BAA Training, one of the largest aviation training centres in Northern Europe, has announced the establishment of a new company in Vietnam—BAA Training Vietnam which will operate a training centre of four full flight simulators and Ab Initio flight school by 2023.

According to Boeing’s projections, the Asia-Pacific will require up to 253,000 new pilots until 2036. Looking at Southeast Asia alone, the aircraft numbers will grow from 1,410 in 2016 to 4,200 aircrafts by 2036, 77 per cent of which will be made up of single aisle airplanes, mainly A320 and 737 family aircrafts. To respond to the growing training needs in the region, BAA Training Vietnam is building a brand new training facility with a total investment capital of $50 million in Ho Chi Minh City.

As the construction of the training centre is underway, the first Airbus A320 full flight simulator is set to be deployed by the end of 2018. To continue the development and increase the training centre’s capabilities, Airbus A320 NEO and Boeing 737 MAX full flight simulators are planned to be assembled by 2020.

In addition, BAA Training Vietnam aims to open an Ab Initio flight school in the next five years in order to provide the region with complex pilot training solutions.

“By establishing BAA Training Vietnam we aim to share an exceptional know-how built through years of experience of BAA Training operations as well as securing the region with transparent and high-standard aviation training for both corporate and private clients,” commented Egle Vaitkeviciute, CEO at BAA Training.

BAA Training is an aviation training centre oriented towards delivering individual and flexible solutions to companies worldwide. Over 750 pilots flew close to 25,000 hours in more than 85 full flight simulators at over 30 locations in Europe, North and South Americas, Africa, and Asia in 2017.

Hanoi approves logistics development plan by 2025

The Hanoi People’s Committee has approved a logistics management and development project for the capital city by 2025 to make it one of the country’s leading localities having a developed and modern logistics system.

Hanoi set a target for its logistics sector to contribute 9-11% to the Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) and obtain a growth rate of 17-21% by 2015. Growth in outsourced logistics will reach 60-65%.

By the time two logistics centers, two Inland Container Depots (ICDs), one international container terminal, and some specialized depots will be put into operation.

Particularly, the capital city will develop a supply chain and distribution of agricultural products and food and increase the application of information technology and e-commerce in business operation and production in general and logistics services in particular.

Data protection the main challenge for Vietnam’s digital economy

The prerequisite condition for the development of the digital economy is an assurance of the protection of the rights of privacy and personal information, say experts.

Vietnam’s digital economy has shown consistent growth in terms of infrastructure system and business market over the past ten years, according to a recent report by the Institute for Policy Studies and Media Development.

Vietnam had 17.7 million internet users in 2007, with the figure ballooning to 64 million by the end of 2017, accounting for 67% of the population, and bringing the country to the 13th place among the 20 nations with the highest number of internet users.

Vietnam currently has three digital economy systems, in telecommunications, information technology, and e-commerce. In 2016, the country hauled in revenues of US$5 billion from e-commerce.

Last year, 21 e-commerce start-ups received foreign investment capital worth a total of US$83 million, taking the lead among the list of industries attracting investment capital. The M&A trend among e-commerce businesses in Vietnam has also developed steadily in both the value and quantity of deals.

There has been similarly robust growth in the telecoms and IT market. Over the past six years, 7% of newly-established businesses have emerged from these fields, generating more than 852,000 jobs.

In parallel to the e-commerce boom, there has been a rapid development in cybersecurity risks,  from new types of threat, to Kaskerpy the number of cases and level of damage caused. According to global cybersecurity company Kaspersky, last year, 35% of internet users in Vietnam were likely to face cyberattacks, ranking sixth in the world.

According to statistics from the Vietnam Computer Emergency Response Team (VNCERT), under the Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam’s computer networks suffered more than 10,000 cyber attacks in 2017, causing losses of about VND12.3 trillion. 

Both local and international experts say Vietnam has not devised an overall national strategy on cyber security and needs to pay special attention to building a comprehensive cyber security policy system.

