Tan Thanh, Saigon Square major markets in Vietnam for fake goods: US report

Several Vietnam-based sites and physical markets, including Tan Thanh Market and Saigon Square Shopping Mall, are hotbeds for counterfeit and pirated goods, a new report says.

In its “2023 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy,” the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) says some “online and physical markets reportedly engage in, facilitate, turn a blind eye to, or benefit from substantial piracy or counterfeiting.”

The list is an important tool that urges the private sector and trading partners of the U.S. to take action against these harmful practices, the report cites U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai as saying.

Tan Thanh Market, within the Viet Trung (Vietnam-China) trade center in the northern province of Lang Son bordering China, is a hub of Chinese-made counterfeit goods including apparel, shoes, electronics and luxury goods, according to the report.

It alleges that Tan Thanh Market also operates as a hub for the distribution of counterfeit goods in the region, supplying these to popular markets in Hanoi like the Dong Xuan market.

Saigon Square Shopping Mall in Ho Chi Minh City is a popular location for the sale of counterfeit luxury products, including handbags, wallets, jewelry and watches, the report says. The market attracts a large number of residents, domestic and foreign tourists.

The USTR recognizes local authorities’ efforts in cracking down on violations, but adds that the volume of counterfeit sales remains high and penalties have had little deterrent effect.

The report also mentions Vietnam-based online markets, including 2embed, a pirate content management system; Aniwatch, a popular pirate streaming site; and BestBuyIPTV, a provider of pirated audiovisual contents.

Besides these, Shopee, a Singapore-based e-commerce platform, also sees high volumes of counterfeit goods, despite its heavy investments in brand protection and anti-counterfeiting capacity, according to the report.

Data from Metric.vn, a local e-commerce data analyzer, shows that Shopee is by far the biggest e-commerce platform in Vietnam, accounting for 73.7% of the revenue earned by the market's biggest players, which include Lazada, Tiki, and Tiktok Shop.