"This year, awards will focus on honouring businesses for their increasing, efforts to enhance trademarks in the current difficult context, as well as make even greater contributions to economic development," said Viet Nam Economic Times editor in chief Dao Nguyen Cat yesterday.

"The organising board will also present insignias to 11 foreign enterprises with the highest committed capital (at least US$1 billion each project) in a move to honour and encourage these firms to better disburse their committed capital in the following years," he added.

The winners will be foreign-invested enterprises dealing with various products such as automobiles, motorbikes, agro-forestry-fishery, food, beverages, construction, construction materials, real estate, finance and banking, insurance, machines, garments, electronics, information technology and telecommunications, oil and gas and others.

The Viet Nam Economic Times has created a website, www.gda.com.vn, specifically for promoting the awards to prospective applicants. On the site there will also be a forum for the foreign-investment business community in Viet Nam to exchange experiences, the newspaper said.

The award ceremony will be organised in Ha Noi in February 2009 with sponsorship from several government ministries and agencies including the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade as well as the Viet Nam Union of Scientific and Technical Associations.