VietNamNet Bridge – Japan has Panasonic or Sony, South Korea has become famous with Daewoo and Samsung. Meanwhile, no well known brand name that represents Vietnam, observed Tom Cannon, an expert on development strategy. Cannon has arrived in Vietnam to talk on the theme: “Overcoming crisis, building a sustainable future for Vietnam”.  | | Tom Cannon, an expert on development strategy | Speaking to the vernacular newspaper VnExpress, Cannon said that Vietnam should build up brand names of its own, instead of just producing goods for big foreign corporations. That would allows it to stay safe when corporations switch their outsourcing operations to other countries. When Cannon, who has advised many big global brand names, was asked how Vietnam can develop strong brand names, he said that Vietnam, as an agriculture country, should develop many new kinds of food which have outstanding values. Italia has been famous for spaghetti noodles. Vietnam could think of upgrading its rice. The process of producing rice in Vietnam has not changed much since the post-liberalisation period. Meanwhile, many other countries in the world have been growing rice with modern technology and using clean technology. In addition, it’s important to polish the image of the country and marketing aggressively, introducing brand names to the international community. When people talk about Japan, they think about Sony or Panasonic. South Korea is synonomous with Daewoo and Samsung. Meanwhile, people cannot think of any brand name when they talk about Vietnam. It is really a long story and it will take time to solve the problem. Though most Vietnamese businesses have small scale, this will not be a really big problem, thinks Cannon. He related that Richard Branson, his friend, has built up the Virgin ‘empire’, a multinational group with 250 member companies and five billion dollars in turnover every year, from nothing. Cannon said that one of his heroes is Muhammad Ali, the American boxer who always defeated opponents who were bigger than him. People loved Muhammad Ali because of his cleverness, not because of a big body. Professor Cannon recalled that the President of the University of Liverpool called Vietnam the nation with the biggest development potential in Asia. High ranking consultants and experts in the US share the same viewpoint. Vietnam has relationships with Europe, Asia and the US which it can use to advantage. The Government of Vietnam, Cannon noted, is strongly investing in education, the key factor in long term economic development. He said that he has been impressed by the talent and intelligence of Vietnamese people that he has met all over the world. So, Cannon continued, he wonders why Vietnam still does not have any worldwide well known brand names. He said that with its great potential, Vietnam should have had more famous brand names. Asked about the prospects of the world economy, Mr Cannon said that though the second quarter finished hopefully, the economic recession has not finished yet. September and October will be difficult times. Cannon believes that China will still lead the world in terms of growth rate, while the US and European economies will depressed through the end of third or early fourth quarter of the year. It is not very likely to see the global economy, especially the rich economies, to fully recover before 2012 or 2013. Asia, and especially South East Asia will recover first, and then the US, followed by Europe. Vietnam will soon escape from the economic downturn ahead of the US and UK thanks to its stable banking system. | Tom Cannon is Professor of Strategic Development at the University of Liverpool (UK). He is also the CEO of Ideopolis International Ltd. Professor Cannon has advised officials of many governments, including Singapore, China, Russia and the UK. He has also advised to 30 multinational corporations, and is also an authority on ‘sports finance and economics’ who is frequently seen on Sky Sports and the BBC. During Cannon’s visit to Vietnam from July 27 to August 4 he will meet with businessmen in Hanoi and HCM City City. He met Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung on July 28. | VietNamNet/VNE | 
