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Tag: Vietnam

  • Vietjet announces three new aircraft and more international routes

    Vietjet announces three new aircraft and more international routes

    Vietjet reported continuous growth in its business performance in May with the addition of three new aircraft to its new generation fleet, the launch of new international routes and increased frequencies of international flights to meet the increasing travel demand of domestic passengers in the high season.

    In May, Vietjet launched the Da Nang – Seoul route; opened sales for Hanoi – Yangon route, which is expected to operate as of August 31, 2017. Besides, Vietjet increased the frequencies of Hanoi – Taipei route to 11 return flights/ week from July 21, 2017 and Hanoi – Seoul route to 14 return flights/ week from August 2, 2017.

    Along with the series of new route launches, Vietjet maintained its high load factor, with a rate of over 88%. In the first 5 months of 2017, Vietjet operated nearly 39,100 safe flights, transported more than 6.5 million passengers, an increase of 29% as compared to the same period of 2016. In May, it carried over 1.5 million passengers

    Up to the end of May, Vietjet had its own channel for online ticket distribution and consumer services with 21,378 offline sales points, an increase by 2,803 points compared to that by December 31,2016.

    With this result, the revenue from airline operation of Vietjet in May approximately stood at VND8,352 billion (around USD3.6 billion), an increase of 44% compared to the same period of the preceding year and exceeding the budget forecast by 9%.

    On the international scene, on the visit of the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc to the US in late May, Vietjet signed agreements with CFM International, GECAS and Honeywell Aviation, worth a total of USD 4.7 billion.

    Later, in Tokyo, Vietjet and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance (MUL), a member of Japan’s leading finance group Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), signed a strategic agreement, which would pave the way for MUL to finance Vietjet’s acquisition of three brand new A321 aircraft, worth US$348 million.

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  • Vietnam to continue fuel import

    Vietnam to continue fuel import

    According to a report issued June 26  by Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company (BSR), the operator of the US$3-billion Dung Quat Oil Refinery in Quang Ngai Province, the country is projected to consume 6.5 million tons of gasoline and 8.5 million tons of DO from 2018 to 2022.

    Meanwhile, Dung Quat and another oil refinery, Nghi Son, can supply nearly six million tons of petrol and seven million tons of DO from 2018, representing 92% and 82% of domestic demand respectively.

    The shortfall would be offset by fuel imports from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and China.

    Nghi Son Oil Refinery in Thanh Hoa Province will be put into operation next year with an annual processing capacity of 10 million tons of crude oil. It is expected to supply 8.8 million tons of fuels, including about 2.3 million tons of petrol and 3.7 million tons of DO, meeting 40% of local needs.

    Condensate processing plants such as PVOIL Phu My, Saigon Petro, Nam Viet Oil and Dong Phuong have a combined annual capacity of 690,000 tons of gasoline.

    Since its debut seven years ago, Dung Quat has sold over 47 million tons of fuels with total revenue amounting to more than US$36 billion and profit reaching over VND13 trillion (US$0.57 billion) by the end of the first quarter of 2017.

    BSR has paid over US$7 billion in taxes to the State.

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  • Vietnam’s employers, unions fight again over wage increase

    Vietnam’s employers, unions fight again over wage increase

    Discussions for the annual wage increase have started, and as expected, the business group at the table, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, has come in with a relatively low offer of 5 percent for 2018.

    That would be down from the 7.3 percent hike earlier this year and much lower than the preferred 13.3 percent bump wanted by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor, which speaks for unions across the country.

    The business chamber, better known as VCCI, argued that businesses are facing harsh competition and many have to scale down their operations.

    But the labor confederation said a 5 percent increase would be just enough to offset inflation. Consumer prices rose 4.74 percent last year, according to official data.

    “Despite annual increases, the current minimum wages are not enough to pay for workers’ basic demands,” a spokesperson for the labor group said. If the group manages to have its way this year, the minumum wage for workers will be raised to as high as VND4.2 million ($185) a month.

