnam products accounted for a major market share among products sold by domestic and international distributors.

As many as 50 promotion events, including trade fairs, have been organised to introduce domestic products to residents in rural, remote and mountainous areas across the country.

This year, the ministry has invested in developing infrastructure facilities and enhancing technology application in enterprises under its management to improve their product quality and competitiveness. — VNS