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Tag: Vietnam

  • Vietjet Sends Aid to Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Indonesia

    Vietjet Sends Aid to Earthquake and Tsunami Victims in Indonesia

    In response to the devastating events that hit Indonesia recently, Vietjet kicked into action to provide aid relief for the earthquake and tsunami affected victims. A special flight VJ2611 themed “Love connection” landed in Jakarta (Indonesia) yesterday carrying nearly 7 tons of relief aid which included canned foods, blankets and basic necessities.

    The flight not only transported Vietjet’s relief cargo, but also symbolised the love and empathy of Vietnamese people towards those affected by the recent events.

    This was an emergency response initiative conducted by Vietjet within the span of three days, in which the airline’s leaders and employees sought to quickly organise the flight, handle technical preparations, complete the flight permit, as well as launch a voluntary donation campaign throughout the airline to make the flight possible.

    On the evening of 28 September, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Sulawesi, triggering dozens of aftershocks and a tsunami that devastated the coastal areas of Palu and Donggala. Authorities estimated at least 1,300 people were killed and the death toll is expected to rise. Around 16,700 people have been displaced and 2.4 million people are in need of humanitarian aid.

    In 2013, Vietjet operated two flights which transported relief cargo as well as brought Vietnamese victims home safely after super typhoon Haiyan destroyed many cities in the Philippines. The airline also organized many relief flights to Vietnam’s central region after the floods, and initiated a “Spread the Love” campaign offering free flights to bring underprivileged people home to celebrate the Lunar New Year holidays.

    Volunteering and charity work has become a part of Vietjet’s DNA and corporate culture as the airline continues to share the love and support disaster-hit victims and underprivileged people.

  • Crown celebrates 40 years of its operational anniversary

    Crown celebrates 40 years of its operational anniversary

    Crown Equipment Corporation, one of the world’s largest material handling companies, is celebrating 40 years as a leading provider in the Asian market. With the region rapidly rising to become a manufacturing and logistics powerhouse, Crown is helping its customers manage market demands and meet industry challenges through its flexible product range and innovative, customised solutions.

    Pallet management is one of the major issues for emerging distribution companies and small to medium-sized enterprises lacking the knowledge to deal with the challenge. Within Asia, the two most popular pallet sizes are the square 1,100mm x 1,100mm pallet and the 1,200mm x 1,000mm pallet. The U.S., Europe, and Australia, however, use different International Organization for Standardization (ISO) approved pallet sizes, and these diverse pallet types can create challenging problems if not handled correctly.

    Crown’s global approach to research, design, engineering and manufacturing means that it produces a range of lift trucks that offer the best fit to the pallets relevant to the warehouse facilities in multiple regions globally. While the company builds a range of lift trucks to cover all aspects of material handling work, from the dock to the top space of a high bay rack, Crown also customises its standard designs to help solve specific problems, such as modifying the width and position of the legs so that it would work effectively according to the required pallet size.

    With a focus on providing end-to-end material handling solutions, Crown can also identify other areas of the warehouse that can add efficiency when dealing with a range of pallet sizes. Crown consultation includes a detailed review of customers’ operations to help decide the most appropriate material handling equipment and provide inputs to improve productivity, such as enhancing warehouse design and safety culture.

    “When you work with Crown, you are working with people in possession of great product knowledge and a thorough understanding of warehouse supply chain requirements. Knowledge is a major factor that separates Crown from the competition in the Asia Pacific region and the ability to provide customers with an end to end total material handling solution partnership,” said Steven Hill, the Managing Director of Crown Equipment for Southeast Asia.

    Crown set up operations in Southeast Asia in 1978 with the Southeast Asia regional headquarters now located in Singapore. The Asia Pacific region is serviced through an extensive retail branch network, which includes locations across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and China.

    Crown has recently launched in a number of new locations with branches in the growth hubs of Johor, Malaysia; Rayong, Thailand; Clark, the Philippines; Incheon, South Korea; and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

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  • Vietnam’s FastGo app looks to speed across borders

    Vietnam’s FastGo app looks to speed across borders

    FastGo CEO Nguyen Huu Tuat told on Friday that the app will have its own payment system and will “personalize” promotion deals that will match customers’ interests.

