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Tag: Vietnam

  • Samsung Electronics appoints new president for Samsung Vina

    Samsung Electronics appoints new president for Samsung Vina

    Kevin Lee, a veteran in the mobile telephony industry with over 30 years’ leadership experience, has been named the new president of Samsung Vina Electronics.

    He was senior vice president, Verizon Account, at Samsung Electronics America and president of Samsung Electronics Benelux and Greece before coming to Vietnam. Under his leadership, Samsung Vina aims to sustain its commercial success in Vietnam, expand its sustainable business practices, build stronger and more impactful strategic partnerships, nurture innovation and become Vietnam’s top-of-mind, premium consumer electronics brand.

    Kevin Lee said: “Vietnam is going to be in the spotlight in 2021. I want to be a part of Vietnam’s success stories by capturing opportunities for growth: recovered economy, IoT technology, open business environment, and a young, captivated generation of new consumers. I envision Samsung to be the brand that places itself into the right opportunities and at the appropriate channels where we provide the most value for consumers. Then and only then can we become the most beloved brand and stand out in a competitive landscape.”

    Samsung’s ultimate goal in the coming years is becoming a brand that has widespread recognition across business units, winning consumers’ hearts and support, and maintaining leadership positions in product categories where the company has a presence.

    To achieve these goals, Samsung’s strategic growth roadmap under Kevin Lee’s leadership will revolve around two main driving forces.

    The first is to focus more on people. For consumers, Samsung Vina will maintain a consistent brand voice which allows consumers to recognize and remember the brand with ease. The company aims to conduct more market research programs to further understand and communicate with consumers.

    It will also strengthen strategic partnerships with business partners and influencers on a “win-win” basis, while reinforcing its workforce with rigorous training programs and competitive, best-in-class benefits.

    In many places, Samsung Vina runs corporate social responsibility programs, including specialized training programs in line with the government’s directive to improve Vietnam’s digital literacy and other initiatives that improve people’s quality of life.

    The second is utilizing impactful innovations with on-demand flexibility. Samsung Vina is committed to delivering meaningful products and at the same time reimagining operations in this new age.

    Samsung Vina will utilize its technology base to drive digital transformation and new innovations with on-demand flexibility.

    Samsung is well-known for transformative ideas and technologies like TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, system LSI, foundry, and LED solutions.

  • Phones continue to lead exports

    Phones continue to lead exports

    Exports of phones and phone parts were worth $51.18 billion last year, a whopping 18 percent of Vietnam’s total exports, according to the General Statistics Office.

    The phones were exported to over 50 countries and territories, with China being the largest market, accounting for almost a quarter.

    The second-largest market was the EU with 19 percent, followed by the U.S., South Korea, and the UAE.

    But for the first time in 10 years, phone and component exports fell, by 0.4 percent.

    Samsung was the biggest contributor to the exports. Its smartphone manufacturing factories in the northern provinces of Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen are its two largest in the world and are also its largest home electronics factory in Southeast Asia.

    About 60 percent of all Samsung smartphones are produced in Vietnam.

  • Vietnam Airlines suffers $483 mln loss

    Vietnam Airlines suffers $483 mln loss

    Vietnam Airlines reported a loss of over VND11.1 trillion ($483 million) last year as the Covid-19 pandemic grounded all its international flights.

    The figure was lower than its projection in December of over VND12 trillion.

    Revenues were down nearly 59 percent to VND40.83 trillion as its total number of flights fell by over 27 percent to 86,978.

    The government recently approved a bailout for the carrier, with the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) allowed to provide a refinanced loan of up to VND4 trillion at zero interest.

    Vietnam Airlines also received permission to issue more shares to existing shareholders to increase its capital.

    The country’s aviation industry suffered badly last year due to flight restrictions to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, and the number of air passengers plunged by 41 percent to 32.3 million, according to the General Statistics Office.

