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Tag: Vietnam

  • Vietnamese retailers Growing at a Lightning Fast Pace

    Vietnamese retailers Growing at a Lightning Fast Pace

    Local retail firms are expanding quickly while foreign counterparts stagnate or quit due to fierce competition. The number of convenience stores in the country from April last year to April this year had risen by 72 percent year-on-year to over 3,100, according to Ho Chi Minh City market research firm Q&Me. That means 1,300 convenience stores came to the market in just one year.

    Half of them, 660, came from Vinmart+, a convenience store chain of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup. This is a growth of 82 percent. In the same period, supermarket chain Vinmart saw its number of store risen by 82 percent to 120 outlets.

    Bach Hoa Xanh, a retail unit of the country’s major phone seller Mobile World (MWG), now has over 500 department stores after incorporated in 2015. It is seeing strong growth with VND4.3 trillion ($184 million) in revenue last year, three times that of 2017.

    The market has recently seen strong merger and acquisition activities, with Vingroup’s retail arm VinCommerce buying out convenience store chain Shop&Go last month and supermarket chain Fivimart last October.

    Vietnam’s retail market has become increasingly crowded with both local and international players over the last five years. Although experts have said that the market has a lot of growth potential, many foreign businesses have quit or scaling back expansion plans.

    French supermarket group Auchan Retail might be the newest player to withdraw from the market.

    Auchan’s 15 out of 18 supermarkets will stop operating on June 3. Its CEO Edgar Bonte said that their business in Vietnam generated revenues of 45 million euros ($50.4 million) last year, but was making losses. He did not provide figures of the losses.

    A source from the company, who wished not to be named, said the firm is negotiating with a few retailers to sell the outlets and the negotiations “are expected to end before Auchan withdraws from Vietnam early next month.”

    Germany-headquartered Metro was sold to a Thai investor in 2014 and disappeared from the market ever since, while Malaysia’s Parkson has been closing down its malls since 2015.

    Other convenience store chain has failed or will unlikely meet its initial expansion target. Japanese Ministop had only 115 stores as of April, even though it had planned to have 800 by last year.

    Japanese convenience store chain FamilyMart saw its store number dropped by nine to 151 from last April to this April, while its initial plan was to have 1,000 stores by next year.

    Vietnam’s revenue from selling goods last year rose by 11.7 percent from 2017 to $142 billion, up 12.4 percent from 2017.

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  • SHB Finance issues certificates of deposit worth millions

    SHB Finance issues certificates of deposit worth millions

    SHB Finance has issued its fourth tranche certificates of deposits worth a total of VND300 billion ($12.88 million). These were 12-month deposits with an annual interest rate of 10.3 percent and no transfer fees.

    The SHBank Finance Company Limited (SHB Finance) issued the certificates of deposits for its fourth tranche as part of its book-building process. This issuance attracted prestigious institutional investors, including one domestic investment fund and one securities company.

    On April 25, SHB Finance had successfully issued its third tranche certificates of deposit with the same interest rate.

    Explaining the factors that make SHB Finance’s certificates of deposits attractive to investors, CEO Dinh Quang Huy said that although the company was a new player in the consumer finance market (official launch in August 2018), it has gained the attention of many institutional investors, thanks to its efficient and speedy operating system.

    “We always try to be transparent to investors at all time, not just when we need to raise funds. Therefore, our certificates of deposits are always welcomed by investors, even though timing of tranches are quite close,” Dinh said.

    The company announced positive business results in the first four months of 2019, very soon after it commenced operations. SHB Finance ended April 2019 with outstanding loans of VND1.44 trillion ($61.84 million), up 103 percent compared to 2018, fulfilling 39 percent of the plan for 2019. With the fourth tranche, SHB Finance has successfully raised VND900 billion ($38.65 million), VND810 billion from certificates of deposit and VND90 billion from deposits. The funds will help SHB Finance serve immediate consumer finance demands of low to medium income customers across the country, contribute to the development of a healthy consumer finance market and eliminate rampant shadow banking activities.

