VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) reports that Vietnamese goods account for 70-80 percent of the goods displayed at supermarkets, but analysts doubt the figure.

Foreign retail chains have been expanding their business scale in Vietnam, displaying more and more goods from home countries at their supermarkets. However, MOET still affirms that 70-80 percent of the goods on the shelves at supermarkets are ‘Vietnamese’.

In MOIT’s opinion, all the products made in Vietnamese territory, no matter whether they are made by Vietnamese or foreign invested enterprises, must be listed as ‘Vietnamese goods’.

As such, the products of multi-national conglomerates such as Samsung, Unilever, P&G, Pepsi and Coca-Cola, or products of some Vietnamese brands which have been sold to foreigners such as Kinh Do, X-Man and Bibica are all counted as ‘Vietnamese’.

In MOIT’s opinion, all the products made in Vietnamese territory, no matter whether they are made by Vietnamese or foreign invested enterprises, must be listed as ‘Vietnamese goods’.

Vu Kim Hanh, chair of the Vietnam High-quality Goods Enterprise Association, pointed out that there is a confusion about ‘Vietnamese goods’.

An international brand must not be considered ‘Vietnamese’ even if the product is made in Vietnam at the factory which hires Vietnamese workers and uses Vietnamese materials. 

And it will still be an international brand if the owner leaves Vietnam and sets up a production base in another country.

Kinh Do, the sweets brand, was once a Vietnamese brand. However, after it was sold to foreign investors, the investors stopped registering Kinh Do as ‘Vietnamese high-quality product’, because this is now a foreign owned brand. 

However, Kinh Do, like other brands with ‘Vietnamese origin’, is still counted by state management agencies when making reports to prove that the ‘Buy Vietnamese’ campaign has been successful.

Nguyen Van Nam, former director of the Trade Research Institute, said he has suspicions about the reported proportion of 70-80 percent of Vietnamese goods at supermarkets.

He believes that state management agencies tend to count all the products ‘made in Vietnamese territory’ as ‘Vietnamese goods’ to ‘embellish’ reports. State agencies need to show the real figures to show the real panorama of the Vietnamese economy.

What is the percentage of authentic Vietnamese goods? Hanh believes the figure could be around 40 percent.

Vu Vinh Phu, former deputy director of the Hanoi Trade Department, said he doesn’t agree with the concept about ‘Vietnamese goods’ defined by by MOIT.

“If counting farm produce alone, Vietnamese products may account for 80-90 percent. However, Vietnamese goods just account for 5-10 percent of cosmetics and electronics. Most processed food products are imports or products of foreign companies which set factories in Vietnam,” he said.

“Vietnamese goods are estimated to account for 40-50 percent,” Phu said.

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