  • Yeah1 suffers another year of loss

    Yeah1 suffers another year of loss

    Media company Yeah1 reported a post-tax loss of VND151 billion ($6.55 million) last year, its second straight year of losses, as it developed a new business.

    Amid the Covid-19 pandemic the company, one of the largest digital media ecosystems in Vietnam, decided to set up a new multi-channel trading platform, Giga1, which seeks to cut out intermediaries and deliver goods directly from manufacturers to customers.

    “In 2020, we spent a lot of resources on this ecosystem of consumption and retail, which led to higher spending and affected the company’s profits,” Nguyen Dang Quynh Anh, deputy director of Yeah1, said.

    Revenues fell by 16 percent last year to VND1.22 trillion. In March, its contract with YouTube was terminated due to a violation of policies.

    It began as an operational error but later “turned into a real crisis for the company,” chairman Nguyen Anh Nhuong Tong said.

  • Vietnam retail sales surge ahead of Lunar New Year

    Vietnam retail sales surge ahead of Lunar New Year

    Total retail sales of goods and revenue from consumer services in January are estimated at 479.9 trillion VND (nearly 20.77 billion USD), up 3.7 percent month-on-month and 6.4 percent year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

    Goods-retail sales totaled 378.9 trillion VND, accounting for 79 percent of the total and up 4.1 percent month-on-month and 8.7 percent year-on-year.

    Revenue from accommodation and food service stood at around 48.7 trillion VND, representing 10.1 percent of the total. It increased 2.7 percent against December but was down 4.1 percent against January 2020.

    Tourism revenue was around 1.6 trillion VND, or 0.3 percent of the total, up 0.7 percent compared to December but down 62.2 percent year-on-year.

    Earnings from other services were estimated at 50.7 trillion VND, accounting for 10.6 percent of the total and up 1.1 percent month-on-month and 7.3 percent year-on-year.

    The GSO said retail sales and consumer services have become more vibrant as the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday nears.

    Most enterprises, shopping centers, supermarkets, and business establishments have readied an abundant supply of goods and offered various promotional programs to stimulate consumption ahead of the lunar new year, the office noted.

  • Cars, phones deliver one-fifth of Vingroup revenues

    Cars, phones deliver one-fifth of Vingroup revenues

    Automobiles and smartphones accounted for 19 percent of private conglomerate Vingroup’s revenues in the last quarter of 2020.

    This marked a 40 percent year-on-year increase to VND6.9 trillion ($299.45 million).

    The largest private conglomerate in Vietnam sold 31,500 cars last year, with its VinFast sedan and SUV models among the bestsellers in their respective segments.

    The group’s VinSmart phones were also among the bestsellers in Q4, 2020.

    The company saw revenues from real estate in the quarter rising 47 percent year-on-year to over VND22.2 trillion after handing over three major Vinhomes projects.

    Revenue from tourism and entertainment, however, fell 40 percent to VND1 trillion because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    For the whole year, Vingroup’s pre-tax profit fell 11 percent to VND13.96 trillion, while revenue fell 15 percent to VND110.46 trillion.

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  • Vietjet earns $3 million profit despite pandemic

    Vietjet earns $3 million profit despite pandemic

    Budget airline Vietjet recorded a consolidated after-tax profit of VND70 billion ($3 million) in 2020 despite headwinds caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

    This makes Vietjet one of the few airlines in the world that did not reduce its workforce, the carrier said in its latest financial statement.

    The second-largest airline in Vietnam in terms of market share reported consolidated revenues of VND18.2 trillion last year, down 64 percent year-on-year.

    According to its financial statement, ancillary revenue accounted for nearly 50 percent of Vietjet’s total revenue in 2020. The airline promoted ancillary services to offset decreasing air travel revenue, the statement noted.

    For instance, it increased the number of cargo flights to make up for dwindling revenues from passenger flights and increased the application of the self-service system at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi to lower costs.

