Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - In order to take advantage of the Europe-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA), Vietnamese enterprises should pay more attentionto intellectual property rights.

The statement was made by Nguyen Hoai Nam, chairman of the VietnameseEntrepreneurs Association in France at a conference held in Ho Chi Minh City onJuly 26.

Nam said, with the current scale of Vietnamese enterprises, it would require greateffort to take advantage of the EVFTA.

In addition to ensuring general requirements of importing countries on foodsafety, rules of origin and labour protection are met, enterprises should focuson intellectual property in the commitment of agreements. These are commitmentson copyright, invention and geographical indication with a higher level ofprotection than the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Sharing the story of Phu Quoc fish sauce – a traditional product of Phu Quoc islandwhich is now being sold in the EU or the US with other countries’ origin, Namreminded enterprises that when building a product and brand developmentstrategy, the first thing to think about should be intellectual property.

"If businesses are ignorant about intellectual property issues, they willbe unable to bring products into fastidious markets," he added.

Another issue highlighted by Nam was that businesses should limit theproduction and use of products that directly or indirectly affect theenvironment, such as products with plastic packaging and canned goods, becausecustomers in the EU are particularly concerned about the problem. They arewilling to boycott products that may harm the environment or are lessenvironmentally-friendly.

Speaking at the conference, Tran Xuan Trang, head of the ITPC trainingdepartment, suggested agricultural enterprises that want to bring products intothe EU should manufacture processed products because Vietnam does not have ageographical advantage in transporting fresh produce to this market compared toother countries, especially countries in the North African region. Meanwhile,the production of processed agricultural products is being encouraged by theGovernment to prioritise investment.

According to Trang, businesses need to research and understand current tastesas well as consumption trends of people in European countries to penetrate themarket, especially with some countries placing restrictions on the use of sugarin processed agricultural products.

At the event, experts also discussed solutions to create products and servicesthat meet the quality standards of the EU market, especially on food safety,packaging, brand, marketing approach and origin; as well as how to createappropriate business strategies and resources to accurately define thedevelopment roadmap of each product and service in the EU market. - VNS/VNA