    “Our goal is to reach 30 percent of the market share after six months in these two countries,” he said.

    Explaining the choice of these two countries for the company’s first overseas expansion, Tuat said he wanted to start with the easiest neighboring countries to tap.

    “After looking at their national policies as well as the market’s current competitiveness, we believe that Indonesia and Myanmar would be the perfect destinations,” he said.

    “We also have strategic partners, networks and business strategies for us to be successful in these countries.”

    The company is in the process of hiring staff and renting facilities.

    After launching in Hanoi on June 12, the app is now available in Da Nang and Saigon.

    FastGo last month said it has 15,000 taxi and motorbike partner drivers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but they are still not a common sight on the streets, unlike the ubiquitous red and green uniforms of Go-Viet and Grab drivers.

    Tuat said he wants FastGo to become one of Southeast Asia’s top 3 ride-hailing apps in the future.

    The company hopes to make its service available in 20 cities in Vietnam and five other Southeast Asian markets, including the Philippines, Cambodia and Thailand, by the end of next year.

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  • Hanoi preparation plan for SEA Games 2021

    Hanoi preparation plan for SEA Games 2021

    Hanoi plans to upgrade the Hang Day stadium into an international sports complex for the SEA Games 2021.

    Capital city authorities have outlined this plan in a recent report to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, saying the upgrade is required because the condition of Hang Day stadium on Trinh Hoai Duc Street has severely deteriorated in recent years.

    The new complex would cost over VND6.3 trillion ($270.4 million), with funds raised from investors who operate the stadium for 50 years, the report said.

    The sports complex will be built on an area of 32,000 square meters, expanding the current area of 22,000 square meters.

    A deal for the upgrade was signed in March by domestic private firm T&T Group which manages the stadium, and French firm Bouygues Construction.

    The headquarters of the city’s Department of Planning and Investment nearby will be moved to another location to make space for the new complex.

    It will be the second international sports complex in Hanoi, after the My Dinh stadium in Nam Tu Liem District.The new stadium will have a capacity of 20,000 people, with several additional facilities including cinemas, event centers, parking basements and convenience stores.

    The Hang Day stadium is a multi-purpose facility which was first established for Hanoi’s École d’Education Physique (Hanoi’s School of Physical Education) in 1934. It was later expanded in 1958.

    In 2017, it was placed under the management of T&T Group, a corporation involved in finance, real estate and agriculture sectors.

    Hanoi will host the 31st edition of the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), which is scheduled to last 17 days, as well as the Para Games, for 11 days, from October to December in 2021.

    A total of 16,000 people are estimated to participate in the event, 11,000 of them athletes.

    This is the second time that Vietnam will be hosting the SEA Games after the first instance in 2003.

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  • Men more into beauty products online than women in Vietnam

    Men more into beauty products online than women in Vietnam

    The survey, conducted by Ho Chi Minh City-based market research firm DecisionLab, found that in the preceding three months, 58 percent of the male respondents said they had purchased beauty products online, compared to 49 percent of women.

    The survey polled more than 1,900 people.

    More men also bought clothing, footwear, cooking ingredients, mobile phones, home appliances and long distance travel packages online last year.

    The research also found variation across categories depending on where the pre-shopping research was conducted.

    Online research was mostly done for big ticket items like mobile phones, home appliances, hotel stays, cinema tickets, travel, insurance and beauty products.

    For non-durables like food and beverages, people chose to shop offline.

    In the use of mobile devices to shop online, Facebook was the most popular gateway in Vietnam, especially for clothes and beauty products, the survey found.

    The World Bank has forecast that Vietnam’s $200-billion economy is likely to grow to a trillion dollars by 2035.

    More than half of its population, compared to only 11 percent today, is expected to join the ranks of the global middle class with consumption of $15 a day or more.

    Across the country, the ratio of people using smartphones among mobile phone subscribers reached 84 percent in 2017, up from 78 percent the previous year, according to the 2017 Nielsen Vietnam Smartphone Insights Report.