    Its profit before tax as of April 2019 had reached VND71.6 billion ($3.08 million).

    The company has served over 150,000 customers.

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  • KVision Organises hackathon to Envision Vietnamese startups

    KVision Organises hackathon to Envision Vietnamese startups

    KasikornBank’s Kasikorn Vision has joined hands with VIISA, a leading accelerator in Vietnam, and UP Co-Working Space to hold a three-day hackathon. The event, from June 28-30, 2019, will offer startups the opportunity to gain financial backing from Vietnamese and overseas investors and fast-track their entry into a range of other startup programs.

    It will target startups with products or ideas to tackle finance and business challenges facing Vietnamese and ASEAN economies. Bringing together KBank’s expertise in regional banking, KVision’s $245 million worth of funding, VIISA’s local know-how, and innovative ideas from local startups, the aim is to drive synergy that will spur cutting-edge solutions and create value and drive growth in Vietnam and the wider region.

    Chat Luangarpa, first senior vice president of Thailand’s KBank, said Vietnam has emerged as one of ASEAN’s most vibrant startup markets and active venture capital markets. With a fast-growing economy, a pool of youthful tech talent, and strong government support, it has all the key ingredients for rapid innovation growth, he said.

    “The country’s young, change-oriented consumer market makes Vietnam a perfect place for startups to thrive.”

    KVision, aiming to drive innovative growth in the region, sees the potential for Vietnamese startups to not only grow in the local market but also capture opportunities across ASEAN.

    Supported by KBank’s presence in the region, the hackathon is aimed at equipping Vietnamese startups with the right tools to take them to the next level on the regional stage.

    The program will bring seasoned mentors from the local and global startup communities, including Akamai, Sendo, and other leading accelerators, and business veterans such as UniBrands. Through a series of mentoring and sharing sessions, startups will receive real-world advice, hands-on supervision and invaluable networking to help them step up their game in all aspects.

    From design thinking to pitching, the end goal is to inspire and drive startups to come up with real solutions to materialize their business, and form real connections to make their business happen. Startups with potential will have the opportunity to gain financial backing from investors in Vietnam and overseas and fast-track entry into a range of other startup programs.

    At the heart of this program lies the idea of co-innovation. Duc Tran, CEO of VIISA, said the time for partnerships is now. Gone is the time when brick-and-mortar corporations and startups could simply view each other as competitors, he said. Partnerships between the two could bring a synergy and combination of various strengths to accelerate growth, allowing startups to expand at a time of increasing competition while also allowing corporations to transform in the digital age.

    Luangarpa said this is now one of KBank’s key strategies too. The establishment of KVision in Vietnam, as well as other countries with outstanding technology sectors like China, Israel, and Indonesia, is to scout for innovative startups to co-launch new services in the region’s underserved and quickly evolving markets.

    KVision will hold the three-day “KVision x VIISA Hackathon: Building Co-Innovation” event at UP Co-Working Space, Ho Chi Minh City, from June 28 to 30. The program is open to both startups with business ideas and those with existing products. Prizes include $2,000 for the ideation track winner, $5,000 for the acceleration track winner and fast-track guarantees to various startup programs and perks from hackathon partners. Applications are open until June 15.

    KVision looks to play an active role in linking startup ecosystems in ASEAN. Earlier this month the Thai company signed an agreement with the Vietnamese government’s Business Startup Support Centre to support Thai startups’ entry into the Vietnamese market.

    KBank first entered Vietnam in 2015 with representative offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. To continue its focus on Vietnam, KBank plans to upgrade its Ho Chi Minh City representative office to its first branch in Vietnam once the license is granted.

    Alongside setting up branches, KBank also looks to bring in digital solutions, including partnerships with startups to address financial service gaps and drive disruption in the region.

