It's becoming urgent for businesses to invest in branding to helpthem penetrate and expand their markets better during globalintegration.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry andTrade (VCCI) and the Association of Vietnamese Retailers jointlyorganised a workshop on November 18 on investing in branding andspending on advertisements, in response to a recent proposal to removethe cap on advertising expenses.

Experts from the NationConsultancy pointed out at the workshop that the export of raw materialsand products, which often helped a third party to make profits, and thelack of foreign market information and knowledge were among the majorproblems of Vietnam.

Vietnam continued to fail in building aclear image of the country's export products, especially agriculturalproducts, which were being exported without branding, while manylow-quality products exported under Vietnamese brand names weredestroying the nation's prestige.

Experts pointed out that theseproblems would lead Vietnamese products to have low added value and lowability to engage in the value chain.

Stephen Kreppel, anexpert in nation branding in the Nation Consultancy, said that exportswere important for the economic growth and prestige of Vietnam.

Brandscan be built with sustainable economic development,environment-friendly policies and social responsibility, together withnatural and cultural heritage and the nation's pride.

Hestressed the important roles of both the government and enterprises inbranding, in which the government would play the role of a supporter,but would not interfere in brand management.

Enterprises shouldalso have knowledge about potential markets and the consumers' taste tocreate high-profit products and build unique Vietnamese brands, he said.

Pham Thi Thu Hang, general secretary of VCCI, added thatenterprises needed to invest further in developing their brands to have aworldwide reach.-VNA