VietNamNet Bridge - The statement that products made by Samsung Vietnam are ‘Vietnamese’ has led to harsh criticism from the public.

“Foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) enjoy investment incentives in the countries where they invest, but they transfer the profits they make from investments to their home countries. Therefore, no country in the world considers FIEs as domestic enterprises,” an analyst said when asked about the statement by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) that products made by Samsung in Vietnam are ‘Vietnamese’.

Economists have expressed their surprise about MOIT’s statement. 

“I cannot understand why MOIT says so,” said Pham Chi Lan, former deputy chair of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), a renowned economist, on Dat Viet.

Some days ago, at a press conference held by MOIT, when asked if Samsung’s products are considered Vietnamese products, Vo Van Quyen, director of the Domestic Market Department, affirmed: “Samsung’s products are Vietnamese”.

Quyen went on to say that all the products made and assembled by Samsung and other FIEs in Vietnam are ‘Vietnamese’, and that the principle is stipulated in Vietnamese laws.

Dr. Phuong Ngoc Thach, chair of the HCM City Economics & Management Studies Association, interviewed by Dat Viet, also said: “ MOIT’s statement is not true, that Samsung’s products are Vietnamese.”

When asked to explain his conclusion, he said: “The low localization ratios, low contribution to Vietnam’s GNP, and low content of technology transfer.”

“The lack of fairness in investment incentives is also a reason,” he said, meaning that Samsung has been offered a lot of attractive investment incentives since it set foot in Vietnam, which Vietnamese enterprises have not.

“Samsung was wise when it registered its investment in Vietnam as a foreign invested enterprise, enabling it to enjoy big investment incentives, but wants its products to be labeled as Vietnamese,” he said.

Lan warned that the label of  ‘Vietnamese product’ would have serious consequences, because Samsung’s achievements would be wrongly considered as Vietnamese achievements.

Thach agreed, saying it could lead to bad policies on economic development.

“Vietnamese people may wrongly think they have achieved the goal of industrialization and modernization, while in fact, the goal is still far away,” he said.

Vietnam now calls on Vietnamese consumers to “buy Vietnamese’. If Samsung products are considered Vietnamese, Vietnamese would be encouraged to use Samsung products. 

By encouraging Vietnamese to buy Samsung’s products, MOIT just helps foreign invested enterprises make bigger profits.

“Though MOIT considers Samsung products as ‘Vietnamese goods’, the products must not be what Vietnamese can take pride in. Samsung is just an enterprise that has its production in Vietnam. It is not a Vietnamese brand,” he said.

Kim Chi