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  • Online liquor sales boom in Vietnam

    Online liquor sales boom in Vietnam

    Vietnam has removed a proposed decree to prohibit online liquor sales, accepting that it goes against international trends. The bill, proposed by the Ministry of Health last year, would have prohibited online sales of beverages with an alcohol content of more than 15 percent. But legislators got into a heated debate over this regulation, with critics saying that it would go against international trends and challenge e-commerce development.

    The National Assembly (NA) Committee for Social Affairs on Thursday said it has removed the decree after listening to legislators’ views.

    Some new changes have been made in the latest version of the bill. The advertisement for beverages with less than 15 percent of the alcohol content will now be allowed on TV and radio.

    However, these advertisements must not be carried between 7-8 p.m. every day.

    The bill is set to be discussed and voted on at the end of the ongoing National Assembly session.

    Alcohol, especially beer, is widely consumed in Vietnam. Data collected by the Ministry of Health shows Vietnamese citizens consumed 305 million liters of liquor and 4.1 billion liters of beer in 2017, making it the biggest alcohol consumer in Southeast Asia and third biggest in Asia after Japan and China.

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  • Homestay startup raises $4.5 million

    Homestay startup raises $4.5 million

    Luxstay has raised $4.5 million from South Korean retailer GS Shop and venture capitalist Bon Angels in its bridge round. A Luxstay representative said Wednesday that receiving funding from reputable international investors in this round is an important stepping stone for the enterprise to expand to other areas in the future.

    GS Shop is a South Korean multimedia retailer as well as a global leader in TV home shopping. It also established a retail chain called GS25 in Vietnam in 2018.

    Bon Angels Venture Partners is a South Korean venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups. It has invested in well known South Korean startups like Woowa Brothers, Daily Hotels, and My Real Trip.

    Luxstay has targeted an annual turnover of over $300 million and 30 percent of Vietnam’s home-rental market share by 2023, the representative said.

    It is also working with financial investors and strategic partners for the next funding round, a Series A round, which is expected to close in 2019, aiming to raise $15-20 million.

    Prior to this investment, Luxstay had raised a total of around $6 million from CyberAgent Ventures (Japan), Genesia Ventures (Japan), ESP Capital (Vietnam), Founders Capital (Vietnam) and Nextrans (South Korea).

    Launched in late 2016, Luxstay has a network of nearly 10,000 properties across the country. This is a short-term rental booking platform for apartments, villas and other homestay accommodations positioned in the mid and high-end segments of Vietnam’s real estate market.

    It also offers property management and maintenance solutions to assist and save time for homeowners who want to participate in the home-sharing market through its system.

    “In developed countries, home-sharing accounts for 10-20 percent of the home-rental market. This shows a huge opportunity for this industry in Vietnam, which is expected to reach $2-4 billion in 2025,” Luxstay said.

  • VinID acquires MonPay e-wallet in Vietnam

    VinID acquires MonPay e-wallet in Vietnam

    Vingroup’s loyalty program VinID has acquired digital wallet app MonPay, a central bank source says.  The takeover procedures have been completed but did not disclose its form and value.

    Earlier this week, a new feature called “My Wallet” has appeared on the VinID app where customers can accumulate points from goods and services bought from Vingroup’s ecosystem, which includes real estate, education and shopping.

    From this feature, customers can deposit and withdraw money as with any electronic wallet, and all transactions go through MonPay. MonPay is a product created and run by local firm People Care JSC.

    Previously, at the end of 2018, People Care completely replaced its management board with three key executives from VinID, including Nguyen Thi Diu, deputy general director of Vingroup and general director of VinID; and Nguyen Minh Hong, one of three founding shareholders of VinID.

    VinID JSC was established in July 2018. It has a chartered capital of VND3 trillion ($128.81 million) and is 80 percent owned by Vingroup, Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate.

    People Care JSC is one of 29 enterprises that have been granted the payment intermediary license from the State Bank of Vietnam. The company doubled its charter capital from VND68 billion ($2.92 million) to VND138 billion ($5.93 million) at the end of 2018, after it had reappointed its board of directors.