The biggest challenges faced by businesses and state agencies are personal privacy violations, data leakages, and the illegal exploitation of personal data and information for commercial purposes.

Lawyer Nguyen Tien Lap from NHQuang & Associates law firm suggest special attention should be paid to privacy protection and data security. ‘ With our complete legal system,  it is not necessary to issue new laws but we need to actualise the existing legal regulations to ensure law enforcement is strictly observed,” he emphasizes

Manyexperts say any effectuation of legal regulations on the protection of personal data needs to ensure the rights to access information in accordance with the Law on Access to Information.

Mr Trieu Tran Duc, General Director of Joint Stock Information Security Company CMC InfoSec, says the development of the digital economy is an inevitable trend, as a result of which, governments must be willing to facilitate businesses’ access to data sources in a public manner.

Duc also emphasized the need to build a decentralized system and keep a record of  businesses’ activities to avoid disclosing personal data or national secrets, while refining the policy framework and technical foundation for data security.

JLL: Hanoi apartment supply down in Q1

Approximately 9,000 units were launched in Hanoi’s apartment market during the first quarter of the year, down 5.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter, according to a quarterly report released by JLL Vietnam on April 12.

Of the total, nearly 67 per cent came from Hoang Mai, Thanh Xuan, Nam Tu Liem and Ha Dong districts. Prices quoted for the new launches mostly ranged between $1,000 and $1,500 per sq m, which accounted for 47 per cent of the total.

Nearly 10,600 units were sold in the primary market during the first quarter, an increase of 7.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 29.7 per cent year-on-year. Sales rates of total available units improved 3.5 bps from 31.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

Among existing projects, sales remained good, with an average sales velocity of around 35 to 50 units per month during the first quarter.

Average primary market prices stood at $1,317 per sq m, down per cent quarter-on-quarter, resulting mostly from the extension of the low-priced segment.

Although registering a decrease on a non-chain-linked basis, a slight increase in chain-linked prices was seen in many projects, of around 1 per cent quarter-on-quarter.

Prices in the secondary market averaged $1,208 per sq m, stable quarter-on-quarter but down 9.5 per cent year-on-year. The decreases in secondary prices were seen in more buildings than in recent quarters, owing to increasing supply over the period.

JLL forecast that the market will welcome a wave of project completions. More than 47,000 new units are expected to be completed before the end of the year, 80 per cent of which are in the affordable and mid-end segments.

The low-priced segment leads the market, while affordable and mid-end apartments will continue to attract buyers, especially young families.

Sales in the second quarter may be impacted slightly by recently-emerging concerns over fire safety in apartment blocks.

Meanwhile, in Ho Chi Minh City’s apartment market, new launches in the first quarter totaled 13,647 units, down 10 per cent quarter-on-quarter but up 59.3 per cent year-on-year.

To the end of the year, new launches may reach nearly 45,000-50,000 units, dominated by the affordable and mid-end segments, the JLL report noted.

Saigon Co.op to open 50 more convenience stores

Saigon Co.op, the country’s leading retailer, will open an extra 50 Cheers in convenience stores in HCMC in partnership with NTUC FairPrice of Singapore this year, said Nguyen Thanh Nhan, general director of Saigon Co.op.

At a 2017 review meeting of Saigon Co.op last week, Nhan said Cheers stores would sell household and consumer goods and operate 24/7. In HCMC, there are already two Cheers stores.

Besides Cheers, Nhan said this year Saigon Co.op would open 19 more Co.opmart supermarkets, two more Co.opXtra stores, 150 more Co.opSmile shops and at least one more Co.opmart hypermarket in a high-end residential area.

To maintain its position as Vietnam’s leading retailer, Saigon Co.op must focus on expanding the retail network, diversifying products and developing logistics, said Nhan.

Saigon Co.op is expected to achieve a 10% increase in total revenue.