    The two groups are the major parties of Vietnam’s National Wage Council, which also includes government officials.

    Minimum wage is used by businesses to calculate salaries for their workers, by multiplying the basic amount by a coefficient assigned to each worker, based on their skills and experience.

    Vietnam has been raising this yardstick every year, a policy that has pitted labor groups against employers.

    Last year, prolonged negotiations ended with a 7.3 percent increase, the smallest in 10 years. The wage now ranges between VND2.58 million and VND3.75 million ($113-165) depending on regions.

    In a March survey by the Vietnam’s Institute of Workers and Trade Unions, a third of the 2,600 workers questioned said their incomes were low and barely sufficient to live on, while 12 percent said their wages simply did not cover living expenses, forcing them to work extra hours.

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  • Hanoi attempts to manage app-car services like taxis

    Hanoi attempts to manage app-car services like taxis

    Hanoi will manage the operation of app-based taxi service, including Uber and Grab, in a way similar to traditional taxis to guarantee a fair business environment.

    The move followed Hanoi, HCM City and Danang taxi associations petitioning the Ministry of Transport to call for a more equal business environment for taxi services.

    Hanoi People’s Committee have completed a plan on restricting the number of private vehicles for the 2017-2020 period and a vision until 2030 which is expected to be discussed and passed by the municipal people’s council at the meeting of early next month.

    According to the plan, the city will apply more strict management regulations on cars of below nine seats which operate under app-based taxi service in terms of vehicle number, quality and operational scope.

    App-based taxis will be managed in a way similar to traditional firms to ensure equal competition.

    The city’s transport department will check the specific number of Uber and Grab and if the figure exceeds the regulated level, the firms will have to stop operations.

    Uber and Grab taxis are also required to have logo, badge or their own paint colour. Signposts banning Uber, Grab maybe be put up on Hanoi streets.

    The associations called authorities to set the same rules for Uber and Grab.

    According to Do Quoc Binh, Chairman of Hanoi Taxi Association, over the past month, almost of 90 taxi firms in the city urged the association to seek the municipal trade union federation’s approval for their drivers to march through local streets in opposition to Uber and Grab.

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  • Sun Group to launch luxury resort in Ha Long Bay

    Sun Group to launch luxury resort in Ha Long Bay

    The developer expects the project, designed by renowned experts, to stimulate tourism in Quang Ninh Province. Sungroup plans to open its luxury resort complex Sun Premier Village Ha Long Bay at Wyndham Legend Halong Hotel in the northern province of Quang Ninh on July 1.

    The developer expects the project to stimulate tourism in the province, the home of the world-famous Ha Long Bay.

    Carrying the luxury resort brand name, Sun Premier Village Ha Long Bay with resort villas and shophouses is among the first beach-view resorts of international standards in the northern region and is guaranteed to make profits.

    Sungroup offers buyers many attractive financial support programs, such as a preferential interest rate of 9 percent on loans within 15 years. Additionally, buyers who register to buy villas at the opening ceremony of the project will enjoy incentives of up to 5 percent off the selling price, excluding VAT.

    When buying resort villas, investors will be entitled to a special interest rate of zero percent for loans of up to 70 percent of the selling price.

    Villa owners will be issued long-term ownership certificates, in addition to enjoying 225 night stays free of charge at their properties, which can be exchanged with any hotel or resort developed by the Sun Group across Vietnam. These include InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort, Premier Village Danang Resort, Novotel Danang Premier Han River and JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort & Spa.

    They also have the opportunities to become members of the SOL Club for Sun Group’s investors, which will allow them to use golf courses and recreational parks built by the developer.

    Customers who own a shophouse will have two attractive financing options, which are zero percent interest rate subsidy for a loan of up to 70 percent of the value. It will come with a grace period of up to 12 months or they can get a discount of up to 3 percent on the shophouse at the time of signing sale contracts.

