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Tag: Vietnam

  • Vietnam office space remains lucrative

    Vietnam office space remains lucrative

    Hanoi and HCMC will continue to be among the best performing office space markets globally in 2019, top property consultants have predicted. Troy Griffiths, deputy managing director of real estate service firm Savills, said that it was the case last year and this would continue on the back of very strong demand amidst supply constraints.

    “The demand driver is very strong, especially that from the booming financial services sectors like insurance and banking.”

    He said rentals would rise across the board as a consequence.

    “The Hanoi market’s rental might grow somewhere between 7 to 15 percent across all grades this year, while it will probably be slightly lower in HCMC, at 11 percent for A grade.

    “Rental will continue to trend up until supply catches up. Occupancy will be very strong at 90 percent and above. This will be much a story for 2019.”

    Official statistics show that at more than $19 billion, foreign direct investment (FDI) disbursement for 2018 in Vietnam was the highest in a decade.

    The country’s commitment in free trade agreements (FTAs) including the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which came into force on January 14, 2019, is also expected to boost economic prospects, resulting in a positive demand in office market.

    Dung Duong, head of valuation, research and consulting at CBRE, also said Hanoi and HCMC will continue to be two of the world’s the best performing office space markets this year.

    “Grade A average asking rent in HCMC is expected to increase by 4 percent in 2019, while occupancy will reach as high as 96 percent.”

    In Hanoi market, positive rental growth is expected in both Grade A and B, especially in Grade A on the back of new quality supply in the central business districts (CBD) in 2019, she said.

    “This will become the newest Grade A supply after three years of no new supply. In terms of demand, apart from traditional sectors such as banking, insurance, manufacturing and IT, co-working space is expected to continue to be a major source of demand.”

    According to a recent report by another real estate services provider, JLL, the HCMC market added 60,269  square meters of new supply from two grade B and four grade C buildings in 2018, taking the total inventory to nearly 1.97 million sq.m.

    The robust demand had pushed the occupancy rate to more than 96 percent by the end of last year, the report said.

    “Technology, IT companies and flexible space operators continued to show signs of expansion, while tenants in services, finance and manufacturing continued to dominate leasing demand in the market.”

    Average rent was $23.6 per square meter per month, up 4 percent from the previous year.

    There was no new grade A supply last year and only one new grade A building will be added this year, the Lim Tower 3 in Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 1.

    In Hanoi, given the buoyant Grade A demand and limited premium supply, some buildings in the CBD with high occupancy rates continued to increase rents in the fourth quarter of 2018.

    Thai Square fronting two streets in the capital’s Hoan Kiem District, Tong Dan and Tran Quang Khai, is expected to come into the market in the first quarter of 2019, adding more than 25,000 sq.m to the inventory.

    By the end of 2019 some 153,000 sq.m of space is expected to be added in Hanoi, the report said.

    While the opportunities in office investment in the HCMC and Hanoi CBDs are obvious, Griffiths said foreign investors interested in them would find a lot of challenges.

    “The reality is that land in CBDs in HCMC and Hanoi have a great deal of domestic ownership.”

    He advised foreign investors to seek good long-term joint venture partnerships.

    “There are more and more domestic real estate companies listed on local bourses and they are very active in the property market. That gives an opportunity for greater liquidity and great foreign ownership. I think it’s pretty essential for foreign investors to have good joint venture partnerships with such firms.”

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  • Vietnam trade deficit could balloon to $3 billion

    Vietnam trade deficit could balloon to $3 billion

    Vietnam could face a trade deficit of $3 billion this year, after achieving the highest trade surplus in a decade in 2018. Export turnover in 2019 is expected to reach about $265 billion, down 17.4 percent from 2018. However, imports are expected to rise by 13.2 percent, reaching $268 billion, meaning a trade deficit of $3 billion, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has predicted.

    The volatility of trade policies of major economies like the U.S. and EU could hurt Vietnam’s exports this year, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong said at a recent review conference.

    Geopolitical tensions and monetary policies which were tightened earlier than expected in many economies are other challenges for Vietnam’s export sector this year, he added.

    Global agricultural supply this year is expected to rise as countries hike up production of own agriculture sectors to avoid reliance on imports, and competition for agricultural and seafood products is set to intensify.

    Meanwhile, imports are forecast to continue to grow in manufacturing sectors that rely on imported materials or machinery.

    “Trade protection looks to be on the rise, especially after the U.S. has raised tariffs on imports from other countries. The US-China trade war is also not showing signs of cooling down,” Vuong said.

    Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said at the conference that 2019 was going to be a more difficult year after 2018’s windfall.

    “We’ve hit very high targets last year, so going even higher is extremely difficult. In addition, world trade is unstable, U.S.-China trade relations have not returned to normal, and Brexit remains unfinished. These are difficult challenges for our industrial and agricultural sectors this year,” said Cuong.

    He suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade supports growth in the agricultural sector, using its influence on supply chain areas like marketing and distribution.

    Vietnam had an export surplus of $7.2 billion in 2018, three times higher than that of 2017 and the highest in the past decade.

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  • Indian rice prices slip as demand lags; Vietnam awaits major harvest

    Indian rice prices slip as demand lags; Vietnam awaits major harvest

    Rice export prices slipped in India as the rupee weakened and demand waned, prompting buyers to turn to other markets such as Vietnam. India’s 5 percent broken parboiled variety eased to $379-$384 per tonne this week from the $382-$387 range last week. “Demand is still weak due to higher prices,” said an exporter based in Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, adding that despite the fall, prevailing high rates were prompting buyers to look at other markets, such as Vietnam.

    The Indian rupee hit a month low on Thursday, increasing exporters’ margins from overseas sales and thereby prompting a reduction in prices.

    Export prices in India had shot up after the central state of Chhattisgarh, a leading rice producer, raised minimum paddy buying prices to 2,500 rupees per 100 kg from 1,750 rupees.

    In neighboring Bangladesh, an increase in domestic rates for rice could prompt the government to cut the import duty on the staple grain, traders said.

    The south Asian country, which emerged as a major importer of the grain in 2017 after floods destroyed crops, imposed a 28 percent duty in June last year to support its farmers after local production revived.

    In Vietnam, rates for 5 percent broken rice fell to $355-$360 a tonne from $370-$375 last week ahead of the country’s largest harvest, expected to begin in two weeks.

    “Indonesia’s state food procurement agency’s recent announcement that it may not import rice this year has also weighed on prices,” a Ho Chi Minh City-based source said.

    “We are negotiating a deal for around 10,000 tonnes to be delivered late February, and we are stuck at pricing. We’re asking for $360 and they are offering $345,” the trader said, adding that the shipment would be bound for Africa.”

    Another trader said China’s move to limit rice shipments from Vietnam may not be as bad as some traders initially feared.

    “It’s only the beginning of the year now and importing countries can change their import plans, especially when hit by natural disasters,” the trader said.

    In second biggest exporter Thailand, prices of the benchmark 5 percent broken variety widened to $385-$400, free on board Bangkok, from $390-$400 the previous week, mostly due to fluctuations in the value of the domestic currency.

    “Demand remains flat, but some exporters are starting to talk about possible orders from the Philippines,” a Bangkok-based trader said.

    The Thai market is likely to see additional supplies flowing in toward the end of this month, from the seasonal harvest, and this could in turn move prices, another trader in Bangkok said.

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  • Ikea to open Vietnam store with US$450 million investment

    Ikea to open Vietnam store with US$450 million investment

    Ikea Vietnam plans to invest US$450 million on a retail centre and warehouse system in Hanoi, according to a government official. Nguyen Duc Chung, chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee, told a recent conference held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade that the Swedish furniture giant’s local subsidiary is well advanced with plans to launch in the country.

    Once completed, the centre will be Ikea’s main supply hub for its Southeast Asian market.

    “At present, all parties involved are [in] the process of negotiation,” Chung added.
    The centre is expected to boost Ikea’s e-commerce business in the region.

    During an interview in 2017, Torbjorn Loof, chairman and CEO of Inter Ikea Holdings said the company was planning potential expansion in Vietnam “within five years”.

    Ikea is steadily expanding its Southeast Asian footprint, the latest largest store planned in Philippines.

    Founded in 1943, Ikea is the world’s largest furniture retailer with 400 stores in 49 countries all over the world.

    In recent years, Vietnam has been a potential hub for retailers to build warehouses. Last November, Lazada finished a 4000sqm warehouse in Danang.

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  • Shilla Vietnam to open hotel at Da Nang

    Shilla Vietnam to open hotel at Da Nang

    Hotel Shilla announced Tuesday that it will actively begin expanding its brand abroad this year, the first new location being a resort in Da Nang, Vietnam. “Starting with Da Nang, we hope to expand our brand to more than 10 overseas locations in Southeast Asia, United States and China,” the hotel company said in a statement. Hotel Shilla is Samsung’s hotel and duty-free business arm. The 46-year-old company currently operates The Shilla Seoul and The Shilla Jeju.