    The government is working to accelerate the use of cashless transactions. In a resolution released January, it tasked the central bank to come up with solutions that would promote the use of e-wallets, which allow users to deposit cash into their e-wallets without the need for a bank account.

    However, Vietnam is still far away from becoming a cashless society, given low financial literacy and the lack of an ecosystem, experts say.

    The use of cash in Vietnam remains high. World Bank’s statistics released last year showed that the country had the lowest percentage of cashless transactions in the region with only 4.9 percent, while this value for China and Thailand were 26.1 percent and 59.7 percent respectively.

  • 600 Vietnamese staff trained for Hanoi’s metro line Opening

    600 Vietnamese staff trained for Hanoi’s metro line Opening

    Operational staff for Hanoi’s first metro line has been trained, but its opening date remains up in the air. 86 of them are in the driving department, with 46 main drivers. The rest are substitute drivers and technicians. All drivers have been trained and have practiced in Beijing, China for a year. Their experience ranges from driving 5,000-20,000 kilometers.

    “To prepare for the commercial operation, we have done both practical training and simulator training, including dealing with unexpected events,” said driver Tran Thanh Long.

    Over 500 people will work in the operating center to manage trains, maintain infrastructure, distribute tickets and discharge other responsibilities. Over this and next month, they will run drills for emergency evacuation, handling a large number of passengers and dealing with malfunctioning trains. The Vietnamese staff has been trained by Chinese experts. A representative of the contractor said that “most Vietnamese staff have met training standards and can operate the metro line immediately.”

    Another reason was that the Chinese contractor, China Railway Sixth Group Co., Ltd, has not submitted necessary documents to authorities for a final inspection, a source said then. But it is still unclear when the metro will start its commercial operations. The city’s long delayed Cat Linh – Ha Dong metro route missed last month’s deadline for commercial operation since construction was still not complete.

    Work on the metro started in October 2011 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2013. But several hurdles, including loan disbursement issues with China that were only resolved in December 2017, stalled it for years.

    The original estimated cost of $553 million ballooned to more than $868 million, including $670 million in loans from China.

    When completed, Hanoi’s first metro line will run from Cat Linh Station in downtown Dong Da District to the Yen Nghia Station in the south-west Ha Dong District.

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  • Vietnam considering mobile money trials this year

    Vietnam considering mobile money trials this year

    Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communication has held an international workshop on the ability of mobile money to promote financial inclusion, as part of preparations for potential mobile money trails.

    The two-day workshop was designed to provide a comprehensive overview of mobile money, and put forward recommendations for Vietnam’s adoption of the technology.

    At the event, Minister of Information and Communication Nguyen Manh Hung said the government is evaluating approving mobile money trials this year, the report states.

    Vietnam would become the 91st nation in the world to adopt mobile money services, the minister said. By the end of last year, nearly 900 million people in 90 nations were using mobile money services to conduct transactions worth around $1.3 billion per day.

    The minister also noted that mobile money will help promote cashless payment in a market were only around 40% of the population have bank accounts but mobile penetration is well over 100%, and will allow low-income people in remote or hard to reach areas to access paid online services.

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  • VinMart Vietnam opens first virtual store

    VinMart Vietnam opens first virtual store

    Vietnamese supermarket chain VinMart claims to have opened Vietnam’s first virtual store.

    Run by VinGroup’s subsidiary VinCommerce, the new concept is being tested in 20 locations, including apartments, office buildings, schools and at bus stops, both in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

    Each store provides images and QR codes of more than 100 product groups for customers to scan and order via VinID app. The products will be delivered within two to four hours.

    VinMart launched the Scan&Go function in its app in March, applying it in 73 supermarkets across the country.

    Customers can also shop via VinMart’s printed shopping manual or online.

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  • Missguided First Vietnam’s Store Opening

    Missguided First Vietnam’s Store Opening

    UK-based fashion brand Missguided Vietnam has opened its first store.