    Shophouse buyers who make the payment earlier than the schedule will be entitled to a preferential rate of up to 10 percent per year. Customers who pay up to 95 percent before July 30 will receive a payment voucher equivalent to 5 percent of the shophouse value.

    Designed by Australia’s renowned Dark Horse Architect and landscape experts from Hong Kong-based landscape design company, AEDAS, each villa includes a secluded space surrounded by lush tropical gardens. Sun Premier Village Ha Long Bay offers beach villas, ocean villas, garden villas and lake villas in a simple but delicate architectural style.

    Sun Premier Village Resort Ha Long Bay is located right next to the Sun World Halong Complex, which according to Duong Thuy Dung, Director of Research and Consulting, CBRE Viet Nam, “will help real estate investors increase their value.”

  • Ocean Bank finds new foreign owner

    Ocean Bank finds new foreign owner

    Although the buyers identity was undisclosed, the private source confirmed that the two sides are finishing the paper works.

    One Member Limited Liability Global Petroleum Bank (GPBank ), another zero VND bank, may be sold to a consortium of a foreign financial institution and an investment and real estate development company.

    The last zero VND bank, Vietnam Construction Bank (CBBank), is said to be implementing its restructuring plan before merging with a domestic bank.

    Besides, DongA Joint Stock Commercial Bank (DongA Bank) is said to be merging with Ho Chi Minh City Housing Development Bank (HDBank).

    At a press conference at the beginning of 2017, Nguyen Van Hung, deputy chief inspector of the State Bank of Vietnam’s Inspection and Supervision Agency, said that there would be solutions to address the five weak commercial banks, including three banks acquired by SBV for zero VND (CBBank, Ocean Bank, GPBank), DongA Bank, and Saigon Joint Stock Commercial Bank (Sacombank).

    “Although these banks’ operating activities have been improved to avoid the collapse of the whole banking system, they need a complete overhaul,” Hung said.

    Between the end of 2015 and October 2016, the bad debts of the three zero VND commercial banks declined by about 8 per cent. Of the total, the bad debts of Ocean Bank and GPBank significantly decreased. GPBank and CBBank’s outstanding loan balance for enterprises and individuals decreased dramatically. In addition, CBBank’s deposits even increased between the end of 2015 and November 2016 by nearly 14 per cent.

    At the 2017 conference on implementing plans for Ocean Bank, Do Thanh Son, chairman of Ocean Bank, said that in 2015 and 2016 the bank continuously reported profit, which partially covered its losses accumulated in the past.

    In 2017, Ocean Bank targets to receive more than VND30 trillion ($1.2 billion) in deposits and to report an outstanding loan balance of nearly VND18 trillion ($720 million).

    In February 2017, Ha Van Tham, former chairman of Ocean Bank, and 47 other former leaders and employees of the bank were tried for charges including breaching the regulations on loans of credit institutions, abusing their positions and power while on duty, and intentionally acting against the state’s laws on economic management, causing serious financial loss in the period before 2014.

    The Ocean Bank case is one of the six biggest economic crimes that the Central Anti-Corruption Steering Committee was asked to bring to trial. In the trial, Tham admitted to misconduct and said his actions were caused by a need to complete his quota and avoid being dismissed. He asked the court to reduce the legal responsibilities of his accomplices because they were forced to adapt to the difficult circumstances at the time.

    According to the indictment of the People’s Procuracy, Ha Van Tham, as Ocean Bank’s chairman at the time, directed his employees to approve Pham Cong Danh’s borrowings. Pham Cong Danh was the former chairman of Vietnam Construction Joint Stock Commercial Bank. He took up significant loans from Ocean Bank through Trung Dung Company without meeting the bank’s prescribed requirements and did not submit collateral. By lending to Danh, Ha Van Tham violated lending procedures, causing a loss of VND350 billion ($14 million) for Ocean Bank.

