Vietnam: Brewery sector in the context of WTO membership were discussed

Measures to promote development of the brewery sector in Vietnam in the context of WTO membership were discussed at a seminar organised in Hanoi, Nhan Dan reported August 11.

Co-operating as strategic alliances and strong groups is one of the proposed measures. Others suggested include the building and implementing of a long-term business strategy as well as a strategy to develop their brands in a sustainable manner, increasing their competitiveness and learning experiences from other countries.

According to experts, Vietnam’s brewery sector is developing rapidly. High quality, strong beer brands are replacing low quality ones. In the early period of WTO integration, many leading beer brands have co-operated and set up big strategic alliances. Mergers and acquisition activities in the sector have also been quite common.

Vietnam is currently ranked seventh in Asia in beer production and second in ASEAN, after Thailand.

There are 300 brewery factories in 50 out of Vietnam’s 64 cities and provinces. This year, the sector targets a total production of 1.625 billion litres of beer.

15 August, 2007