    Located on Level 2 of Ho Chi Minh City’s Saigon Centre, the new store is a part of the brand’s expansion internationally, which follows rationalization in its home market. The label has also opened its first franchised store in Dubai Mall, under a partnership with retail group Azadea.

    More stores are poised to open in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt.

    Early February, Missguided closed its flagship in London’s Westfield Stratford City, which was also its first brick-and-mortar store, after three years of operating.

    The loss-making 20,000sqft store reportedly had two years left on the lease but Missguided negotiated to exit early.

    The brand now has only one store in the UK, at Bluewater shopping center in Kent.

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  • BoConcept Asia continues Expansion

    BoConcept Asia continues Expansion

    Furniture and homewares retailer BoConcept has opened new stores in three Asian countries in recent months as it continues to expand its footprint in the region.

    The new stores are in Kyoto, Japan, Zhengzhou, China; and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

    BoConcept already has about 300 stores in more than 65 countries and is seeking to more than double its network within the next few years.

    The Kyoto store, which opened in March, is the brand’s 16th store in Japan and its 71st in Asia.

    The Zhengzhou store, in Henan Province, marks its 24th in China and the Vietnamese stores it’s sixth in the market. Both opened last month.

    The store is located in the suburb of Thao Dien, a popular area for expats.

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  • E-commerce Boom in Vietnam: The Rising Tiger

    E-commerce Boom in Vietnam: The Rising Tiger

    Vietnam can be truly called a land of opportunity for domestic and foreign e-commerce companies. Its young population, high Internet penetration rate and rising smartphone penetration rates play the key role here, making the country one of the most promising for e-commerce activities in the region.

    South-East Asia’s Surge in E-commerce

    According to the report Asia-Pacific B2C E-Commerce Market, over one half of total global online retail sales happens in the Asia-Pacific region. Based on the analyses it is concluded that over 50% of all the online shopping for retail goods and services takes place in the Asia Pacific region, and South-East Asia accounts for about 40% of the e-commerce market of the region.

    Southeast Asia is definitely a new big e-commerce hit, and the region is currently a very attractive market for big players involved globally in the e-commerce sector and smaller local companies. At a reflection point of Internet penetration and mobile devices rapid spread, the population of Southeast Asia is quickly adapting its behaviors to take advantage of new purchasing products and services online opportunities.

    According to the latest e-Conomy Southeast Asia 2018 report from Google and Singapore-based Temasek, the digital economy in Southeast Asia is on track to hit $240 billion by 2025, which is $40 billion more than previous estimates. The key factors are the most engaged mobile internet users in the world, as well as industries like ecommerce, online media, online travel and ride-sharing, which grew at never-before-seen rates.

    Flourishing Market

    There are currently 35.4 million e-commerce users in Vietnam, with an additional 6.6 million users to be shopping online by 2021. These 42 million e-commerce users will represent 58% of the total population. That’s why there is no wonder that throughout the last 5 years Vietnam is showing a constant rise in percentage of online shopping transactions.

    E-commerce market value in Vietnam from 2014 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)

    Vietnam e-commerce Association (VECOM) reported that Vietnam’s e-commerce

    growth rate of some specific areas is explosive. For the online retail area, information from thousands of e-commerce websites showed that revenue growth rate in 2017 increased by 35%. For the payment area, the national Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS), in 2017, the volume of online domestic card transactions increased about 50% compared to 2016, while transaction value increased to 75%. For the online marketing area, the growth rate of some affiliate marketing companies in 2017 reached from 100% -200%.

    Vietnam’s e-commerce market has witnessed high growth rate since 2013, with online sales increasing from US$2.2 billion in 2013 to US$6.2 billion in 2017, averaging an annual growth rate of 20%. Little surprise there, as affiliate marketing sales constituted about 15% of the total sales, which sounds quite intriguing. About 80% of local brands rely on affiliate programs.

    The most popular products sold online included clothing, footwear and domestic (59%), electronic devices (47%), and household appliances (47%), among others, while payment and delivery methods have been used flexibly by enterprises.