    It also runs 11 business hotels under its Shilla Stay name.

    The company said that it will expand overseas through hotel management agreements with local companies, a common structuring for hotel chains. This means the local partner will own the hotel building while Shilla will operate the business. For Shilla, this minimizes investment risks.

    Shilla’s new Da Nang hotel – slated to open this year under the brand-new Shilla Monogram name – will be a nine-floor building with 300 rooms. The hotel will be located on Non Nuoc Beach in Da Nang, a popular destination for Korean tourists.

    The hotel, still under construction, will feature an outdoor pool, restaurants and bars. Every room will be equipped with a balcony.

    Hotel Shilla also announced that it is preparing to open a 200-room premium business hotel in San Jose in Silicon Valley, California, under its Shilla Stay brand by 2021.

    “We hope to continue raising more revenues abroad by expanding our overseas hotel business,” said a Hotel Shilla spokesperson.

    Some 20 percent of the company’s total revenues today, or 1 trillion won ($892.5 million), come from abroad. Hotel Shilla operates several duty-free stores in domestic and foreign airports, including locations at three of Asia’s busiest airports: Singapore’s Changi Airport, Hong Kong International Airport and Incheon International Airport.

    Hotel Shilla has been operating Jinji Lake Shilla Hotel in Suzhou, China, since 2006. It was the first overseas hotel managed by the company.

    Following Tuesday’s announcement, Hotel Shilla’s stock prices closed at 76,100 won on Tuesday, 1.33 percent higher than Monday.

    As for upcoming domestic projects, Hotel Shilla is planning to open a hotel themed after hanok, or traditional Korean houses, by 2023 in central Seoul.

    If the company receives approval to build the new hotel from domestic land authorities, it will become the first to operate such a hotel in Seoul.

  • Japan offers most overseas jobs for Vietnamese workers

    Japan offers most overseas jobs for Vietnamese workers

    Japan is expected to receive more Vietnamese workers this year, having become the most attractive labor export market in 2018. Last year marked the first time Japan became the most popular destination for Vietnamese migrant workers with over 68,700 people finding jobs there, beating Taiwan with nearly 60,400 people and South Korea with over 6,500, according to statistics released by the Department of Overseas Labor.

    The department’s deputy director, Nguyen Gia Liem, said the Japanese market’s rise in popularity was due to the implementation of a new law that allows migrant workers to stay for five years instead of three.

    Furthermore, Vietnam was the first country to sign with Japan a memorandum of cooperation on the latter’s technical intern training program, which came into effect last June.

    In 2018, a total of 13 Vietnamese businesses were also licensed to directly bring Vietnamese citizens to Japan to work as caregivers. The long language and skill training required, however, limited the number of Vietnamese citizens taking this route last year.

    However, Liem asserted: “These establishments would help increase even further the number of Vietnamese laborers going to Japan.”

    Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Doan Mau Diep, has said the ministry will reduce the number of labor export firms. The move follows last October’s request by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that Vietnam shut down bad labor export agencies and reduce costs for people wanting to work abroad.

    “The country currently has 2,000 companies taking workers overseas, which is too many, causing companies to compete with each other for contracts, and they collect high fees,” Diep said.

    The ministry would also review current regulations on overseas students to prevent this system from being abused as many Vietnamese citizens wanting to work in Japan have been using student visas in recent years to reduce cost and time spent on language and skills training.

    Last year, Japanese authorities already reviewed and suspended multiple companies for taking Vietnamese workers to Japan under the guise of international students.

    Diep also warned that citizens wanting to work overseas need to use legal labor export firms and not use tourist visas, as happened in the recent infamous case in Taiwan.

    “If going on a worker’s visa the fees can be expensive, such as about VND80 million [$3,400] for Taiwan. The travel route meanwhile only costs flight tickets and visa fees so many still choose to travel then escape to work, but they will face many risks,” he said.

    A Vietnamese migrant worker can make $1,000 to $1,200 a month in Japan and South Korea, four times the average monthly salary in Vietnam, which was VND6.5 million ($290) last year.

    A total of over 142,800 Vietnamese laborers went to work overseas in 2018, a six percent increase compared to the previous year.

    With this number, which includes about 50,300 female workers, 2018 became the fifth consecutive year in which the number of Vietnamese working overseas exceeded 100,000 people.