    Online sales in Vietnam have expanded rapidly in recent years, currently accounting for 3.39 percent of the country’s retail market. The total retail market grew 10.9 percent last year to $173.27 billion, local media reports said.

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  • Airbnb looms as major threat to HCMC hotels

    Airbnb looms as major threat to HCMC hotels

    Hotel and serviced apartment tariffs outside the city center are leveling off and on the brink of declining as a result of competition from apartments leased on Airbnb and others.

    CBRE’s senior director, Duong Thuy Dung, said since 2016 a total of nearly 100,000 apartments have been built and sold in Saigon, and a large proportion of them are on Airbnb.

    So far this year only 43 new properties have hit the HCMC serviced apartment market. This low number was because investors had to consider reducing supply to avoid the competition from short-term lease apartments, Dung explained.

    Nevertheless, grade A serviced apartments in the downtown area saw high occupancy rates thanks to their superior location and inherent differences in brand and utility, she said.

    But grade B and C serviced apartments are under pressure, as are hotels.

    CBRE study, released in September, showed demand for three-star hotels have been gradually falling because of growth of Airbnb in both HCMC and Hanoi.

    Airbnb, launched in 2008, has over five million registered rental properties in 191 countries, while the 10 largest hotel chains in the world only have 6.1 million rooms.

    As of August this year Hanoi and HCMC had 21,994 properties on Airbnb. The average rental is around $36 per room per night in Hanoi and $44 in HCMC, making them very competitive.

    CBRE concluded that with their rapid expansion in the Vietnamese market, short-term room rental services are now a direct competitor to three-star hotels due to the similarity in their prices.

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  • Vietnam’s U18 liquor sales ban impractical

    Vietnam’s U18 liquor sales ban impractical

    They are also saying that an emphasis on education and raising awareness will have greater impact in dealing with the problem of liquor abuse.

    A draft bill on the prevention of dangers of alcohol being compiled by the Ministry of Health proposes a number of prohibitions, including: promotion in any manner of liquor with alcohol content of 15 degrees or above; usage of positive phrases like “medicinal alcohol”, “nutritious alcohol” on product labels; advertising of alcohol during television prime time (6-9 p.m.); sale of alcohol to persons under 18; and sale of alcohol on the internet.

    Kieu Anh Vu of law firm KAV Lawyers said it was very necessary to bring legal measures against the dangers of alcohol, because the harm it was causing was indisputable.

    Vu said he supported the draft bill’s ban on alcohol consumption by government officials, civil servants, and employees during working hours or between shifts during the working day; by operators of motorized vehicles; and by people under 18.

    “These regulations are appropriate to ensure social order, safety and health of the community,” he said.

    However, Vu was concerned about how age checks would be carried out. “Will vendors have the right to check people’s age by looking at their identity cards, or just by asking questions?”

    Psychologist Nguyen An Chat, on the same page as Vu, also questioned how alcohol sellers could correctly verify the age of each individual.

    “Some 15 year olds look very mature while some 20 year olds can look underage. Would everyone wishing to purchase alcohol have to produce identity documents?” he wondered.

    An online right?

    Lawyer Vu Tien Vinh, director of Bao An Law Firm, said: “Buying alcohol over the Internet is more convenient than going to shops or supermarkets. If online sale is prohibited, people can and will continue to buy alcohol through traditional channels.

    Vinh said that in reality, it was too easy for buyers to obtain alcohol via traditional channels such as supermarkets and other dealers. When consumers can buy alcohol anytime, anywhere, the ban on online sales will not have much of an impact on its consumption, he said.

    “Detecting online transactions on the sale of alcohol to punish with fines is very difficult. It will not be hard for consumers to get around this regulation,” Vinh added.

    Sociologist Trinh Hoa Binh concurred, saying identification of illegal alcohol sales online was very hard to do.

    “Internet sales are the current trend. Will the prohibition of selling alcohol online go against this?” asked psychologist researcher Nguyen An Chat.

    Given the implementation difficulties, Binh proposed that instead of prohibitive regulations, authorities should instead start with education, build a set of cultural values for the modern Vietnamese society that discourages alcohol abuse.