    Besides, Nguyen Xuan Son, who was the bank’s general director and the representative of Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) capital contribution to the bank, had worked with Tham to illegally pay interest outside deposit contracts to customers, which caused a loss of nearly VND69 billion ($2.8 million) to the bank.

    A wide range of employees involved committed extremely serious violations in lending, mobilising deposits, and paying customers higher interest rates than the ceiling regulated by the central bank.

    In total, through their rampage of violations, Ha Van Tham and his employees caused a loss of nearly VND2 trillion ($80 million) to the bank, affecting the central bank’s monetary market management policy and hindering the implementation of the state’s monetary policy.

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  • Undersea internet cable out of action for another three weeks in Vietnam

    Undersea internet cable out of action for another three weeks in Vietnam

    Repair work on the broken international cable won’t start until July 3 and will take at least 10 days to complete. International internet connections in Vietnam are likely to remain slow for another three weeks with repair work to a major internet cable which broke off central Vietnam last week expected to take until July 14, a service provider said.

    The source told us that repair work on the Asia Pacific Gateway won’t start until July 3 and is expected to take 10 days. The cable should be fully reconnected by July 14, depending on the extent of the problem, said the representative.

    The cable snapped on Tuesday afternoon about 125 kilometers off the coast of Da Nang.

    Service providers such as Viettel and VNPT said they have prepared contingency routes to minimize downtime.

    No announcement on the cause of the problem has been made.

    The cable was officially launched on January 3, but was quickly hit by a technical problem that took two weeks to fix.

    The cable cost $450 million and has a capacity of more than 54 Tbps, promising to double internet speeds in Vietnam and ease reliance on the notorious Asia America Gateway, which has ruptured or been shut down for maintenance on numerous occasions since 2011.

    The new system took four years to build, and links Japan with Hong Kong, mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

    Nearly 49 million people in Vietnam, or more than half of the country’s population, are online.

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  • Vietnam’s pepper export revenue loses spice due to oversupply

    Vietnam’s pepper export revenue loses spice due to oversupply

    With supply exceeding demand, farmers are being told to hold on to their stocks and wait for prices to rise. Vietnam’s pepper shipments are forecast to reach around 101,000 tons for the first six months of 2017, up 13 percent on-year, but revenue is likely to fall 13 percent, according to Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA)’s chairman Do Ha Nam.

    “When supply exceeds demand, importers try to pull prices down. Vietnam, which provides some 60 percent of the global pepper output, will be heavily affected,” Nam told.

    In the peak harvest season, farmers need to sell large volumes of pepper to cover expenses, causing prices to fall. Local farmers are stuck in a dilemma: the more pepper they sell, the sharper prices decline.

    Domestic pepper prices have been falling throughout May and June, so the VPA is urging local farmers to hang on to their stocks and wait for prices to recover.

    “If farmers can hold on for the next 1-2 months, prices will rise again,” Nam said.

    The VPA has attributed falling prices to a 15 percent increase in pepper output in for this crop and the 20,000 tons of Cambodian pepper Vietnam has shipped in.

    However, the greatest problem facing the sector is the expanding pepper plantations.

    If the plantations continue to expand at their current rate, pepper prices will suffer as supply exceeds demand in the future.

    To reduce these risks, the VPA has advised farmers to stop growing pepper in unsuitable soil and switch to alternative crops to provide an additional income.

    Despite these warnings, farmers are continuing to expand their pepper plantations.

    The reason is that a hectare of pepper can earn farmers at least VND240 million ($10,600), while the same area of coffee will make them only VND100-150 million.

    In addition to this, Vietnam’s pepper industry also faces food hygiene and safety concerns in foreign markets.

    For example, in order to export 40,000 tons of pepper to the European Union, Vietnamese firms need to import 22,000 tons of clean pepper from Cambodia, Malaysia or Indonesia to process and export.