A report released at the meeting showed that in 2017 Saigon Co.op made some VND30,000 billion in total revenue and Co.op Xtra enjoyed export growth of 30%.

Tra Vinh boosts economic growth through luring investment

The year 2017 marked the outstanding performance of the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh in investment attraction, contributing remarkably to the local economic growth.

During the year, nearly 80 domestic and foreign investors came to study the local incentives in investment, doubling the number of 2016, including 35 investors from Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the US, Turkey and Malaysia.

As a result, the locality licensed 49 investment projects, encompassing five foreign ones with total registered capital of 143 million USD, and 44 domestic ones worth nearly 3.5 trillion VND (153.3 million USD).

On aggregate, 59 projects worth over 153.8 trillion VND (6.7 billion USD) are being carried out at industrial and economic zones in the province.

The inflow of investment has made positive impacts on local development. The gross regional domestic product (GRDP) saw annual average growth of 11 percent over the past five years. In 2017, the GRDP expanded by over 12 percent, the highest level over the past four years.

The provincial economic structure continues to shift toward higher proportion of industry-construction and services and lower proportion of agriculture, forestry and fishery.

The per capita average income was estimated at more than 39.2 million VND (1,716 USD) in 2017.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Dong Van Lam said Tra Vinh will push ahead with administrative reforms and promote the one-stop-shop mechanism to create a friendly environment for investors.

At the same time, the province will give incentives to invite investors to implement high technology projects and highly competitive sectors such as the brackish shrimp breeding project on 100-200 hectares, the cultivation of shrimp-forest and shrimp-rice models on 800-1,000 hectares, and the manufacturing, processing and sale of coconut products on 20,000-30,000 hectares.

The province also looks to develop tourism projects including the establishment of a nearly 65 hectare cultural area at Ba Om pond in the southwest of Tra Vinh city and a 30 hectare hot spring resort in Duyen Hai town, he added.

Tra Vinh will support businesses with land clearance, technical infrastructure investment, labour training, and promotion of trade, investment and tourism.

Lam said the provincial Party’s Committee aims to bring Tra Vinh into the group of middle-range provinces in the Mekong Delta by 2020.

The province will optimise its strengths and potential to help investors expand operation to create an important driving force for the local economic development breakthroughs, he added.

Central provinces target 2.5 million tonnes of rice in upcoming crops

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has asked South Central and Central Highlands provinces to strive to produce at least 2.5 million tonnes of rice in this year’s upcoming crops.

The MARD made the call during a conference held in Buon Ma Thuot city of the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak to review rice production in the 2017-2018 winter-spring crop in the regions and launch this year’s production plan.

Accordingly, the provinces plan to grow more than 448,600 ha of rice in this year’s upcoming crops, with half of them being planted in the summer-autumn crop.

The ministry also instructed the provinces to arrange suitable time for rice growing and apply cultivation techniques to avoid drought and lessen its impacts to rice production.

In the 2017-2018 winter-spring crop, the South Central and Central Highlands provinces planted more than 320,470 ha of rice, yielding an estimated output of about 2.03 million tonnes, a rise of 60,200 tonnes compared to last year’s crop.

The MARD reported that the country’s rice exports in the January – March period totalled 1.36 million tonnes worth 669 million USD, representing year-on-year rises of 9.4 percent in volume and 24 percent in value. China remained the top importer of Vietnamese rice, accounting for 24.4 percent of total exports

Last year, Vietnam earned 2.6 billion USD from exporting 5.8 million tonnes of rice.

Agricultural supply-demand link promoted

Increasing links between farm co-operatives and enterprises is part of measures raised during a workshop yesterday to help ensure sustainable development for the agricultural sector of Hà Nội.

Hà Nội has successfully built sepcialised agricultural production areas such as high-quality rice and safe vegetable and fruit growing in the districts of Mỹ Đức, Ứng Hòa, Đông Anh and Thanh Trì and also poultry product production areas in Chương Mỹ, Thanh Oai and Mê Linh Districts.