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  • Investment in Vietnamese startups triples in 2018

    Investment in Vietnamese startups rose to $889 million in 2018, three times that of 2017. According to a report recently released by Topica Founder Institute (TFI), a startup accelerator program in Vietnam and Thailand run by Hanoi-headquartered multinational educational technology company Topica, 92 investment deals totalling $889 million were struck in 2018.

    Domestic funds invested over $500 million, over half of total investments in startups, director of TFI Mai Duy Quang said. “This means that domestic funds are paying more attention [to Vietnamese startups], and that there is an abundance of domestic capital available for startups right now.”

    Of these, the top 10 investments alone totaled $734 million, accounting for 83 percent of the total value of all investments in startups. The three biggest deals were made by Vietnamese multichannel media giant Yeah1 ($100 million), e-commerce company Sendo ($51 million) and tech education company Topica ($50 million).

    The five most profitable fields for startups were fintech, e-commerce, traveltech, logistics and edtech. Fintech returned to the top spot in investment volume in 2018 with 8 deals totaling $117 million.

    In second place was e-commerce, which saw just 5 deals worth around $104 million, down from 21 deals in 2017. Traveltech (technology services related to tourism) was an unexpected third, with 8 deals worth $64 million by online hotel booking service Vntrip, homestay platform Luxstay, cheap flight booker Atadi, and business to business travel network Vleisure.

    Logistics and edtech fields respectively attracted 3 and 4 deals worth a combined $50 million.

    “Vietnam is a vibrant startup market full of potential for breakthroughs if proper investments are made,” said Yinglan Tan, founder of Insignia Venture Partners.

    According to the TFI report, startups struck 92 investment deals in 2017, too, but the total investment capital was just $291 million.

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  • Vietnam seafood export remains red

    Vietnam seafood export remains red

    Agifish, a major seafood company, reported a second straight year of losses in 2018 as both exports and domestic sales fell. The recently released 2018 audited financial report of one of Vietnam’s 10 largest seafood export companies puts its loss at VND178 billion ($7.66 million). The An Giang Fisheries Import Export Joint Stock Company, to give its formal name, had lost VND190 billion ($8.2 million) a year earlier.

    The company said the loss came as sales downed 43 percent to VND1.29 trillion ($55.27 million) in 2018, due to lower fish exports and domestic sales as well as lower revenues from by-products.

    The poor performance last year caused auditors to raise doubts about the company’s ability to remain a going concern, but the management rejected this, saying it would increase domestic and export sales, adjust prices and reduce costs to return to the black in 2019.

    Agifish has total assets of VND1.23 trillion ($52.92 million) and debts of VND800 billion ($34.42 million).

    The Vietnamese seafood industry faced some challenges last year such as being subject to a “yellow card” warning by the European Commission for failing to demonstrate sufficient progress in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. There were also technical barriers and anti-dumping duties in several markets.

    Seafood export value rose 5.8 percent year-on-year in 2018 to reach $8.8 billion, according to the Vietnam Customs.

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  • VinFast announces seven new car models

    VinFast announces seven new car models

    VinFast, Vietnam’s first fully-fledged car manufacturer, plans to launch seven new ‘premium’ models. Following the first line of Lux (short for Luxury) automobiles aimed at the high-end segment, VinFast, a unit of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Vingroup, has announced it will launch a Pre (short for Premium) car line with the aim of tapping a larger customer base.

    The company has opened a polling page for customers to vote on the seven most popular models out of a potential 35.

    The seven Pre models will include a hatchback and a CUV (crossover SUV) for the A and B segments; one Sedan and CUV for the C segment; and 1 Sedan, 1 SUV and 1 family car for the D segment.

    VinFast will continue to work closely with the famous Italian studios, Ital Design, Torino Design, and Pininfarina on designing the new models.

    VinFast showed off its first two car models, a sedan and an SUV, at the Paris Motor Show in France last October just a year after its incorporation, grabbing the attention of the local and international media.

    VinFast’s first production models built under its own badge hit the streets in August 2019.

    According to the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, total car sales in the country topped 288,000 units in 2018, up 5.9 percent from around 272,000 units in 2017.

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  • Vietnam scraps plan to merge stock exchanges

    Vietnam scraps plan to merge stock exchanges

    The nation’s two bourses in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will continue to operate independently under a new state-owned company. Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) will operate independently under the Vietnam Stock Exchange, which will be set up by the Ministry of Finance by 2020. The new company, to be headquartered in Hanoi, will have a charter capital VND3 trillion ($129 million), on the basis of combining the charter capital of both exchanges.

