Vietnam's Jewellery Market Needs Trademarks

According to a survey conducted by the World Gold Council, the consumption volume of jewellery items in Vietnam increased by 14.6 per cent per year between 1992 and 2004. Huynh Trung Khanh, advisor to the World Gold Council in Vietnam, said that in 2004, Vietnam consumed 64 tonnes of gold, including 34 tonnes of gold ingots and 28 tonnes of jewellery items. The figure is estimated at around 70 tonnes. “If each Vietnamese uses one gram of gold, with a population of 83 million people, the Vietnamese market is of great potential,” said Khanh.

Vietnam now has around 8,000 enterprises of various scale operating in the gold and gemstone business. However, only ten of them have built their own trademarks. Two famous trademarks in the Vietnamese market belong to the Saigon Jewellery Company (SJC) and the Phu Nhuan Jewellery Joint stock Company (PNJ), both in Ho Chi Minh City. SJC has a great advantage not in jewellery items but gold pieces. Jewellery sales account for between 15 and 20 per cent of the company’s revenue. However, in recent years, having become aware of the great potential of jewellery items, the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has considered SJC jewellery items the city’s major products. The company, therefore, is promoting its investment to make a contribution to the Vietnamese jewellery market, which remains untapped.

PNJ, in the meantime, has become a famous trademark of jewellery items. To make products, which are accepted by the market, PNJ has invested in a modern Italian production lines and design development. PNJ’s products are of high creativity with artistic meanings. Therefore, PNJ’s products have become favourites among young people. PNJ’s gold jewellery items are designed and made to honour the beauty of the people wearing them. PNJ has succeeded in producing quality silver items. These are fashionable items, suitable with the modern lifestyle of young people, including teenagers and students. PNJ recently launched its high-end products under trademark ‘CAO’ for women of high income. This is a breakthrough in jewellery business, depicting the great determination of the company to pursue the industry. The PNJ trademark has become famous. With 54 shops, PNJ can meet the demand of customers nationwide. At the same time, the company is making preparations to reach foreign markets. PNJ’s products have initially been exported to some countries, including Germany, France, Singapore and Malaysia.

Ho Chi Minh City has many other jewellery enterprises. However, the enterprises rely mainly on manual production. As a result, their products are not of high quality and their designs are not of a high standard. Neither have these enterprises paid attention to building their trademarks.

Meanwhile, foreign investors in the Vietnamese market focus only on high-end products. Making its debut in the Vietnamese market in late 2002, the Pranda Group of Thailand has found a solid foothold with high-end items under the PRIMA GOLD trademark. The group now has three shops and one factory, which makes gold jewellery items and silver jewellery items under the trademark of ESSE. In the coming time, Pranda has planned to promote its business in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and launched its PRIMA GOLD products in other localities of Vietnam. However, the group’s products are mainly sold in major trade centres, such as Diamond, Parkson and Zen Plaza.

The presence of foreign enterprises has produced an effect on local enterprises. Therefore, without good business and trademark development strategies, it may be very difficult for local enterprises to compete against foreign opponents. This will be particular difficult for them when import tax rate of jewellery items will be cut to between five and ten per cent. The present tax rate is 40 per cent. Vietnamese enterprises should fully tap their advantages to occupy the market. PNJ, for example, is doing business with PNJ Gold and PNJ Silver trademarks in parts of the market which are different from those of foreign companies.

The important issue is goldsmith should be considered as an industry as apart from excellent skills of craftsmen, modern technologies are needed to produce a large volume of products of the same quality. At the same time, jewellery items should be considered as regular commodities, which need appropriate promotion and trademark building strategies. Therefore, a heated up market could be formed. They should be also considered as fashionable products. As a result, the industry should co-operate with the textile and garment industry to take further advantage of modern fashions and styles.