The city has 1,868 farms and formed 907 farm co-operatives.

The average annual output of rice reaches more than 1,000 tonnes, vegetables (702,000 tonnes), pork meat (321,000 tonnes), poultry (92,100 tonnes) and seafood (97,700 tonnes).

But the city’s farm produce still fails to meet full demand of local consumers.

Hà Nội has a large consumption network with 128 supermarkets, 453 markets, more than 600 convenient stores and hundreds of collective kitchens at schools, hospitals and agencies, but farmers still have trouble dealing with demand, according to participants at the workshop.

A representative from Kim An Farm Co-operative in Quốc Oai District said local farmers produced a huge amount of agricultural products but consumption network was limited, leading to price drop.

“A farmer will have to sell fruits like orange for traders at a low price in case of abundant crop. As they do not have adequate preservation equipment and facilities which would allow such products to keep long so they often have no choice but to sell at a lower price,” he said.

Some participants pointed to challenges that affected consumption of farm produce such as small-scale and scattered agricultural production, leading to low-quality products or low output, and farmers’ lack of knowledge and information on market, information and technology application and food hygiene and safety violations.

To help boost consumption for farm produce, increasing connections among producers and distributors was considered one of a number of key solutions, according to deputy director of the Hà Nội Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tạ Văn Tường.

The city has built 65 safe agricultural production chains and held many activities to help promote farmers’ products to consumers through trade fairs, workshops and promotional activities both inside and outside the country.

This is the third time Hà Nội held this kind of workshop on agricultural production supply and demand linkage to help businesses, farmers and farm co-operatives have chances to meet, share information and seek co-operation.

“Linkage between farmers and businesses will help both producers and distributors to be more active in production and consumption, thus helping to reduce loss and prevent situations of big drop in prices due to abundant supply,” he said.

Lê Đức Sơn, vice chairman of Hòa Bình Farm Co-operative which specialises in producing safe vegetables, said this was the third time he joined the workshop and found it very effective in introducing the co-operative’s products to distributors and consumers.

“At previous workshops, I established partnership with some distributors of safe food products and I expect to find more partners at this workshop to bring our safe vegetables to more customers,” he said.

A venue was organised as part of the workshop to help farmers showcase high-quality products to businesses and consumers. All of the products are certified to meet VietGAP or GlobalGAP standards - good agricultural practices to produce clean and safe farm products, according to Tường.

Hà Nội authorities have also actively taken measures to help develop an agricultural production chain to promote sustainable development for the sector.

“We have guided and encouraged farmers to join production chains to ensure product availability, increase sales, prevent price slumps and promote safe agricultural production” said Tường.

“It is time for farmers to change their mindset and habit in agricultural traditional production methods. If not, they will fail.

“Now they need to grow products of consumers’ demand, grow products that meet food safety and quality and have clear origin and need to link with businesses to ensure sustainable production and consumption,” he added.

“The department has also sent technicians to the fields to directly guide farmers on safe agricultural production to meet necessary requirements and organised workshops on food production chains, food safety and hygiene to raise awareness,” he said.

The city has formed 65 production chains for safe and clean agricultural products.

Tri Phương River Port Project launched

The Tri Phương River Port Project was launched on Wednesday in Tiên Du District, Bắc Ninh Province, with Bắc Kì Investment Joint Stock Company as its main investor.

The project is expected to handle the imports and exports of five northern provinces including Bắc Ninh, Bắc Giang, Thái Nguyên, Vĩnh Phúc and Hà Nội, using waterway containers, reducing delivery time and easing the pressure on road traffic.

The port located on the 2.5ha area has the capacity to handle barges of 900TEUs and four 120TEUs. The total capacity is 200,000TEUs per year. Moreover, there will be 100 tractors taking charge of transferring goods to and from the port. A custom authority will also be established to directly process documents related to goods being imported and exported.