    Vietjet said it conducted 78,462 flights in 2020, down from 139,000 in 2019. The airline’s total assets were valued at over VND47 trillion as of last year.

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  • January exports up 50 pct

    January exports up 50 pct

    Exports rose by 50.5 percent year-on-year in January to $27.7 billion with triple-digit increases in shipments of smartphones and machinery.

    The U.S. was the largest market, followed by China, the E.U., ASEAN, Japan, and South Korea, according to the General Statistics Office.

    Six products saw exports exceed $1 billion, including smartphones (up nearly 115 percent), electronics and computers (up 50 percent), and machinery and equipment (up 115 percent).

    Some agricultural products also achieved strong increases, including rubber (nearly 120 percent), cashew (52 percent) and pepper (42 percent).

    Imports rose 41 percent to $26.4 billion, giving Vietnam a trade surplus of $1.3 billion, with China remaining the largest seller, followed by South Korea, ASEAN and Japan.

    Last year exports had risen by 6.5 percent to $281.5 billion.

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  • Vietnam eyes 500 hi-tech manufacturers

    Vietnam eyes 500 hi-tech manufacturers

    Vietnam eyes to have 500 manufacturers of hi-tech products and 200 agriculture companies using hi-tech applications as of 2030.

    The government also targets to increase the export value of hi-tech products to about 60 percent of the total export value in the manufacturing and processing industry, according to National High-Tech Development Program 2030 recently issued by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

    It also seeks to develop and master 20 high technologies as part of a tech list prioritized for investment and development in the region.

    Funding for the program comes from state coffers, organizations, and private companies.

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  • Techcombank profits sharply up

    Techcombank profits sharply up

    Vietnam’s largest private lender, Techcombank, reported a 23 percent rise in pre-tax profit last year to VND15.8 trillion ($683.62 million).

    It remained the third most profitable bank in the country behind state-owned Vietcombank and VietinBank.

    Its revenues rose 28 percent to VND27 trillion, nearly 70 percent of its interest income. The rest mostly comprised income from fees and securities investment.

    Provisions were up 2.8 times to over VND2.6 trillion as businesses, hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, struggled to repay loans.

    Credit grew at a whopping 23 percent against the country’s average of 10.14 percent.

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  • Another gloomy year forecast for tuna exports

    Another gloomy year forecast for tuna exports

    Vietnam’s tuna exports declined by 9.8 percent in 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and are showing no signs of recovery.

    Analysts point to two reasons for the continuing slump: the unpredictability surrounding the pandemic and intense competition from low-priced Chinese canned tuna in its largest market, the U.S.

    Besides, consumers prefer tuna with the blue MSC label representing certification of the sustainable fishery by the Marine Stewardship Council.

    Tuna exports were worth $649 million last year, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers. Vietnam exports the fish to 108 markets.

    Vietnam’s largest markets after the U.S. are the E.U., Canada, Southeast Asia, and Israel.

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  • Vietnam beat China to become Asia’s top-performing economy

    Vietnam beat China to become Asia’s top-performing economy

    Vietnam outperformed its regional peers, including China, to become the top-performing economy in Asia in 2020.

    Though some economies have not yet reported fourth-quarter numbers, estimates compiled by the U.S. broadcaster from official sources and multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund found Vietnam was one of only three economies in Asia to achieve growth last year along with Taiwan and mainland China.

    The Vietnamese government estimates the economy grew at 2.9 percent last year compared to China’s 2.3 percent growth.

    All other major economies such as South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and India contracted.

    Vietnam’s impressive economic growth was thanks to its competent handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Despite sharing a long border with China where Covid-19 was first detected in December 2019, Vietnam has reported just over 1,500 infections and 35 deaths.

    The manufacturing sector is widely credited for the economy’s outperformance last year, with production growing on the back of steady export demand.

    Many economists expect economic growth to accelerate this year, it said.

