Quyen Linh has acted or participated in nearly 600 plays, movies and television programmes. He is also a public speaker and promotes locally made goods on a television programme.

What motivated you to promote made-in-Viet Nam goods?

The global recession in 2008 caused many difficulties for Vietnamese enterprises. Some even went bankrupt, leading to thousands of workers getting laid off. The financial burden on local businesses was made more acute when Vietnamese people began shunning products made in Viet Nam. When I saw the hardship caused by the economic crisis, I wanted to do something that could partly help to improve the situation by saving some Vietnamese firms from going under and saving jobs.

My opportunity came when I was invited to join the Product Ambassador Club held by the Business Studies and Assistance Centre. I accepted immediately in the hope that I could do my bit for the economy.

So what does an ambassador have to do?

Our main job is to promote local goods and encourage people all over the country to choose and consume products made in Viet Nam. Ambassadors accompany company representatives on their visits to rural areas.

In addition, we call upon famous people, who are influential in changing public consumer psychology and behaviour, to give us a hand in spreading the news about domestic products.

How do you encourage people to buy made-in-Viet Nam products?

First, we promote goods made in Viet Nam in general, not just particular kinds of products. However, let me mention here three kinds of Vietnamese products that we consider top priority. The most import are products that have been made in Viet Nam at Vietnamese-owned firms by Vietnamese workers. Goods produced in Viet Nam by Vietnamese workers in co-operation with foreign companies rank second. The third priority are those products that are made in Viet Nam by Vietnamese workers employed by foreign companies.

We take every opportunity when we meet people to talk with them about this issue. We may go to offices, workshops or even schools. We may talk to just a few people round a table, or a theatre audience or the workers themselves. Personally speaking, no matter where I go and no matter who I meet, I always manage to bring the conversation round to Vietnamese goods.

Furthermore, when we have time, we take trips to the countryside to sell goods. We can directly provide them with information about the products and persuade them to buy those products.

Does anything stand out as particularly memorable when you take these product selling trips?

After about a year participating in the programme, we have visited many parts of the country, even remote areas. Luckily, my partners and I are welcomed almost everywhere we go. I am well known as an actor or as a speaker, so they are sometimes surprised to see me selling consumer goods. However, when I am introduced as an ambassador people often congratulate me on taking up such a special and important post. Just a small thing, but I’m happy to know that a lot of people support me.

In your assessment, how effective has the programme been? Are you satisfied with what you have achieved?

There’s no standard to assess how effective we have been. This is a non-profit programme. We have not set ourselves a target of meeting a certain number of people. Neither have we set ourselves a target of visiting a certain number of places in a certain time. On the contrary, we just tell ourselves that we are trying our best to do as much as we can for the country. Nonetheless, we have noticed that a lot of people have warmed to made-in-Viet Nam goods. For example, when I spoke to workers at a recent fair, they told me that 80 per cent of the consumer goods they bought were not made domestically. However, after we informed them of the benefits of home-grown products, many of them told us that they would change their spending habits. Actually, we have conducted a number of surveys that have shown that many workers now buy mostly made-in-Viet Nam goods. That is a really positive sign, which reflects well on our programme.

What new issues does the programme plan to address?

Well, as I have said, this is a voluntary scheme in which everyone contributes their time and even money to promote home-grown goods. Therefore, shortcomings are unavoidable. To me, the biggest challenge is finding the time to reach every corner of the country. Accordingly, me and my colleagues hope that every Vietnamese person will support us in this strategy. In my opinion, each Vietnamese consumer should be an ambassador for made-in-Viet Nam products.

How has the programme developed since the early days?

In the beginning, there was only me and a few BSA staff participating in the programme. Since then, we have attracted a lot of famous people – as well as their fans – to support our work.

When all 88 million people in the country support our efforts our work is finished and the ambassadors’ mission is done.

You are very enthusiastic about this programme. Have you encouraged your relatives and friends to buy Vietnamese goods?

Of course, more than enthusiastically. I always try my best to get my relatives and friends to buy locally made products. Most people agree with me that it is important to support domestic firms.

VNN/VNS