Vietnam looks forwards to stronger investment
Top Vietnamese corporations are optimistic to attract investment from major global enterprises and institutions, after a recently approved strategy on foreign investment cooperation.
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Signed off by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, the strategy for 2021 – 2030 aims to raise capital flows from countries and territories in certain regions to over 70% of total foreign investment in Vietnam during 2021 - 2025 and 75% during 2026 - 2030.
Republic of Korea (RoK), Japan, Singapore, China, Taiwan (China), Malaysia, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines in Asia; France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia and the UK in Europe, and the US are targeted partners. This plan aims to increase by 50% the number of multinational corporations operating in Vietnam that are listed in the Fortune Global 500.
The Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment has held a working session with a top Vietnamese corporation in technology manufacturing in Vietnam. Vietnam’s role in the global production chain is increasing and the country has a high potential for technology and consumer businesses to continue expanding operations. For instance, Intel invested 1 billion USD into the country over 10 years ago, and several tech giants have flocked to Vietnam since then
Nguyen Mai, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises, stated recently at the launch of an annual FDI report that investment from Europe and the United States remains modest, while Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan remain the largest investors. Though one of Vietnam’s top trade partners is the US, the US only ranks 11th among foreign investors, and the same can also be seen in investment from the EU, he noted.
Former Foreign Investment Agency Director Phan Huu Thang explained that Vietnam's proximity to East Asian countries is advantageous for trade. Furthermore, Asian investors are more acquainted with local customs and the investment environment, and Vietnam has signed free trade agreements with these partners.
It is said that opportunities have never been so obvious for top Vietnamese corporation to attract foreign investment, which can be proved through American and European businesses’ affirmation of their particular concern for Southeast Asian nations during Vietnamese leaders’ recent visits to these countries.
Growing outlook of consumer – retail in Vietnam
Starting as a top Vietnamese corporation in fast-moving consumer goods, Masan quickly expand to the retail market in 2019 by merging VinCommerce (now renamed to WinCommerce). Today, Masan provides a variety of products and services for the online and offline demands in the financial, education, entertainment and healthcare fields. With these products and services, Masan aims to serve up to 80% of the consumer wallet.
5.5 percent of The CrownX was purchased by a group of investors in May 2021 for a total cash consideration of $400 million, including Alibaba Group and Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), a Masan integrated consumer retail arm that consolidates its interests in Masan Consumer Holdings and WinCommerce.
This deal is not only an investment but also a strategic partnership between this top Vietnamese corporation and the investors. Accordingly, WinCommerce cooperates with Lazada - Alibaba’s South East Asia e-commerce platform - to promote the digital transformation and accelerate the offline to online (O2O) integrated retail market in Vietnam.
In April 2021, South Korean conglomerate SK Group invested $410 million to acquire a 16,26 percent stake in the company holding WinCommerce shares.
In 2022, Masan’s goal is to transform into a consumer-tech platform that can meet all demands of consumers. Dr. Nguyen Dang Quang, Chairman of Masan Group, said, “We believe that technology will disrupt the entire consumer market and at Masan, we are prioritizing technology as a strategic pillar. The major exception is that we see technology as a potent tool for customizing our product offers and customer experiences rather than as a stand-alone business strategy.”
After COVID-19 was put under control, Masan’s first deal was to buy a 25% stake in Trusting Social, a fintech company specializes in providing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions for credit scoring. Apart from the use of AI and ML solutions to credit services, Masan also applies these tools to the Point of Life platform and the WINLife ecosystem, which was launched in September. WINLife was Masan’s next step to solidify its top Vietnamese corporation position, aimed at improving consumers’ experiences with a technology consumption model.
Masan launched a chain of WIN stores under the WINLife ecosystem, integrated with WinMart+, Techcombank, Phuc Long, Reddi and Dr.Win – a kiosk for healthcare. WIN stores feature more utilities than WinMart+ supermarkets and are equipped with payment kiosks, together with checkouts.
In 2022 and 2023, Masan will continue to expand its operation and investment in technology with a focus on AI and ML solutions to promote business efficiency and re-shape the consumption experience to make the group a professional technology consumption ecosystem.
Besides that, the group intends to optimize a product portfolio in stores, make simple sales procedures, and concentrate on consulting services to better serve customers. Furthermore, AI and ML solutions will be used to build a loyal consumer program to increase the group’s understanding of consumers to offer customized products and services.
Recently, Masan successfully closed a major syndicated loan totaled to hundreds of million USD from financial institutions, demonstrating strong credit of a top Vietnamese corporation in a volatile financial market.
Doing well by doing good
As one of top Vietnamese corporations, Masan has been attaching much importance to corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs and has ceaselessly improved standards for sustainable development. Masan's priorities during its journey of serving 100 million Vietnamese people are social development, environmental protection, and business growth.
As for the retail field, WCM’s chain of more than 3,000 WinMart and WinMart+ stores have relentlessly improved their operating quality, with new arrangements and models, plus various utilities. Especially, WCM always maintains a Vietnamese product rate of 90%, prompting Vietnamese producers to innovate their production methods to churn out high quality products.
Aside from its contribution to the society through its high quality products and services, Masan has been initiating a series of CSR practices in terms of healthcare, education, property and infrastructure. Since 2021, this top Vietnamese corporation has poured over VND500 billion into social programs to help Covid-hit residents and frontline forces, and other wellbeing activities.
On October 2, the organization gave VND 1 billion to the Ky Son District government in Nghe An Province in order to support the local government and inhabitants in repairing the harm and difficulties brought on by flash floods.