Tri Phương River Port helps connect the coastal city of Hải Phòng with five northern provinces that host the factories of major manufacturers including Samsung, Foxconn, Toyota, Canon and Honda.  

In 2016, the volume of imports and exports from these five localities accounted for some 50 per cent of the total goods volume transiting through Hải Phòng City Port.

Moreover, Tri Phương Port is an extended project of ICD Tiên Sơn Logistics Centre in Tiên Sơn Industrial Zone, Bắc Ninh Province, aiming to offer comprehensive service packages, including multimodal transportation, warehousing and customs declaration services.

The charges offered are competitive, 20 to 25 per cent lower than the fees of road transportation.

This allows customers to receive goods during the day by storing containers at Tri Phương Port instead of having to order goods at least one day in advance because of containers being stored at Hải Phong Port.

It also helps shorten the delivery time of exports because the distance from the factories to Tri Phương Port is less than the distance to Hải Phòng City. The port contributes to reductions in traffic congestion and pressure on National Highways Nos. 5 and 18 as well as reducing the number of roads connecting northern provinces and Hải Phòng.

Nguyễn Trần Hiếu, director of Bắc Kì company, told the Vietnam News Agency that the initial investment in the project amounted to VNĐ170 billion. On the day of the launch, three customers registered to use the port when it is completed.

“These companies signed the memorandums of understanding on exploiting the port with Bắc Kì company when the port goes into operation at the end of July,” Hiếu said.

Start-up contest returns
     
Registration is open until April 30 for an annual business start-up contest oganised by the Business Start-up Support Centre and the HCM City Young Businesspeople Association.

Vietnam Start-up Wheel 2018 will be a forum for contestants to present innovative business start-up ideas and business strategies and mobilise funds for projects.

Unlike previous years, the sixth edition of the competition is open to contestants of all ages and nationalities who have a start-up in Viet Nam, according to Truong Ly Hoang Phi, director of BSSC.

It also encourages science researchers at institutions and schools, whose studies are feasible, practicable and lend themselves to commercialisation, and overseas students with start-up ideas for doing business in Viet Nam to take part.

The organisers expect to receive 1,000 start-up ideas and projects. A qualifying round will reduce the number to a maximum of 100 for the semi-final.

The final round in August will see 10 projects compete.

There will be a first prize worth VND200 million (US$8,771) for an existing company that is less than five years old and another worth VND150 million for startup individual/group, two second prizes worth VND70 million each, and two third prizes worth VND40 million each.

The organisers will also award prizes to most creative project, most-liked project and most outstanding project by students.

The winners will also have a chance to get investment, sponsorship and consultancy from experienced entrepreneurs to convert their start-up ideas/products into reality.

They will also get the opportunity for approaching local and international investment funds and receive training in running a start-up business from prestigious entrepreneurs.

The competition will be held across the country.

Firms hail progress in Viet Nam’s business environment
     
Breakthroughs in the business environment have created a foundation for renovation, contributing to the growth of the economy and local firms.

This was said at an award ceremony to felicitate the winners of BP500-Top 500 Prosperous Firms 2018 list.

The ranking was announced by Viet Nam Report and online newspaper VietnamNet in Ha Noi on Wednesday. This is the eighth consecutive year the list has been announced based on independent researches and assessment outcomes of Viet Nam Report.

The list aims to honour companies with stable business results and growth potential and that contribute significantly to the country’s prosperity.

Economists and enterprises at the event showed that the BP500 firms achieved positive results.

Last year was considered the year of records. GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate reached 6.81 per cent, the highest in the past 10 years. FDI (foreign direct investment) was some US$36 billion while disbursement was $17 billion. At least 126,859 companies were newly established, and the import-export turnover was $400 billion. The inflation rate was 3.53 per cent, which was lower than the set target.