    Vietnam’s economy will quintuple by 2035 and become the 19th largest in the world, U.K. consultancy Centre for Economics and Business Research has forecast.

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  • E-commerce market grows in Vietnam

    E-commerce market grows in Vietnam

    Vietnam’s e-commerce market expanded by 18 percent last year to $11.8 billion, the only country in Southeast Asia to record double-digit growth amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Besides, payment services were strengthened and the largest companies in the manufacturing sector incorporated e-commerce into their long-term strategies, according to a recent report by the Vietnam e-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency.

    The country’s Online Friday e-commerce event in early December last year saw the number of transactions rise by 267 percent from the previous year to 3.7 million, it said.

    However, though the number of transactions rose last year, revenues fell because most Covid-19 related items were of low value and people’s incomes were hit, it said.

    A report last month by market research company GlobalData’s E-Commerce Analytics said Vietnam’s e-commerce is set to see compounded annual growth of 18.8 percent between 2020 and 2024 to reach $26.1 billion.

  • Intel pumps additional $475 mln into Vietnam facility

    Intel pumps additional $475 mln into Vietnam facility

    Intel Corporation has invested $475 million in its Ho Chi Minh City facility to develop more complex technologies and tap new market opportunities.

    The latest investment takes its total in Vietnam to $1.5 billion, the U.S. chipmaker said in a statement.

    “As of the end of 2020, Intel Products Vietnam has shipped more than two billion units to customers worldwide,” Kim Huat Ooi, its general manager, said.

    “We are very proud of this milestone, which shows both how important IPV is to helping Intel meet the needs of its customers all around the world, and why we continue to invest in our facilities and team here in Vietnam.”

    The money will go into manufacturing 5G products and the 10th-generation Intel Core processors.

    One of Intel’s 10 manufacturing sites globally, IPV is the company’s largest assembly and test manufacturing facility with more than 2,700 employees.

    Nguyen Anh Thi, president of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, where the plant is located, said Intel’s decision to increase its investment indicates its confidence in the workforce and Vietnam’s reliable investment environment.

    The new investment comes amid the expansion by a number of electronics giants in Vietnam as they seek to diversify their supply chains.

    Foxconn this month got the license to build a $270-million plant in the north capable of producing eight million laptops and tablets annually. It has so far invested $1.5 billion in Vietnam.

    Japan’s Panasonic decided to end the production of washing machines and refrigerators in Thailand and move it to a consolidated appliance assembly facility in Vietnam.

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  • Covid hits coworking office space rents in HCMC

    Covid hits coworking office space rents in HCMC

    Rents for coworking office space in HCMC decreased 12 percent year-on-year last year due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, a report says.

    The occupancy rates of coworking office space in Grade A and B buildings last year plunged by 7 percentage points as its supply experienced the lowest growth since 2017 to 6 percent, according to a report by Savills Vietnam, the leading global property services provider.

    The gloomy outlook for the coworking space market, which boomed in the country between 2017 and 2019, has prompted investors to cancel expansion plans.

    The New York-based co-working startup, WeWork, the third-largest startup in the U.S. and the sixth-largest in the world, stopped leasing an office in HCMC’s District 1 while UP Co-working Space, headquartered in Hanoi, also postponed its plan to open two new offices in District 7, the report says.

    The number of newly registered coworking companies in the country also dropped by 6 percent.

    “2020 was a challenging year for both traditional and shared office segments. The market has been seeing a number of tenants turn to lower-priced office buildings and shophouses to cut down on rental costs in order to maintain their business,” said Vo Thi Khanh Trang, head of Savills Vietnam’s market research department.

    While the traditional office space has shown signs of a slight recovery in late 2020 thanks to better containment of the Covid-19 outbreaks in Vietnam, the shared workspace business has yet to see similar positive signs, Trang said.

    Before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in Vietnam in January last year, co-working spaces had expanded in HCMC’s central districts since the limited traditional office space there was unable to meet burgeoning demand.

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