Vietnam’s top five brands increase value by $2.3 billion

The most valuable brand was military-owned mobile network Viettel at $2.8 billion last year, up 9 percent from $2.57 billion 2017, said the UK brand valuation company.

The 47th most valuable telecom brand in the world has operations in Laos, Cambodia, Haiti, Mozambique and Peru.

In second place was Vinamilk, the country’s largest dairy company by far, which was worth $1.9 billion, up 39 percent.

State-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) was in third place after increasing its brand value by 84 percent to $1.34 billion.

In fourth and fifth places were Vinhomes, the real estate subsidiary of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup, and Sabeco, Vietnam’s biggest brewer, at $1.18 billion and $950 million respectively.

Samir Dixit, CEO, Asia-Pacific of Brand Finance, said: "Branding is the most critical asset of every business. It is difficult to predict the performance and behavior of customers, but the only thing that remains a constant is the brand."

Brand Finance's valuation criteria uses several metrics. The value accorded to each brand is a summary of its financial strength. Each brand also gets a brand rating, which indicates its strength, risk and future potential relative to its competitors.