    Chat supported this. He said education should begin at home and continue in schools so that each person was aware of the danger of drinking, so that people would exercise restraint and control their consumption.

    Psychologist Khuat Thu Hong said many countries have faced difficulties in implementing regulations prohibiting or restricting the sale/use of alcohol, but over time, strict compliance has become the norm.

    “In Vietnam, for these regulations to be implemented well, close monitoring and regular communication on the harms of alcohol will be essential for the people to understand and co-operate,” said Hong.

    In Vietnam, about 800 deaths per year are related to the use of alcohol, including beer. Almost 30 percent of social order disruption cases are also related to alcohol consumption.

    In 2017, Vietnamese people spent close to $4 billion on alcohol. The cost of dealing with alcohol-related traffic accidents was  estimated at about one percent of the GDP the same year.

    The alcohol industry contributes about VND50 trillion ($2.17 billion) to the state budget a year and provides about 220,000 jobs directly or indirectly.

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  • Experts blame high licensing fees for piracy in Vietnam

    Experts blame high licensing fees for piracy in Vietnam

    Speaking at a conference held in Hanoi on Wednesday, Lee Dogoo, head of business at South Korean firm SBS Contents Hub, said while infringements occur in all countries, they are rife in Vietnam because of high licensing fees.

    As these fees continue to go up, the pirate broadcast market also continues to grow, he said.

    Vu Thi Huong Lan, head of the Hanoi Law University’s international law faculty, voiced agreement saying high fees charged by copyright holders are deterring viewers from watching licit content.

    Referring to the recent Asian Games (Asiad), she said the owner of the event’s broadcasting rights had demanded such a huge price for broadcasting rights in Vietnam that no Vietnamese broadcaster was able to afford it.

    This in turn forced Vietnamese fans to seek out previously unknown pirate sites that illegally broadcast the event live, she said.

    “While I do not support this, I believe the copyright holders clearly should reconsider [the price].”

    Nguyen Quang Dong of the Institute for Policy Research and Communication Development said the rising trend of watching sports on the Internet in Vietnam contributes to the increase in copyright infringements.

    According to data released by Global Web Index, the percentage of people watching sports on the Internet globally was 15 percent in 2016 and 19 percent now. But in Vietnam it was 27 percent in 2016 and 32 percent now.

    Citing data about the five largest illegal sports broadcasting websites, Dong said they only had 11.1 million views last March but this number jumped to 25.4 million in June during the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

    This trend also explains why Facebook recently acquired the rights to broadcast the English Premier League in several Asian countries including Vietnam, he pointed out.

    Nguyen Thanh Van, head of Vietnam Television’s (VTV) Intellectual Property Unit, said the national broadcaster is also suffering badly from copyright infringements.

    Many units have been found broadcasting VTV programs or making DVDs of them for sale without permission, including programs for which it had to pay large amounts of money to produce or obtain broadcasting rights.

    “For instance, in just the first month of us broadcasting the TV shows ‘Nguoi phan xu’ [The Arbitrator] and ‘Song chung voi me chong’ [Living with Mother-in-Law], over 400 Facebook pages and YouTube channels violated our copyrights. As for the 2018 World Cup, in just the first two days there were 700 [pirate] accounts.”

    A representative of pay TV firm K+, lamenting that copyright infringements are occurring every hour in the digital environment, said there is still no effective tool to combat them on all platforms.

    K+ has tried requesting violators to remove pirated content many times, but this has not worked, and his company was bleeding financially, he said.

    K+, which has the Vietnam broadcasting rights to many major sports events such as the English Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and Europa League and tennis’ ATP World Tour, has also been investing in upgrading its systems and training employees to monitor, detect, prevent, and handle copyright violations.

    But these efforts would not be enough to combat piracy without cooperation from consumers and assistance from the authorities, the representative said.

    However, the most important reason for pirates dominating Vietnam’s broad market is a lack of effective law enforcement. According to local authorities, websites found violating copyright laws would be punished and banned. However, many illegal websites have opened and operated without interference from the authorities.

