Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung vowed to take serious measures to fight against the trade and production of fake goods at a conference to review the industry and commercial sector.
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| The PM at the conference on January 11 |
At the conference on January 11, the PM requested that this year the first and foremost task of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is to assist enterprises to overcome the difficult times. Via industry associations, the ministry could help enterprises reduce the inventory and expand their businesses.
He also praised the programmes that connect enterprises with banks because, he said, banks ultimately depend on enterprise.
He added that the country needed to boost demand using such tools as credit and public investment.
Though the government set the credit growth rate goal of 12%, there are still many things must be done in order to boost rate.
The PM also said agencies must protect the domestic market from fake and low-quality imported goods. "The ministries and management agencies must put very tight controls on imported counterfeits, or they could pose a real risk for our businesses." he said.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, management agencies inspected 177,205 cases last year and discovered 87,136 violations, including 15,045 smuggling cases, 11,726 cases of fake goods or copyright violations, 42,389 cases that did not have business licenses and 17,924 cases in violation of the regulation on prices.
The fine was up to total VND395 billion (USD19 million), and VND55 billion worth of goods was destroyed.
In 2012 demand and purchasing power decreased greatly amid economic downturn. The index of industrial production was also low, increased only 4.8% compared to 2011.
As of December 1, 2012, though inventory levels in the processing and manufacturing industry went down to 20.1%, it was still considered high.