An Giang leads Southeast in buying Vietnamese goods

Great efficiency

The An Giang Province Department of Industry and Trade worked with provincial and local agencies to launch points of sale for Vietnamese goods using the slogan “Be proud of Vietnamese Goods”. The campaign is designed to provide local consumers with access to genuine Vietnamese goods, develop Vietnamese goods distribution systems, and increase the presence and sales of Vietnamese goods throughout the province. The strategy appears to have borne fruit.

The Co Ba Muc grocery store in the Phu Tan Market, for example, has for many years been a reliable address for local consumers, especially housewives. Although Co Ba Muc is not too big, it offers hundreds of kinds of consumer goods, including An Giang’s famous specialties like dried fish and jiggery, among others. The store’s owner, Nguyen Thi Muc, told Vietnam Economic News that previously, she purchased goods from different sources, including domestic businesses, Cambodia and China. In recent years, having seen consumers’ growing demand for Vietnamese goods, she has made Vietnamese goods account for the vast majority of commodities at the store, while goods from other sources occupy a marginal position.

“In late 2015, Co Ba Muc was chosen as a sample Vietnamese goods point of sales. The An Giang Province Department of Industry and Trade subsidized the store’s shelves while providing guidelines for the store owner to arrange and display goods neatly and systematically. During the first months, sales increased more than 50 percent monthly. Sales are currently growing an average of 10-15 percent per month,” Muc said.

Situated in An Giang Province’s Chau Doc City, Tu Son is one of the largest supermarkets in the southwestern region. Tu Son not only serves local consumers but also millions of visitors to Chau Doc annually.

Tu Son used to be a big distributor of Vietnamese goods, but the supermarket has attracted an increasing number of buyers since it officially became a Vietnamese goods point of sale with the sign “Be proud of Vietnamese goods” in accordance with the Buy Vietnam Goods campaign, according to the supermarket’s owner, Ta Minh Son.

Co Ba Muc and Tu Son are among the 12 successful Vietnamese goods points of sales launched in An Giang by the provincial Department of Industry and Trade as of late 2016. According to the department, seven years after it was launched, the Buy Vietnamese Goods campaign has done a good job of boosting sales of Vietnamese goods. More than 80 percent of those surveyed said Vietnamese goods are their first choice. The major problem they point to is the abundance of imitation goods, making it important to help consumers identify genuine Vietnamese merchandise.

Replicating the model

The An Giang Province Department of Industry and Trade is preparing to launch four more Vietnamese goods points of sale. The project’s beneficiaries will have access to the department’s assistance in skills training, store image building and goods arrangement, apart from having signs and shelves financed by the department. However, they must commit to only distributing genuine Vietnamese goods, satisfying the quality, origin and labeling standards, abiding by state price regulations and maintaining the points of sale at least until the end of 2020.

The department maintains control over the provision of goods to the points of sales in terms of quality (including food safety), prices and sources of supply to protect and ensure benefits to consumers. Market management, including regular inspection, is performed regularly by the department to ensure the project’s efficiency.

Vietnamese goods distribution facilities are expected to be developed throughout the province in order to develop the potential of the domestic market.