    Moreover, the government has stepped in to try and usher in a new era of commerce. Vietnam’s legal framework and policies, especially Decree No.52 on e-commerce, have played a key role in creating favorable conditions for high growth rate of the retail e-commerce market.

    The decree aims to ensure fairness between e-commerce and traditional commerce, of which enterprises operating in e-commerce must comply with laws and regulations in equal to that of traditional one.

    Local Players Hit It Big

    Vietnamese e-commerce platforms Tiki, Thegioididong and Sendo entered the list of ten most visited sites in Southeast Asia by iPrice Group. Tiki, Thegioididong and Sendo ranked sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, by average monthly web traffic. The top two leading positions took international corporations Lazada and Shopee, respectively.

    According to iPrice’s data on the Vietnamese market, Tiki, Thegioididong and Sendo made huge improvements in 2018 leading to attracting both user traffic and investment.

    Tiki is the fastest-growing retail company in Vietnam and has all the chances to be an industry winner. Their monthly website traffic increased by 80% within only six months, which took them from the fourth highest position among e-commerce websites in Vietnam to second place by December and the first place by monthly visits in April 2019, leaving international corporation Lazada on the second place.

    Similarly, Sendo.vn also grew by 55% in monthly website traffic within a period of six months and maintained a healthy fifth place in Vietnam, one rank behind Thegioididong. No wonder, it’s affiliate program is also one of the most rewarding in terms of revenue for the publishers.

    The most surprising entry to this list was Thegioididong. With focus on only one product category – electronic devices, the retail company still managed to gain an average of 29 million visits per month, according to the report.

    Although the leaders of the market are still Lazada and Shopee, which operate successfully in multiple markets, the three Vietnamese e-commerce companies’ inclusion is very remarkable, and is definitely a strong evidence of the size and potential of e-commerce in Vietnam.

    Affiliate Marketing Opportunities

    E-commerce success brings also a bunch of great affiliate-marketing offers. Sendo is definitely one of the most attractive ones. Up to now, more than 80,000 shops have been operating on Sendo.vn, offering a diverse range of products with over 5 million products from clothes to tech accessories. In 2018, Sendo.vn, the e-commerce subsidiary of FPT Corporation, also received $51 million from the Japanese SBI Holdings and other investors. After several effective improvements backed by investments, it is not hard to assume the retail will keep growing for sure.

    Besides from solely local market players, big international companies such as Lazada or Shopee are definitely still in the top in terms of revenue.

    Lazada is the pioneer e-commerce store in Southeast Asia. Present in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam it brings over 135,000 local and international sellers and more than 3000 brands online to serve more than 560 million customers which are increasing by the day. To counter Shopee’s expansion in Southeast Asia, Alibaba decided to invest another US$2 billion in Lazada to improve the company’s competitiveness, which actually gained the goal.

    Anyone who wants to eat a piece of pie and promote the Vientamese e-commerce giants like Lazada, Shopee, and Sendo, can join their official affiliate programs at Indoleads.com, one of the leading affiliate networks in Asia-Pacific.

    Investing paradise

    Vietnam is a true hotspot for investors from around the world. The burgeoning eCommerce market in Vietnam has attracted major investors from Japan, Germany, the United States, Korea, China, and Singapore. With six companies invested in Vietnam’s eCommerce market (BEENOS, CyberAgent Ventures, econtext Asia, SBI Holdings, Sumitomo Corporation, Trancosmos), Japan tops the list of foreign countries with the highest number of investors in Vietnam. In 2017, Japan invested a total of $9.1 billion in Vietnam, taking over Korea ($8.5 billion) and ranked as the largest foreign direct investment (FDI) country in Vietnam. The largest investors in Vietnam’s eCommerce market also include tech giants, venture capital firms and investment companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, Temasek Holdings, Dragon Capital and IDG Ventures Vietnam. Besides, Germany and the US are two countries outside of Asia that are actively invested in Vietnam’s eCommerce market.

