Hanoi (VNA) - As competition gets fiercer between domestic andforeign enterprises, the former need to actively build and promote their brandnames and identities to remain attractive to both customers and investors inthe long run.

Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Department of TradePromotion (VIETRADE), made the remark at a forum in Hanoi on December 4.

The Vietnam Brand Forum 2017, focusing on brand valuation in the context ofglobal integration, was jointly organised by VIETRADE and UK’s Brand Finance.

No Vietnamese name figures in the list of top 500 world brands, showing thatenterprises here are yet to fully realise the importance and value of brandingin a globalising market, he said at the event.

The brand equity of some firms carries greater value than their physicalassets, he added.

Phu also said that a firm’s evaluation, done according to global financialstandards, was significant in helping reduce losses to the State in the processof equitisation and avoiding any disadvantage these enterprises may encounterin the process of franchising, or mergers and acquisitions.

A highlight of the forum was the announcement of top 50 Vietnamese brands byBrand Finance Asia Pacific.

Military run telecom firm Viettel dethroned last year’s top pick, dairy firmVinamilk, pushing it to second place.

This year, the Viettel brand was valued at 2.5 million USD, followed byVinamilk at 1.362 million USD and Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group(VNPT) at 726 million USD. Real estate giant Vinhomes ranked fourth with 604million USD and Saigon Alcohol Beer and Beverages Corporation (Sabeco) rankedfifth with 598 million USD.

Brand Finance noted that the total of Vietnam’s active brand names in 2017topped 11.28 billion USD, 32 percent higher than in 2016.

Major Vietnamese brands are in telecommunications, food, banking, beverages,real estate, retail, aviation, petroleum, automobile, construction and civilengineering, insurance, entertainment and travel.

Samir Dixit, Managing Director of Brand Finance Asia Pacific, said brandmanagement was extremely important in promoting a company’s stock value duringmergers and acquisitions, and increasing its regional and globalcompetitiveness.

Dixit also warned that out the 500 largest brands in the world, no name camefrom Vietnam. That alone should be a clear indication of where Vietnamesebrands stand, he said.

He added that Vietnamese businesses need to know exactly how much their brandis worth according to international standards so that they can manage itbetter.

He hoped that the country’s brand management will focus more heavily onmeasuring its economic value and social impacts.

Lai Tien Manh, Managing Director of the Mibrand Company, said that the conceptof brand evaluation was relatively new here, so local enterprises do nothave much experience dealing with it, despite its crucial importance indeveloped countries.

Investors are getting more and more interested in a business’s brand value,willing to spend large amounts on such intangible assets, Manh said. However,he added, it is often treated as less important than sales and profits.

The trend of mergers and acquisitions that is sweeping over Vietnam will placegreat importance on brand value, which will either increase or decrease afirm’s worth during transactions, he said.

Dang Xuan Minh, General Director of AVM Vietnam and head ofthe Vietnam M&A Forum’s research group, cited the equitisation ofthe State-owned enterprise, Trang Tien Ice Cream JSC.

At the time of equitisation in early 2000s, the enterprise was valued at just 3billion VND (133,511 USD). But in 2015, after its latest ownership transfer,the company’s value has risen to 500 billion VND (22.2 million USD), with abrand value of 150 billion VND (6.67 million USD).

Minh said that in the context of accelerating equitisation, it was necessary tohave a legal foundation for brand valuation that ensures that it istransparency and in line with international standards.

Other speakers at the forum spotlighted the needs and challenges of buildingand promoting brands, as well as conducting brand valuations in Vietnam.

They said local enterprises need to revaluate and orient their businessstrategies to channel more resources into brand development.

This is the third year that Brand Finance has carried out brand evaluation activitiesin Vietnam.-VNA