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Consumers, Retailers Prefer Fakes, Says Survey
13 March 2010
According to the results of a new study, counterfeit goods account for 45% of retail sales in Hanoi and 35% of sales in Ho Chi Minh City. The Italian Trade Commission and Nielsen Vietnam said that as much as 65% of fake goods sold in the south were manufactured in Vietnam.
The two organizations expect demand for fake goods to increase, thanks to the country’s economic recession. The survey was conducted over the past 12 months and released in late September.
Ho Chi Minh consumers tend to prefer fake apparel goods – some 27% of all fake goods – while most of the counterfeit goods purchased in Hanoi are electronic goods (37%) and drugs (47%).
Many retailers said they prefer selling counterfeit goods due to higher profit margins and better sales. The survey said retailers had said they would continue to sell fakes as long as demand remains high.
Nguyen Van Vien, who chairs the Intellectual Property Association in Ho Chi Minh City, told reporters that little progress is being made in the war against counterfeiting as too many shoppers and retailers express their tacit support for fakes by shelling out money for them.
“Consumers and retailers should realize that buying counterfeit goods is illegal, and the government should punish both producers and consumers of counterfeit goods if it wants to win the war,” Vien told the Thanh Nien newspaper.