    Similarly, in order to ship the product to Japan, local companies must import raw pepper to process first.

    This is because in the past, Vietnamese pepper has been found to contain excessive chemical residue.
    To address the issue, Vietnamese and foreign firms are working with farmers to clean up the plantations.

    According to experts, organic pepper is slowly catching on, which may mean lower productivity but should ensure higher prices in a more stable market.

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  • Vietnam set for co-working office boom

    Vietnam set for co-working office boom

    With both local and international operators strongly expanding into co-working in Vietnam, the industry is expected to develop rapidly, experts have said.

    An office building for lease in Ha Noi. Co-working offices are in great demand thanks to the flexibility, creativity and amenities tenants get. It also offers a far more cost-effective solution for tenants compared to traditional leased office space.

    They said the development of this new segment in the property market is being driven by start-ups, freelancers and increasingly by small companies.

    Vu Cam Giang, co-founder of Moonwork co-working space in Ha Noi, told that initially co-working had attracted students, employees allowed to work from home, start-ups, freelancers and artists who were curious about the new experience.

    But now only start-ups and freelancers hire co-working space, with many of them needing a place where they can bounce things of each other or explore co-operation opportunities, she said.

    Since it was launched more than a year ago her co-working space has been always full, indicating the high demand, she said.

    A recent report from property consultant CBRE Vietnam said the co-working segment has grown rapidly in Ha Noi and HCM City since it was first introduced in 2012 and started to gain traction in 2015 with the entry of local operators Toong and Dreamplex.

    The report said there are now 17 co-working space operators with 22 venues, all but one local, but the situation is set to change with the entry of regional operators later this year and in 2018.

    Talking about the growth, the report said the global co-working industry has been growing at 53 per cent a year for the last five years. In Vietnam the rate has been 58 per cent.

    But with the concept still being relatively new in the country, and major regional and international operators yet to enter, the rate is set to accelerate, it said.

    Co-working offices are in great demand thanks to the flexibility, creativity and amenities tenants get. It also offers a far more cost-effective solution for tenants compared to traditional leased office space.

    Office rents now range between $1,100 and $1,400 per month.

    Besides, co-working tenants do not have to shell out money for furnishing or even buying computers and other office equipment.

    CBRE said the cost of co-working space varies across cities, and is less in Ha Noi and HCM City than most other cities in the Asia Pacific.

    But the offices are generally not located in prime buildings or areas since operators seek to keep rental costs low. They are often situated in underutilised buildings in non-central locations, it said.

    The entry of larger operators would likely usher in a period of consolidation and M&A activity within the industry, forcing poorly managed or unsuitable co-working spaces out of the market and improving the quality of existing operators, it said.

    “With the development of start-ups and freelancers and people’s changing perception in choosing working space, the co-working segment will continue to expand in Vietnam,” Giang said.

  • Textile and garment industry undergoes restructuring

    Textile and garment industry undergoes restructuring

    Restructuring the textile and garment industry involves drawing up a new development strategy, using new technologies, and closing fiber and textile factories that use outdated technologies.

    The Nam Dinh Textile & Garment JSC has undergone ‘major surgery’. The number of workers has been cut from 18,000 to 4,000. However, the remaining workers’ output equals that of 18,000 workers in the past.

    The textile & garment industry has been improving satisfy the requirements of global value chains. The productivity has improved thanks to renovation of machines and equipment and the removal of factories with outdated technologies. However, many things still need to be done.

    MOIT is going to submit to the government a plan to restructure industry in general in 2016-2020, which includes the textile & garment industry.

    Commenting about the plan, Le Tien Truong, deputy chair of the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association (Vinatas) said the figures shown in the plan were not reliable.

    The plan, for instance, says that productivity is VND35-40 million a year, while Truong believes the figure is inaccurate and it is lower than the real figure.