    Forecasts

    With an explosive 33% compounded annual growth rate over the past two years, Vietnam ranks high among the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the region. Its market has a great potential and it has already proved it within the last couple of years, so there is definitely no point in being skeptical. Based in the US Frost & Sullivan consulting firm forecasted that the E-Commerce market in Vietnam will reach a value of $3.7 billion by 2030. According to the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, by 2020 an average online spending per person will reach US$350 annually.

    This e-commerce surge might be a great opportunity for many international and local players, as well as affiliate marketers. Indoleads.com, one of the leading affiliate platforms in South-East Asia, has an access to 500+ direct affiliate programs from over 60 countries around the globe that opens up a geography for local players to Asian, Brazil, US, UK markets.

    The key point of success of such worldwide e-commerce leaders like Zalora, Americanas, Amazon, Shein, Ssence, AliExpress, Lazada, Shein, Tokopedia, is affiliate sales. Register at Indoleads.com as a publisher to be a part of these top affiliate programs.

     

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  • Auchan Selling Vietnamese Business

    Auchan Selling Vietnamese Business

    The French supermarket group’s CEO Edgar Bonte told that the group had decided to sell its 18 stores in Vietnam which currently generate sales of US$50.4 million.

    In March, Auchan Retail said its Italian and Vietnamese businesses had faced tough conditions.

    The group has since sold the Italian operation – which closed 23 stores last year – to Conrad.

    Entering Vietnam in 2015, Auchan had planned to invest US$500 million to open 300 stores.

    The stores are often located in apartment buildings, targeting local residents. Auchan Vietnam is in talks with a local retail group to acquire the business.

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  • Indonesia’s Kimia Farma eyes Growth into Vietnam

    Indonesia’s Kimia Farma eyes Growth into Vietnam

    Indonesian state-owned pharmaceuticals firm Kimia Farma is considering expanding into Vietnam by acquiring a local company. The firm recently invested US$10.26 million in a Saudi Arabian firm, purchasing 60 percent of its shares and renaming it as Kimia Farma Dawaa.

    It is currently investigating Vietnamese regulations to discover whether or not it can own a majority stake in a local firm, a critical factor in securing its investment.

    “It depends on the regulation in the country,” said Kimia Farma finance director IGN Suharta Wijaya. “It the regulation is okay, we will enter the country this year.”

    “If the sales of each Kimia Farma outlet in the country is IDR1.5 billion ($104,877) per month, [the sales of an outlet of the Vietnamese company] could be IDR4 billion per month,” Wijaya added.

    Investment in the pharmaceutical industry is stepping up in Vietnam, with the announcement last week that Vietnam-focussed private equity firm Mekong Capital has issued funding to pharmacy chain Pharmacity.

    With 186 outlets retailing both traditional Vietnamese and Western medicines, Pharmacity is the country’s most widespread network of pharmaceutical products stores, with 1 million subscribers to its loyalty program. The firm is targeting 1000 outlets in Vietnam within two years.

    Reportedly, Kimia Farma is seeking to buy a chain with 400 outlets nationwide.

  • Venture Capitalists invests in Vietnam’s Pizza 4Ps

    Venture Capitalists invests in Vietnam’s Pizza 4Ps

    Private-equity firm Mekong Capital has invested in Vietnamese pizza franchise Pizza 4P’s via the Mekong Enterprise Fund III.

    The franchise was set up in 2011 by Japanese owners and has grown its network of locations to 11 stores nationwide serving more than 4700 customers per day. The company has also developed a fledgling line of packaged consumer goods, such as specialty cheeses.

    “We are incredibly excited to partner with Pizza 4P’s,” said Mekong Capital founder Chris Freund. “Not only because we are huge fans of their product and see the potential for the brand to grow considerably, but also we are very inspired by the vision of the founders, Masuko and Sanae.”

    Mekong Enterprise Fund III currently has US$112.5 million in committed capital. Pizza 4P’s is the ninth company to receive investment from the fund.

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