Vietnamese goods... a view from a rural market

(Baonghean.vn).To find out the current "coverage" of Vietnamese goods in rural areas, we went to purely agricultural districts not far from the city.

Surveying at Rong market in Nam Trung commune (Nam Dan), the market is held 30 times a month, we found that in addition to locally available agricultural products, essential domestic consumer goods can be counted on the fingers (mainly school supplies, plastic products from manufacturers such as Thien Long, Hong Ha, Song Long)... The most popular are still counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin and cheap Chinese goods.

At the largest grocery store in the market, we picked up a bag of laundry detergent and saw that the print was blurred, no expiration date, no place of manufacture, with the name ToMo; other products looked identical in appearance and design to famous brands, but when we looked closely at the labels, they had names similar to genuine products, such as: Pepsi soft drinks, Sunlit dishwashing liquid, Kitex sanitary napkins, Phong Chau cakes - counterfeit Hai Chau brand; or clothing counterfeited from brands like Hanosimex, Hanotex... Ms. Nguyen Thi Thai, owner of a grocery store in Nam Trung commune, said: "Here, there are mainly only household goods, and customers often do not care about the origin but only look at the price, expensive or cheap, buying according to habit"...

In addition, there are still many individuals who take advantage of the "reputation" of high-quality Vietnamese goods to sell fake and low-quality goods. At Vuc market in Hung Xa commune (Hung Nguyen), recently there have been mobile sales points with all kinds of goods, from clothes, blankets, pillowcases to household items such as pots, pans, etc. At the point selling aluminum pots and pans, when looking closely, there are no labels or manufacturing facilities; the products are sold in sets, at surprisingly cheap prices, only 120,000 - 140,000 VND/set, including 1 tray, 4 large and small pots of various sizes.

According to an officer of the Vinh City Market Management Department, commercial fraud such as unlabeled goods, expired goods, and unhygienic food... is still quite common in our province, especially in rural areas, mountainous areas, remote areas. And the authorities have only focused on inspecting and checking goods at fixed stores with relatively large scale, while in the markets it has not been done regularly and is almost empty.

It is thought that the relevant sectors should pay more attention to shortening the gap between rural and urban markets, especially in promotion strategies and stimulating consumption. Enterprises and distributors should expand their markets, aiming to supply quality essential products, but at prices suitable for rural incomes.

Ngoc Anh