VietNamNet Bridge – Experts have called on local enterprises to make the most of the Internet by registering their brand equities to prevent abuse of their names on the one hand and to promote their recognition on the other.

Local companies should rapidly register Internet domain names for use as a key tool to develop e-commerce.

The seminar was co-organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in HCMC and the city’s Department of Industry and Trade to promote e-commerce application among local enterprises.

Phung Minh Bao, CEO cum founder of the software and information technology company SGC Co. Ltd., suggested enterprises further utilize the Internet to promote their brand names. Internet advertising is a simple and low-cost way to promote their trademarks, he said.

According to Bao, an Internet domain name now becomes a valued equity to promote a company’s image and brand name. However, many local firms have not made the needed registration to protect their brand name on the Internet.

“That may be a danger for enterprises, affecting their reputation as well as normal operation. The problem will become worse in case enterprises spend a big sum to re-purchase their domain names that may have been registered by other companies,” Bao said.

He cited the case of Trung Nguyen Co. Ltd., saying the lateness has cost the well-known coffee processor dearly.

In 2001, Kien Cuong Company registered with the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center to use the domain name trungnguyen.com. Five years later, Trung Nguyen Co. Ltd unknowingly submitted a request to the center for the same domain name trungnguyen.com, which was swiftly rejected as the name was already owned by Kien Cuong.

Therefore, Trung Nguyen had to negotiate with Kien Cuong to purchase the domain name to no avail, and then had to use the second-tier domain name trungnguyen.com.vn. instead.

“That is a precious lesson which local enterprises can learn from,” Bao said.

Agreeing with Bao, other IT experts advised that local companies should rapidly register Internet domain names for use as a key tool to develop e-commerce. In addition, local companies should promote IT applications in management and operation.

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that the nation has an estimated 15 million Internet users.

However, the development of e-commerce in Vietnam is also hindered by poor data security, incompatibility between electronic payment systems, an insufficient legal framework and lack of public awareness.

A recent survey of 289 websites nationwide showed only 74 posted information about their data security policy to protect users, or a mere 26% of the surveyed sites. By comparison, the rate rose 57% in a survey of business-to-business (B2B) websites.

(Source: SGT)