    The Vietnam Stock Exchange will issue regulations on stock listings and trading, monitor the stock market and supervise the two bourses. This new plan indicates that Vietnam has given up on an earlier plan to merge the two exchanges, owing to disagreement over where the combined one would be located.

    HoSE accounts for 93 percent of the two main exchanges’ total market capitalization of about $131 billion as of December. It is the main market, where blue chips such as Vietnam’s biggest private conglomerate Vingroup, dairy company Vinamilk and budget carrier Vietjet Air are listed.

    HNX, on the other hand, is home to smaller and mid-sized enterprises, bonds and derivatives.

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  • Vietnam’s millionaire population growth among world’s fastest

    Vietnam’s millionaire population growth among world’s fastest

    Vietnam ranks fourth among the world’s top 10 countries with the fastest millionaire population growth, a new report says. The country’s High Net Worth (HNW) population is set to grow by 10.1 percent each year in the 2018-2023 period, says wealth research firm Wealth-X. This growth rate is only lower than Nigeria at 16.3 percent, Egypt, 12.5 percent and Bangladesh, 11.4 percent, says the report, which covered over 540,000 HNW individuals in the world.

    The report defines HNW population as those with a net worth between $1 million and $30 million. The world’s HNW population grew by 1.9 percent last year from 2017 to 22.4 million people with a combined wealth of $61.3 trillion.

    About 25 percent of the world’s HNW population were located in Asia last year, and their total wealth was $15.48 trillion.

    Although the region’s GDP went up 8 percent last year, its stock markets plunged by more than 11 percent, partly explaining why Asia’s HNW population and total wealth remained virtually unchanged from last year, the report said.

    It also said that the top 10 countries accounted for over 75.2 percent of the global HNW population and 73.8 percent of total HNW wealth last year.

    U.S. topped the list with over 8.6 million people, following by China with 1.8 million, Japan, 1.6 million and Germany over 1 million.

    In another report published last September, Wealth-X said that the number of ultra wealthy population, those with a net worth of over $30 million, has increased by 12.7 percent in Vietnam from 2012 to 2017, making it the third fastest growing country in the world in this category.

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  • Vietnam wants to excel in IT, telecom

    Vietnam wants to excel in IT, telecom

    Vietnam, which is in a lowly 108th place in the International Telecommunication Union’s ICT Development Index, wants to improve its status. Speaking at a Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) conference Tuesday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc emphasized the need for the country to improve its ranking in ICT, one of country’s strengths alongside agriculture and service.

    MoIC Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said the country must use the International Telecommunication Union’s rankings as a guideline and strive to improve to no lower than 50th latest by 2022.

    He stressed that to take the lead in the digital revolution, the country needs to popularize smartphones by licensing 4G and testing 5G technologies to increase capacity, data usage per user and the quality of the mobile network.

    “Vietnam must be on the same line with the world in new technologies. We will not be eight and 10 years behind like we were with 3G and 4G.”

    According to the minister, Vietnam’s development in telecommunications must remain sustainable by shifting resources to explore new markets once the phone market saturates instead of continuing to compete unhealthily on old markets.

    “Mobile money,” which the ministry is trialing now, allows users to transfer money and make purchases through their telecom accounts, and would help bring e-payment to everyone in the country and stimulate economic growth, he said.

    Digital transformation, e-governance and smart cities would be the big stories of 2019, he said.

    “National digital transformation, digital economy and digital society would be the overarching story for decades to come. We need to develop strategies and projects in 2019 to clarify what must be done for each field in the digital economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

    Speaking about cyber security and safety, he said the Internet, on which the country’s prosperity depends, is itself an unsafe environment.

    “In 2019 there will be no incidents of government agencies’ websites being hacked and having information stolen. Vietnam must become ASEAN’s center for cybersecurity.”

    Vietnam has an opportunity to become one of the world’s major manufacturers of electronic and telecom equipment, he said.

    Globally there are only four major telecom infrastructure and equipment manufacturers — Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei and ZTE – and while China’s Huawei and ZTE enjoy a market share of 60 percent, they are encountering difficulties with the U.S., he pointed out.

    “Vietnam is currently capable of manufacturing 70 percent of telecom equipment [used globally]. With effort, we could become the fourth nation in the world capable of manufacturing and exporting all types of telecom equipment. This must be achieved by 2019-2020.”

    “Vietnamese network operators must use Vietnamese-made equipment if the price and quality are similar.”

