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Companies should also promote made-in-VN goods
Encouraging consumers to use Vietnamese-made goods is a task not only for the Government but also for businesses, according to economist Pham Chi Lan.
Speaking at a seminar on how to make people buy domestic products organised in the city on Wednesday by the HCM City Business Association, she said consumers could only be persuaded to buy locally if quality and price were satisfactory to them.
Addressing delegates representing more than 250 domestic enterprises, she said it would be unrealistic for producers to offer low-quality goods at high prices but expect consumers to give them preference.
As the domestic market opened up to foreign products and services, if Vietnamese products fail to make a mark, customers would be disheartened and turn their backs on them, she warned.
Besides, with quality requirements likely to be raised to match international standards, domestic firms need to adapt their business strategies to ensure survival.
They should, therefore, change the competition among themselves from one of lowering prices to raising quality, she said.
"To make Vietnamese buy domestic goods, the most important thing is that enterprises must fully understand and meet customers’ needs," she said.
In July, the Politburo approved a campaign to persuade people to use Vietnamese goods.
"Vietnamese products can no longer depend on patriotism to sell," said Nguyen Thi Hong, vice chairman of the city People’s Committee, "but only on quality, reasonable prices, and diversified designs."
Enterprises should win consumers’ trust by placing their benefits at the top, she added.
Le Phung Hao, deputy general director of Kinh Do Confectionery Group, said if consumers gave them preference, producers needed to change their mindset. For instance, they should not consider the domestic market as a place for selling export rejects. Products meant for the domestic market must be equal in quality with exports, he said.
Phan Quoc Cong, chairman of the International Consumer Products Corporation which makes the popular men’s toiletry range X-men, said to win customers’ trust, manufacturers must focus on research, develop new products, and tie up with foreign partners to apply modern technologies.
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