HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Nguyen Manh Dung,CEO of Namilux, one of the leading gas stove manufacturers in Vietnam, said hiscompany tied up with a Japanese partner and has adopted Japanese standards inits production for nearly 20 years.

Now it exports mini gas stoves, heating stoves,grills, and lamps to more than 20 countries, and has consolidated its positionand brand name not only in the domestic market but also in fastidious markets,he said.

“Firms cannot stand firm if they do not attachimportance to standards and technology.”

In addition to following internationalstandards, “we have pursued solutions to improve technology and automate gasstove production.

“Technology plays an important role in helpingNaMilux get such a position in the domestic and export markets.” The companyhas automated over 70 percent of its production stages, he said.

“We are automating the rest [too]. We will alsoapply enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to unify the management of theentire NaMilux factory.”

Nguyen Phuoc Hoa, an expert who is compiling theVietnamese High Quality Products-Global Integration Standards for the non-foodsector, said: “Standard certificates are considered the passport for Vietnameseproducts to be exported. Each market has its own requirements in terms ofstandards, requiring firms to study the market carefully and achieve thestandards required by their target markets.”

Speaking at a conference titled “Which wings toenable Vietnamese goods to enter the world market” in HCM City on February 20,Nguyen Hoang Linh, deputy general director of the Directorate for Standards,Metrology and Quality, said: “According to statistics, in recent years morethan 80 percent of the value/volume of international trade transactions hasbeen affected by standards, 84 percent of trade organisations use standards intheir export strategies/activities.”

There are more than one million standards (atthe international, regional, national, grass-root levels) published and adoptedaround the world, he said.

“Standards, technical regulations, conformityassessment/procedures may become technical barriers to trade in certain cases.”

Hoa said most international standards targetconsumer safety, and having standard certification would make buyers to trustproduct quality.

Besides having good product quality, enterprisesalso need to have good factory management systems and focus on corporate socialresponsibility, he said.

“Buyers sometimes come to see how you producethe products, even how you treat garbage.”

According to businesses, Vietnamese goodsrequire standard certification to reach store shelves in foreign markets, andat the same time Vietnamese producers must increase investment in technology toimprove their competitiveness.

Vu Kim Hanh, Chairwoman of the High QualityVietnamese Product Business Association, said: “Depending on the needs of eachenterprise and each industry, businesses determine what areas and phases todigitise first.

“The most important thing is enterprises mustunderstand the role and impact of technology.”

Most ASEAN member countries have strategies andpolicies for practical training and support for small and medium enterprises indigitisation to bolster their competitiveness, she said.

Many Vietnamese firms such as Phu Nhuan JewelryJSC, Dien Quang Lamp JSC, Pomina Steel, Co May Company, Minh Long I, Vinamit,ABC Bakery and Namilux have invested in digitising their production andtrading, and enjoyed fruitful results. But many others, especially small ones,do not have the capacity to do that.

Nguyen Phi Van, Chairwoman of Retail andFranchise Asia and franchise advisor to the Malaysian government, saiddiscussions on how to improve the competitiveness of local firms so that theycan compete with foreign players have been going on for a long time.

“But actions by government agencies andenterprises themselves are very slow compared to changes in the market,” shesaid.

“Integration offers a golden opportunity forbusinesses to develop but also massacres those who don’t have sufficient capacityto integrate.”

Consumer demand is changing in the globalmarket, with an increase in demand for green products and products that aregood for health, she said.

With the boom in technology, interaction betweenbusinesses and consumers is quite different compared to the past, and customersnowadays prefer to spend their money on “experiences rather than products,” shesaid.

“Therefore, if you do not adopt technologies torebuild your business model for the 21st century, you will find it hard tosucceed even in the Vietnamese market, let alone the global market.”-VNS/VNA