New policies, including a resolution on the development of the private economic sector, renewal of State-owned enterprises, support to small-and-medium sized firms and restructuring of credit institutions have contributed to a high growth of the Vietnamese economy.

Ngo Thanh Phong, general director of FDC Investment Construction JSC, said the number of sub-licences had sharply reduced owing to reforms in the business environment and mechanism. In addition to this, the reduced lending interest rate and stable exchange rate have created a favourable business environment for companies’ growth. This has proved the efforts of the Government in recent years.

Most of the top 500 prosperous firms are optimistic about the economy this year with expectations of high growth and are planning to expand their business.

The market potential of both local and regional areas, together with an improved business environment, will create new development oportunities for companies, the firms said.

Most Vietnamese companies are looking to improve their productivity in 2018, as this has been an area of weakness for many.

Nguyen Xuan Thu, deputy general director of Delta Group, said they were studying new technologies in construction to improve productivity.

“By applying new technologies, we will need just one labourer to the current four,” he said.

The firms said they were ready to welcome challenges and grab opportunities by seeking new markets and implementing joint venture projects. They were also willing to pour into promising start-ups.

Talking about the barriers to development, business firms said they were most concerned about administrative procedures and tax issues, although the Government has made some efforts in this regard. More than half of the surveyed firms rated administrative procedures in Viet Nam at the average level.

They said further acceleration of administrative reforms would be a vital support for their development this year.

Economist Nguyen Quang Thai of the Viet Nam Economic Association, however, said the growth quality of the economy lacked sustainability despite the high growth rate in recent years.

He said this was evident in productivity, quality, effectiveness and competitiveness.

At the event, Viet Nam Report also announced a list of the 10 best firms in the areas of real estate, construction and construction material in 2018, with Vingroup, Khang Dien and Nova among the best firms.

SMEs to get more opportunities to access loans
     
LienVietPostBank and Viet Nam Association of Small-and-Medium Enterprises (VINASME) on Thursday signed a co-operation agreement in Ha Noi to provide comprehensive financial support to SMEs.

Accordingly, the two sides would help SMEs access credit resources and preferential financial services. They would help SMEs realise their start-up ideas, transition from household businesses to company models, as well as improve their financial management ability.

Under the agreement, the two sides would build a customer database, seeking and calling for capital from the Government, local and foreign funds, as well as help VINASME’s members participate in the credit programme.

LienVietPostBank also committed to supporting SMEs in terms of technology and digital banking, based on its Vi Viet e-wallet, the bank’s online banking service.

“SMEs have affirmed their position as a key force for the economy’s development,” said Nguyen Van Than, VINASME’s chairman, at the signing ceremony.

Statistics showed that by the end of 2016, the number of SMEs reached nearly 500,000, accounting for 98 per cent of the total firms in the country and providing jobs to 5.7 million labourers.

However, the association said more than 200,000 SMEs were given bank loans, which is a modest number despite the fact that the Government issued many policies and solutions to support SMEs and provide more opportunities for them to access bank loans.

Banks said lending to SMEs was still difficult as they lacked guarantee assets and financial reports, while administrative and risk management were also weak.

Nguyen Dinh Thang, LienVietPostBank’s chairman of the management board, said by the end of last year, the bank’s outstanding loans to SMEs were some VND12 trillion with 15,000 SMEs.

“The bank has implemented many programmes to support SMEs such as project financing, road maintenance fund packages, hi-tech agriculture lending, trade financing and guarantee,” Thang said.

KIDO eyes tie-ups to hit 70% growth target
     
Food producer KIDO Group announced on Wednesday that it would strengthen co-operation with partners to further explore the enormous essentail foods market.

According to the company, the market is worth VND250 trillion (US$11 billion), it said. It plans to diversify into areas like frozen foods, fresh foods and everything needed in a kitchen. A KIDO representative told Viet Nam News that the company was working with foreign original equipment manufacturing partners to study Vietnamese consumer tastes following which it would order products from the partners. If its efforts are successful, KIDO would make these products in Viet Nam, she said.