    National broadcaster VTV said it had found more than 700 sites and Facebook pages that broadcast World Cup matches without permission within just three days after the event started and dealt with nearly half of them.

    According to experts, many of the sites are registered overseas, so it is difficult for Vietnamese authorities to find and penalize the culprits. It can be seen from the case of xoilac.tv, a site registered in the U.S., which had been illegally broadcasting live matches from the Asiad with Vietnamese commentary last month.

    The Institute for Policy Research and Communication Development proposed that Vietnam should allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block pirate websites, remove content that violate copyright and prevent violators from receiving money from advertisers.

    It also suggested that broadcasters associations could publicize the list of pirate websites and circulate it among advertisers.

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  • Vietnam to hike power prices in 2019

    Vietnam to hike power prices in 2019

    Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said Friday that national utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) might need to cover an incurred cost of VND20.73 trillion ($892.18 million) between 2018 and 2019.

    This include incurred costs of VND5.48 trillion ($235.92 million) this year and projected costs of VND15.25 trillion ($668 million) next year, Hai said.

    Incurred cost this year includes exchange rate differences in 2017 of VND3.07 trillion ($132.13 million), payment for water resources exploitation, VND502 billion ($21.6 million) and higher gas prices VND1.91 billion ($82.18 million).

    Projected incurred costs next year are based on exchange rate differences this year of VND3.51 trillion ($151.28 million), exchange rate differences 2015 scheduled to be paid next year, VND734 billion ($31.58 million), payment for water resources exploitation, VND502 billion ($21.6 million), and increase in gas costs, VND10.5 trillion ($451.79 million).

    Hai said EVN would review its electricity production costs last year in collaboration with government bodies to see if it was lower than current prices and would report to authorities for directions on adjusting next year’s prices.

    In July, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc had banned any increase in electricity prices and medical fees for the rest of the year, aiming to keep the inflation rate below 4 percent and achieve a GDP growth of 6.7 percent in 2018.

    Inflation was at 3.57 percent in the first nine months of this year.

    The most recent power price increase in Vietnam was last December, when it rose 6.08 percent to VND1,720.65 (currently 7.4 cents) per kWh.

    EVN had a revenue of VND293.18 trillion ($12.61 billion) last year, with VND289.25 ($12.44 billion) from electricity sales, an increase of 8.94 percent from the previous year.

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  • Vietjet signs $1.24 bln financing deal for new Airbus planes

    Vietjet signs $1.24 bln financing deal for new Airbus planes

    Vietjet signed a financing agreement with Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance Company Ltd and France-based BNP Paribas Bank to finance the carrier’s acquisition of up to five new aircraft worth $614 million at list price, it said in a statement.

    Vietjet also signed a memorandum of understanding valued at $625 million for financing and future ownership of five other aircraft at list prices with France-based banking group Natixis and some Japanese equity underwriters, it said.

    The acquisition of the aircraft is part of a contract signed earlier with Airbus and includes A321neo aircraft, Vietjet said, adding all aircraft financed on Wednesday will be delivered in the last quarter of 2018 or early next year.

    “These deals will greatly contribute to Vietjet’s plan for fleet expansion and network growth in the coming time,” said Vietjet Vice President Dinh Viet Phuong.

    In July, Vietjet placed provisional order to buy 50 A321neo Airbus aircraft worth $6.5 billion at list prices while it also struck a deal for 100 Boeing passenger jets worth almost $13 billion at list prices.

    Vietjet, Vietnam’s biggest private airline, currently operates 60 Airbus aircraft with more than 385 flights daily within Vietnam and to countries such as Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, China, Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia.

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  • Vietnamese banks expect profits to rise

    Vietnamese banks expect profits to rise

    A newly-released central bank survey on business trends among Vietnamese banks found 72.6 percent saying their business situation had improved from the second quarter, with 15.8 percent reporting significant improvement.

    The survey, which was conducted in September, showed that over half, 56.8 percent, of the banks surveyed said that they have hired more staff in the third quarter, higher than the 46 percent in the second quarter.

    But 26.6 percent of them said they still need more staff and 61.5 percent planned to hire more people in the last quarter.

