Vietnamese goods dominate distribution systems

Tran Tan Ngoi, vice chairman of the HCM City Fatherland Front Committee, said the “Buy Vietnamese” campaign last year yielded positive results, with over 10,000 selling points established under the price stabilization program, numerous mobile sales organized in remote areas and industrial parks, and trade promotion programs organized to help speed up consumption of Vietnamese goods.

However, the campaign has still shown a slew of shortcomings as many enterprises have yet to attend more to improving the quality of products, leading to abundant goods of poor quality that fail to meet consumer demand.

In addition, the lax management of substandard and counterfeit products has badly affected the prestige and business activities of many domestic enterprises, Ngoi said.

Tran Vinh Tuyen, vice chairman of the city government, said relevant agencies this year will step up inspection activities to prevent fake commodities threatening the health of consumers and build consumer confidence in home-made goods.

In addition, Tuyen affirmed the city government would provide great care to hi-tech products manufactured by local firms.

Currently, the city has a wide distribution network with 40 commercial centers, 193 supermarkets, 240 markets, and nearly 900 convenience stores.

The “Buy Vietnamese” campaign, though large in scale, has not captured much consumer attention.

Findings from a survey with 4,000 consumers in the city conducted by the Information and Education Commission of the HCM City Party Committee showed 60.1% of respondents were interested in the campaign in 2016 while the ratio was 67.3% in 2014, said Vo Thi Dung, deputy secretary of the HCM City Party Committee, at the conference held on March 16 to review the “Buy Vietnamese” campaign in 2016. 

These figures showed that city residents have shown little attention to the campaign, Dung added.