    If noting that Vietnam exported $28 million worth of textiles & garments in 2016 and imported $17 billion worth of input materials, the average productivity would be VND140 million per worker.

    The plan shows several targets such as repositioning enterprises geographically and shutting down factories with outdated technologies, but it does not include implementation measures.

    There are three ways to improve productivity in the textile & garment industry, according to Truong.

    First, using few workers and high-productivity machines. Second, shutting down unprofitable enterprises and reducing the number of enterprises consuming a lot of power. Third, adjusting the product structure to choose enterprises with higher added value.

    Truong Duy Hung, director of MOIT’s planning department, the compiler of the plan, believes the weak point of textile industry is the lack of input materials.

    Analysts say that if Vietnamese enterprises make input materials, their products would be able to replace Chinese products and can compete with Chinese products in price.

    In current conditions, however, it is easier and faster to seek input materials from China than domestic sources. This is because China organizes large-scale production and  always has large stocks, while Vietnam only makes products to order.

    Vietnam earned $6.84 billion from garment and textile exports in the first quarter of this year, 11.2 percent more than in the same period last year, according to Vinatas.

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  • Competition heats up as convenience stores race for dominance in Vietnam

    Competition heats up as convenience stores race for dominance in Vietnam

    With a slate of brands operating nearly 2,000 stores, the remaining space for expansion is limited. The first outlet of 7-Eleven, the largest convenience store chain in Japan, opened in Vietnam last week with a lot of fanfare.

    Thousands of people lined up and squeezed into the small shop in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, trying to buy snacks and light meals.

    The chain has said it will open around 20 outlets in Vietnam by the end of this year and 100 in the next three years.

    The important question here is not about whether similarly big crowds will be coming to its stores in the future. It’s where to put these stores.

    7-Eleven is entering a market that has become increasingly packed in recent years. Its arrival is intensifying the heated competition for both customers and for retail space.

    After all, the choice of location can make or break a convenience store. In big cities, many of the best spots are either too expensive or already taken.

    Crowded market

    The A.T. Kearney’s Global Retail Development Index this month named Vietnam the sixth most attractive retail market. The country made headlines worldwide when it topped this list in 2008.

    The market has drawn a lot of foreign players who are now occupying 70 percent of the convenience store segment.

    The American chain Circle K is operating around 250 stores, mostly in the country’s two biggest cities Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi.

    FamilyMart, Japan’s second largest convenience store chain, now has 130 stores in Ho Chi Minh City, the nearby resort town of Vung Tau and in Binh Duong Province. It aims to expand the network to 150 locations by the end of this year.

    Southeast Asian chains Shop&Go and B’s mart are running another 300 stores.

    The dominant local player VinMart+, an offshoot of conglomerate Vingroup, has quickly expanded its network from 500 outlets in 2015 to around 900 last year. The chain plans to round up the number to 1,000 this year or next.

    According to industry insiders, setting up a convenience store is much simpler than a supermarket but in order to launch a profitable chain, it takes a lot of money and efforts.

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  • Vietnam’s fruit, vegetable exports growing

    Vietnam’s fruit, vegetable exports growing

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nguyen Xuan Cuong said the export potential of fruits and vegetables is huge, with the products key to restructuring the sector.

    Cuong said the ministry has focused on promoting the use of modern technologies in agriculture, aiming to create quality products, thus improving the sector’s competitiveness and expanding export markets.

    “Exports of fruits and vegetables will grow in the upcoming time. The sector should develop association models for investing in hi-tech agriculture. Businesses should work with farmer collectives to establish concentrated raw material areas,” he added.

    The minister said growing the agricultural sector, and fruits and vegetables in particular, would largely depend on export value and changes in the market.

    However, if businesses and farmers build production chains of safe fruits and vegetables together with hi-tech agriculture development, the export target of US$3 billion this year will be reached, he said.

    Exports of fruits and vegetables hit $1.38 biliion in the first five months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 38 per cent.

