Vietnamese agricultural products 'stand shoulder to shoulder' with international ones

Famous Vietnamese products such as Phu Quoc fish sauce, Phuc Trach grapefruit, Tan Cuong tea... will appear alongside famous ASEAN products such as Myanmar natural seaweed, Lao coffee, Cambodian pepper, Malaysian silk... at the 2014 International Address Guide exhibition.

70 booths at the exhibition will introduce specialty products protected by geographical indications in Vietnam and other countries in the ASEAN region. The exhibition aims to raise public awareness of geographical indications - a type of intellectual property, as well as enhance the image and commercial value of products bearing geographical indications from Vietnam and other countries in the region.

Phu Quoc fish sauce stall, one of Vietnam's famous geographical indication protected products.

Geographical indications are signs used to indicate products with a reputation, special quality or other distinctive characteristics created by the natural conditions and people of a particular locality, region or country. Geographical indications have been built, developed and used by many countries around the world not only as a guarantee to consumers about the origin and quality of products, but also as an effective tool to promote, enhance the image and competitiveness of products bearing geographical indications.

Currently, there are more than 10,000 protected geographical indications in the world, with an estimated annual trade value of 50 billion USD. With its traditional agricultural production and cultivation, many products have quality, reputation, unique characteristics and economic value associated with specific locations. Vietnam currently has 38 products protected by geographical indications, ranking second in ASEAN after Thailand.

The exhibition, organized by the Department of Intellectual Property (Ministry of Science and Technology) in coordination with the EU-ASEAN Project on Intellectual Property Protection (ECAP III Project), will take place on September 9 and 10 at the International Exhibition Center.

According to News