    The banks project lending to grow the most, followed by payments and deposits.

    Over 88 percent expect profits before tax to grow 18.6 percent on average from last year, higher than last year’s expectations of 13.6 percent.

    They expect capital mobilization on average will grow by 5.8 percent in the last quarter and 15.3 percent for the whole year, higher than last year’s 14.9 percent.

    The banks also forecast their outstanding loans to grow by 4.5 percent in the last quarter this year and by 15.2 percent for the whole year thanks to a stable mobilization interest rate.

    Vietnam has nine wholly-owned foreign banks, four state-owned banks and 31 joint-stock banks.

    The country’s credit growth in the first nine months of this year was 9.52 percent, lower than the 11.02 percent of the same period last year.

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  • 3rd generation of Vietnam’s Bphone unveiled

    3rd generation of Vietnam’s Bphone unveiled

    Vietnam’s cyber security firm BKAV unveiled the third generation of its Bphone on Wednesday without a home button, pricing it from $300. It requires users to navigate to the home screen and apps by using hand gestures just like in Apple’s iPhone X.

    It comes in two versions, Bphone 3 and Bphone 3 Pro, and they have a six-inch 18:9 HD screen, Android 8.1 and a Snapdragon Qualcomm 636 chip, giving them twice the performance of the previous version, Bphone 2, according to BKAV. Company staff demonstrated this by playing the mobile game PUBG on the phones at the release event in Hanoi.

    The battery lasts 1.5 days and can be charged to 80 percent in 35 minutes with Quick Charge 3.0 technology at three times the average charging speed, the firm claimed.

    It is the first phone in the price range with IP68 waterproof rating, meaning it could be immersed in 1.5 meters of water for half an hour without a problem, BKAV stated. Vu Thanh Thang, Bphone vice chairman, said the phone would survive coffee spills and can even be washed with soap.

    Ninety percent of the phones’ parts are sourced from U.S. and Japanese suppliers, he added.

    It filters out all spam messages and phone calls, the company said. Bphone 3 comes with 3GB ram, 32GB storage and a microSD slot, while Bphone 3 Pro has 4GB and 64GB.Bphone 3 also has a new feature that allows people losing it to find it even when it is factory reset, not connected to the Internet or lacks a sim card.

    Bphone 3 is priced at VND6.99 million ($300), and the Pro version at 9.99 million ($430).

    Customers can start pre-ordering today, and shipping will begin October 19.

    Bphone 3 will be the only Vietnamese competitor in the Vietnamese mid-range phone market which is dominated with Korea’s Samsung, China’s Oppo and Huawei. Other popular phones in the same price range are the Huawei Nova 3i ($300), Galaxy A7 2018 ($330) and Oppo F9 ($330).

    BKAV produces antivirus software and provides cybersecurity solutions. Last year, the firm demonstrated in a Youtube video that it was able to fool Apple’s Face ID with a mask made with a 3D printer.

    The firm debuted the Bphone in May 2015. While initially warmly welcomed, the phone’s launch was disappointing to many buyers as it was only available online and the company had to delay delivery four times.

    The phone also caused controversy because despite being Vietnamese-made, 30 percent of the phone was manufactured by a Chinese firm.

    Bphone 2 was introduced last year, and 12,000 units have been sold, according to BKAV.

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  • Malaysia’s Parkson may close fifth Vietnam mall

    Malaysia’s Parkson may close fifth Vietnam mall

    Malaysia’s Parkson is apparently shutting down its fifth mall in Vietnam after suffering serious losses in recent years. Although the company has not made any official announcement, its name-board has been taken down from the Cantavil An Phu builing in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2.

    If it shuts down, it would be the second outlet in HCMC that the company is downing the shutters on this year, following Parkson Flemington in District 11, and would bring the number of Parkson stores in Vietnam down to five, of which three are in HCMC, one in northern Hai Phong City and one in central Da Nang City.

    Previously, the firm had shut down its two outlets in Hanoi.

    Parkson, the first international mall to open in HCMC, has been reporting losses in recent years. Among its four markets – Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam, the last mentioned has been the worst performer in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year ending June 30, according to a report by Parkson Retail Asia.