    China, the US, Japan and South Korea markets accounted for nearly 84 per cent of total vegetable and fruit export value. Vietnamese fruits and vegetables have been exported to about 60 markets globally.

    Many farmers have applied the safe agricultural production processes of VietGap and GlobalGap, giving Vietnamese fruits and vegetables a foothold in foreign markets.

    According to the ministry of agriculture, restructuring of the sector is going well, with export structure focused on commodities such as coffee, rubber and fruit.

    Dinh Cao Khue, general director of Dong Giao Food Export Company said their products have been exported to 50 countries thanks to a closed supply chain of materials, collection, processing and trading.

    “We have invested in specialised and concentrated material areas. Product quality should be priorities for both local consumption and exports,” Khue said.

    Experts said export markets such as the US and Europe have potential but also high risk as they have strict requirements on product quality, so domestic producers should strictly follow health and safety requirements.

    Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the Vietnam High-quality Product Association said local agricultural producers should change their mindset in production and organising supply chains. Each segment should have standards to satisfy export markets’ requirements.

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  • Nars comes to Vietnam

    Nars comes to Vietnam

    Japanese cosmetic brand Nars has landed in Vietnam, opening a brand new store in Ho Chi Minh City. Located on Dong Khoi Street inside Vincom Center mall, Nars’ debut store offers Vietnamese customers all of the makeup brand’s newest and most popular items.

    According to Nars’ brand president, Barbara Calcagni, the new store signals the local market’s growth, and therefore, readiness for a fresh cosmetics entrant such as Nars.
    “Vietnam is a potential market for growth thanks to the rapid development of the country,” Calcagni said.

    With more than 250 shops, Vincom Center is Ho Chi Minh City’s biggest shopping mall. It is split into two separate buildings, Vincom Center A and Center B, as houses the largest array of international luxury brands and retailers.

    Nars is on an Asian retail rollout. The latest Vietnam store succeeds a new retail venture for Nars in Malaysia. Earlier this month, Shiseido Travel Retail partnered with Colours & Fragrances to open a Nars cosmetics stand-alone boutique at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

    The boutique is Nars’ first travel retail location in Malaysia.

    Founded in 1994 by French make-up artist and photographer Francois Nars, Nars was acquired by Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido in 2000.

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  • Taxi firms release apps to compete with Uber and Grab

    Taxi firms release apps to compete with Uber and Grab

    The firms have complained about supposed unfair competition with Uber and Grab. Vinasun said the average wage for drivers had dropped and many drivers had already quit.

    The firms demanded authorities apply measures to ensure fairer competition such as forcing Uber and Grab drivers to use taxi badges.

    Meanwhile, some firms have started to upgrade their technology to attract customers such as Thanh Cong in Hanoi that released a mobile app similar to Uber and Grab. Thanh Cong also allows customers to call for taxis from Facebook.

    They announced a fleet of cars without taxi badges like Uber to carry customers on routes that ban taxis. Thanh Cong said the management charge their drivers need to pay was only half of what Uber and Grab were collecting.

    Other taxi firms have also employed measures to compete in the growing market. Mai Linh, Vinasun and Taxi Group also released apps with similar purposes and functions. SAPA Thale Holding then released their own Uber-like app called APPP Passengers.

    The Ho Chi Minh City Taxi Association previously claimed that traditional taxi firms were being threatened as more personal cars were now in use by Uber and Grab than traditional taxi fleets. It asked the government to reconsider the open policy towards app-based taxi firms.

    “More worryingly, taxi firms have to bear various kinds of taxes including the VAT and corporate income tax. But the Grab and Uber’s taxes are only 4-5% of the traditional firms’,” the association claimed in a written document.

    Ha Huy Quang, deputy director of Hanoi Department of Transport accused Uber and Grab of not following the traffic planning and being opaque in tax duties.