    The ministry has set a target of  20-30 percent of operators’ revenues coming from digital content this year instead of the current 6-8 percent, saying the digital content industry is capable of expanding by three or four times to achieve revenues of $3-4 billion.

    “The key to the digital content industry’s growth is that policies must promote it,” said the minister.

  • Amazon offers Vietnamese products route to global market

    Amazon offers Vietnamese products route to global market

    Amazon is collaborating with Vietnam’s trade ministry to sell the country’s products on its system globally. Vu Ba Phu, director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Promotion Agency, said while announcing news of the collaboration that the U.S. e-commerce company would help especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) develop their brands on its website.

    It would also train Vietnamese firms in e-commerce and selling on its system, he said. Vietnamese businesses would be able to reach over 300 million users of the world’s largest online retailer by participating in Amazon Global Selling, he added.

    Bernard Tay, Amazon’s regional director for Southeast Asia, said Vietnam is among the top countries in the region in terms of capability to export via Amazon.

    It has strengths in household products, textile, footwear, and handicrafts, items that sell well on Amazon, he said.

    Vietnamese firms need to make products adopted to global trends and improve their English and branding skills, Tay added.

    Phu said Vietnamese SMEs would have to meet the high standards in many markets.

    “Big markets like the E.U., U.S. and Japan all have strict regulations on product quality and origin, and Vietnamese exports will have to comply with them.”

    Last year Amazon had organized a number of training programs for Vietnamese SMEs on how to sell on its system.

    Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba is also interested in Vietnamese sellers. It started looking for sellers on its AliExpress website last July, saying it wanted to enable them to reach over 200 markets around the world.

    Vietnam’s e-commerce market grew by 25 percent in 2017, according to the Vietnam E-commerce Association (VECOM), which expects this rate to continue until 2020.

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  • Hanoi, HCMC hotel rooms getting expensive

    Hanoi, HCMC hotel rooms getting expensive

    Hotel room rates in Hanoi and HCMC, at around $110 a night, are the second most expensive in Southeast Asia behind only Singapore. Real estate services firm CBRE Vietnam said at a recent conference that the performance of the four- and five-star hotel segments was very strong in 2018 due to limited supply but constantly increasing demand.

    By the end of the year the average rent in this segment reached $112.6 in Hanoi and $114.1 in HCMC. High-end rooms in Hanoi number 7,770, of which two thirds are in the five-star category, and their average occupancy rate last year was 78.4 percent.

    Most of them are concentrated in the downtown area and Ba Dinh, a central district where most government offices and embassies are located.

    CBRE said in recent years sharing economy models like AirBnB have been trending, with AirBnB supply in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City topping 24,000 units compared to 17,500 four- to five-star hotel rooms.

    “However, despite the rapid growth of this model, room-sharing has not a clear impact on business in the four-five-star segment.”

    As of 2017 there were 118 five-star hotels/resorts in Vietnam, almost twice the number in 2013.

    They had an occupancy rate of over 75 percent, 5 percentage points up from 2016, according to global consulting firm Grant Thornton.

    Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) statistics show an upsurge in the number of foreign visitors to Vietnam in the last few years. Last year 15.5 million came to the country, a 20 percent rise from 2017.

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  • Vietnam’s top five brands increase value by $2.3 billion

    Vietnam’s top five brands increase value by $2.3 billion

    Vietnam’s five most valuable brands were worth a combined $8.1 billion in 2018, up $2.3 billion or 39 percent against 2017, Brand Finance estimated. The most valuable brand was military-owned mobile network Viettel at $2.8 billion last year, up 9 percent from $2.57 billion 2017, said the UK brand valuation company. The 47th most valuable telecom brand in the world has operations in Laos, Cambodia, Haiti, Mozambique and Peru.

    In second place was Vinamilk, the country’s largest dairy company by far, which was worth $1.9 billion, up 39 percent. State-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) was in third place after increasing its brand value by 84 percent to $1.34 billion.

    In fourth and fifth places were Vinhomes, the real estate subsidiary of Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate Vingroup, and Sabeco, Vietnam’s biggest brewer, at $1.18 billion and $950 million respectively.

    Samir Dixit, CEO, Asia-Pacific of Brand Finance, said: “Branding is the most critical asset of every business. It is difficult to predict the performance and behavior of customers, but the only thing that remains a constant is the brand.”

    Brand Finance’s valuation criteria uses several metrics. The value accorded to each brand is a summary of its financial strength. Each brand also gets a brand rating, which indicates its strength, risk and future potential relative to its competitors.

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