Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam has performed strongly in optimising soft power to enhance the value of domestic product trademarks, according to Vu Ba Phu, head of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency at the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

Phu told a conference in Hanoi on April 22 that a report from Brand Finance shows that, last year, Vietnam’s national brand value jumped nine places to 33rd among the 100 most valuable national trademarks.

He said that Vietnam was the only country among ASEAN members to see a rise in its ranking in the global soft power index, from 50th in 2020 to 47th globally in 2021.

Moreover, Vietnam’s national prestige also increased last year thanks to the response and policies from the Government, especially on supporting businesses in building and promoting their trademark domestically and internationally, along with the dynamism and efforts of businesses, he said.

In the future, he went on, MoIT will continue to cooperate with ministries, sectors, and relevant agencies to create favourable conditions for and assist enterprises in national trademark promotion.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thanh Son, CEO of the MVV Group, said the prestige of the national trademark encourages businesses to build communications programs.

He added that businesses should focus on the benefits they can enjoy from the growing national trademark, including tools for self-assessment and the timely introduction of changes.

Part of the Vietnam National Brand Week 2021 taking place from April 19-25, experts at the conference offered advice to businesses on how to tap opportunities the national trademark presents and improve their marketing strategies.

They also proposed measures to support firms in penetrating into international markets as well as setting up information systems and updating knowledge about trademarks, to meet the criteria of the Vietnam National Brand Programme in the new circumstances./.