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  • VCAR – Vietnam Limousine for the Southeast Asian market

    VCAR – Vietnam Limousine for the Southeast Asian market

    VCAR, a new generation Limousine of Vietnam, has been launched at a recent ceremony with the participation of nearly 300 businessmen and investors from many Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.

    Since the limousine first appeared in Vietnam 5 years ago, thousands of limousines with luxurious and comfortable interiorshave been sold. To grasp this trend, Vinter Capital Group Corporation and its close joint venture partner, Dasan, has manufactured limousines with VCAR brand for the purpose of exporting to Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries,with the support of the parent company Dynamic Investment Fund from Vinter Capital Group Corporation based in Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

    At the launching ceremony of the new model of limousine, Vinter and Dasan introduced the three versions of VCAR New Generation Limousines, includingVCAR VIP, VCARSolati and VCAR X with excellent and valuable interiors.

    “VCAR Limousine brings about totally new experiences with luxury and comfortable interiors. I hope that the venture between Vinter Capital Group and Dasan will create and bring more versions of VCAR limousine, especially VCAR X to Malaysia in the coming time”, said a Malaysian entrepreneur at the ceremony.

    “Limousine has beenfavored in Vietnam since the very first day. Six versions of limousine have been introduced in the market for the past 5 years. All the essentials of limousine in Vietnam are currently crystallized in VCAR X, a President’s new generation version in Vietnam, produced by Dasan,” said Mr. Le Thanh Tuan, President of VCAR Limousine.

    “The Malaysian market is hard-to-please and much larger compared to Vietnam. Even though the population of Malaysia is only one third of Vietnam, Malaysia’s GDP is three times higher than that of Vietnam. Malaysia’s total number of tourists and revenue from tourism are three times higher, and the income per capita is six times higher. The transportation infrastructure is also one of the best among ASEAN countries. Therefore, VCAR X with its outstanding features would be able to meet the best needs in Malaysia. We believe that the limousine, which is highly favored in Vietnam, could be developed in Malaysia,” Tuan said.

    Dasan and Vinter Capital Grouphave conducted a lot of researches, improvement and investment in order to produce the VCAR limousine with the best standard and unique design to satisfy requirements of the Malaysian market in particular and the Southeast Asian markets in general.

    President of Dasan, Mr. Dang Quang Khanh, said: “Dasan and Vinter Capital Group Corporation will promote operations and fully exploit the assembly and production capacity of factories in Malaysia and supply our products to Malaysia and ASEAN countries in the near future. We will constantly improve the technologies and designs to create more variants of VCAR limousine to satisfy and suit the market trend of Malaysia in particular, as well as other countries in general. Vinter Capital Group Corporation and Dasan expect thatVCAR limousine will be the first Vietnam car brand to reach out to the world”.

    “This event is the milestone of success and close joint venture between Dasan and Vinter Capital Group Corporation. We have committed strongly to support Dasan in expanding the market of VCAR limousine in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries as soon as possible,” said Mr.  Elvin Chew Chee Wooi and Ms. Dolly Hoang Minh Tuyet, Chairman and General Director of Vinter Capital Group.

    “Dasan and Vinter Capital Group had seriously prepared over a year to get this event done. We plan to let the first VCAR limousine to be driven in Malaysia within the next three months,” said Mr. Dang Quang Khanh.

    VCAR X, a President’s new generation version has included all the essentials of existing limousines in Vietnam. Besides strengths of “Ground Specialist”, VCAR X also eliminates redundant and impractical items and overcomes inherent weaknesses of the President version (with two 180-degree-rotation seats), and adds unique interior features that are equipped for the President version.

    With the overwhelming and positive respond by the entrepreneurs and investors from the ASEAN markets, Vinter Capital Group Corporation has committed to launch the limousine as soon as possible.

    Not only manufacturing limousine, Vinter has also actively involved in several segments of business such as property development and investment, agriculture sector, legal and consulting services and resort and restaurant services.

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