Fake goods are rampant, domestic enterprises face difficulties
One of the difficulties that Vietnamese enterprises are facing is the problem of counterfeit goods and counterfeit goods spreading in the market. Mr. Le Van Thanh - Chairman and General Director of Dong Luc Joint Stock Company - said that more than 20% of bulb products of Vietnamese brands are counterfeit and publicly sold on many e-commerce platforms. This is also an issue that his company is having to find a way to thoroughly handle.
Similarly, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dien - General Director of An Phuoc Shoes Knitting and Knitting Company - shared that the domestic market currently contributes up to 60% of the company's revenue. However, the situation of counterfeit goods of An Phuoc and Pierre Cardin brands, especially on e-commerce platforms after the COVID-19 pandemic, is causing great losses for businesses. Ms. Dien recommended that the authorities need to coordinate more closely, strictly handling counterfeit goods to protect genuine businesses.
Director of the Domestic Market Management and Development Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) Tran Huu Linh affirmed that counterfeit goods and counterfeit goods are a burning issue, causing serious damage to the business environment.
He said that the ministry is promoting the application of digital technology in tracing the origin and authenticating products; at the same time, a new decree is also being drafted, in the direction of increasing the penalty level, even criminally handling the act of producing counterfeit goods.
In addition, the draft Law on E-commerce (expected to be submitted to the National Assembly next October) will stipulate more strictly the identification of sellers and control of transactions on the platform.
Mr. Linh emphasized: The slogan of Vietnamese people prioritizing the use of Vietnamese goods needs to be raised to a commitment of Vietnamese people using Vietnamese goods. That is a way to protect Vietnamese brands and strengthen consumer confidence".
Domestic market fierce, need for breakthrough policies
According to Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Shoes - Handbags (LEFASO), many exporting enterprises are very successful but fail when investing tens, even hundreds of billions of VND to build brands in the domestic market.
The reason, according to Ms. Xuan, is that the domestic market is too fierce. For the export market, the rules are clear and transparent, whoever complies can succeed. Meanwhile, in the country, the enforcement of the law is not complete, causing unfair competition.
Ms. Xuan pointed out that Vietnamese goods are not inferior in quality, but being sold cheap by counterfeit goods is only half of a loss of competitive advantage. Along with that, domestic raw materials and accessories are in short supply, with production costs higher than imported goods. In particular, the FTA tax policy is still inadequate: Importing whole shoes from China is taxed at 0%, but importing raw materials is subject to a tax of 5 - 10%. This makes domestic enterprises even more difficult.
According to her, three key solutions are needed: proactively allocating raw materials for both export and domestic consumption; businesses must build brands - survival factors that are both expensive and long-lasting; make the market transparent, control counterfeit goods with a system of standards, technical regulations and management technology such as QR code, traceability.