    Vietnam had a negative growth of -14.6 percent in the fourth quarter and -8.3 percent in the fiscal year ending June 30 this year, it said.

    “The operating environment in Vietnam remains challenging amidst a crowded retail scene, wherein intensive promotional activities had to be carried out to capture sales,” the report said.

    Vu Vinh Phu, former chairman of the Hanoi Supermarket Association, said that Parkson was able to operate well when it first came to Vietnam more than 10 years ago as the number of competing malls then in the country was low.

    But market has become much more competitive now, with many new malls offering more than just a shopping experience, making them a place for entertainment and food, Phu told local media.

    Even though Parkson is one of the earliest comers, without a change in strategy, it will have to leave Vietnam sooner or later, he added.

    Parkson, a premium retail group from Malaysia, entered Vietnam in 2005 and developed a premium shopping mall chain in the big cities of HCMC, Hanoi, Hai Phong and Da Nang.

    It was touted as one of the highest-potential players in the retail market, planning to open 2-3 malls a year in Vietnam’s big cities.

    The entrance of other foreign companies like Thailand’s Central Group, South Korea’s Lotte and Japan’s Aeon as well as Vietnamese firms like Vingroup, Bitexco and Sun Group has changed things.

    Japanese retailer Aeon owns a mall in Hanoi’s Long Bien District and has another one in Ha Dong District under construction. It is planning other malls in Hai Phong and HCMC.

    Vietnam’s Sun Group opened the Sun Plaza mall in April and is building another one in Hanoi.

    Vietnam was one of 30 countries with the most vibrant retail market in the world, with retail sales of $129 billion last year, an 11 percent growth over the previous year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

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  • Bamboo Airways postpones maiden flight

    Bamboo Airways postpones maiden flight

    The carrier, owned by Vietnamese private firm FLC Group, is yet to receive its license. The delay in getting its license meant that the airline also missed out on its plans to start selling tickets from September 2.

    A Ministry of Transport official, who declined to be named, told Monday that the licensing procedures for the airline have not been completed. An official of Vietnam Aviation Authority also confirmed that the flight permit could not be granted on time to the airline.

    The transport ministry had asked the Prime Minister to allow it to issue an air transportation business license to Bamboo Airways in late August. However, the ministry is yet to receive an official reply.

    No one elaborated on the reason for the delay. An FLC Group spokesperson told that the airline’s first flight will be moved to the end of the fourth quarter of this year.

    “We have to rearrange the original plan. However, Bamboo Airways’ business strategy and pre-designated flight network will not be affected by this adjustment,” the spokesperson said.

    Bamboo Airways’ general director Dang Tat Thang said the airline is currently in the process of finalizing its airfreight business license.

    This is the final legal basis for the company to officially enter the market.

    Thang said that all preparations for the first scheduled flight for the fourth quarter had been completed.

    Bamboo Airlines will become Vietnam’s fifth airline when it becomes operational.

    The other four airlines are flag carrier Vietnam Airlines; budget operator Jetstar Pacific Airlines, which is partly owned by Vietnam Airlines; budget carrier Vietjet Aviation and Vietnam Air Services Co.

    Hanoi-based FLC, whose main businesses include housing, resorts and golfing, had said it planned to operate international and domestic flights to tourist spots in Vietnam, including where FLC has major properties.

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  • Vinfast, set to be Vietnam’s first domestic carmaker, gains credit line

    Vinfast, set to be Vietnam’s first domestic carmaker, gains credit line

    VinFast aims to become Vietnam’s first domestic car manufacturer.

    The company, a unit of Vietnam’s largest conglomerate Vingroup JSC, plans to have its first production models built under its own badge hit the streets next August. Vingroup has earmarked about $3.5 billion for the project.

    Credit Suisse AG and HSBC were the lead arrangers and the financing agreement was guaranteed by German export credit agency Euler Hermes, Vingroup and Vinfast said in a statement.

    The statement also said that in August Vinfast completed syndication of a $400 million term loan facility led by four international banks.

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