Specialties of Vietnam and other ASEAN countries are being showcased atthe International Geographical Indications (GIs) Exhibition 2014, whichwas launched in Hanoi on September 9.

More than 70 boothsexhibit Vietnamese specialties, such as Phu Quoc fish sauce, Phuc Trachgrapefruits, Tan Cuong tea, and Hue conical hats, and other regionalproducts, such as Myanmar algae, Lao coffee, Cambodian pepper and palmoil, Malaysian silk, and Bruneian frozen lamb.

The two-day eventis jointly organised by the National Office of Intellectual Propertyunder Vietnam ’s Ministry of Science and Technology and the EU-ASEANproject on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights.

Theexhibition is part of an initiative on GI protection run by the ASEANIntellectual Property Rights Action Plan 2011 – 2015, chaired byVietnam and Thailand .

With 38 protected GIs, Vietnam currently ranks second in ASEAN after Thailand .

A geographical indication certifies products with a specificgeographical origin and qualities, characteristics or a reputation thatare essentially attributable to that place of origin.

Manycountries use GIs as a guarantee of product origin and quality. It isalso regarded as an effective tool to increase a product’scompetitiveness.

Globally, more than 10,000 products are considered GIs, with an estimated annual trade value of 50 billion USD.-VNA