There would be many tie-ups this year to expand the company’s distribution network and acquisition activities, she said. This way the company targeted revenue growth of 70 per cent this year, she added. At its annual general meeting on Wednesday the company said it expected revenues of VND12 trillion ($526 million) and profits of VND800 billion ($35 million), a 40 per cent rise. It expected to pay dividends of 16 per cent in cash for this year.

Roof solar power solution deal inked
     
SolarGATES Joint Stock Trading Company and SCG Roof Viet Nam (a member of Siam Cement Group Thailand), have agreed to distribute solar power equipment, including concrete roof tiles and solar power panels, to families in Viet Nam and around Southeast Asia.

SolarGATES, a member of HCM City-based SolarBK Holdings Group, said the deal will help provide combined solar power panels and concrete roofs for households in Thailand market, as well as elsewhere in Asia via SCG’s agents and showrooms.

SolarGATES will provide made-in-Viet Nam solar power panels for renewable power from 2kWp (Kilowatt photovoltaic) to 10kWp, solar-powered water heaters and solar cells for solar power-generated backpacks, suitcases and umbrellas.

The agreement marked further co-operation between two partners in providing clean energy for household use in Viet Nam and Asia.

Earlier, SCG Roof Viet Nam began distributing roof solar power solutions for household use in central Viet Nam.

In 2017, Irex Energy JSC, a company of SolarBK Holdings, began construction of a high-tech renewable-energy device factory complex in Ba Ria-Vung Tau with total investment of US$17 million.

SolarBK Holdings has been seen as a forerunner in developing solar-powered water heaters, wind power turbines, solar power-driven sea water filter systems and renewable use solutions in Viet Nam.

According to European experts, Rooftop solar power in Viet Nam could be smoothly integrated into the national grid, and the cost of solar power installation in Viet Nam is lower than in countries such as the US.

The Vietnamese Government has set ambitious targets to install 12GW of solar power by 2030.

US' Eaton shakes hands with Digiworld

Power management company Eaton has signed a new distribution agreement with its strategic partner Digiworld Corporation (HOSE: DGW) to supply power management technologies and services in Vietnam.

Pichai Suthijintatip, Eaton’s regional director, power quality for Indochina, Thailand, Myanmar, and Bangladesh region, said that the company provides energy-efficiency solutions that help customers effectively manage electric, hydraulic, and mechanical power more efficiently, safely and sustainably.

“At Eaton, we help our customers maintain productivity, reduce energy consumption, and protect their capital investments through innovative power management solutions. We are dedicated to improving people’s lives and the environment with powerful technologies and solutions,” he said.

According to Suthijintatip, the tie-up with Digiworld will help Eaton to deepen its presence in Vietnam and provide top-notch quality services to Vietnamese people, helping them solve some of their biggest power management challenges through its industry-leading electric products and services.

With the large coverage of its nationwide distribution network and 20 years of experience as a distributor of more than 30 world-renowned technology brands, Digiworld is primed to take Eaton to more customers and providing them strong prospects in accessing innovative power management technologies and solutions.

Digiworld CEO Doan Hong Viet shared that, “This partnership is a positive step towards meeting our growth goals in the ICT business segment and enabling our customers to access exclusive power management technologies that are more reliable, efficient, safe, and sustainable."

"We are confident about the opportunities that this partnership will bring to the Vietnamese people and the growth ambitions of both our companies,” he added.

Eaton is a power management company with sales of $20.4 billion in 2017. The company is dedicated to improving the quality of life and the environment through the use of power management technologies and services. Eaton has approximately 96,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries.

Digiworld is the leading market expansion services provider in Vietnam with a great trackrecord, especially in the ICT sector. With the core strength of five values−added services including market analysis, marketing, sales, logistics, and after-sales services—Digiworld provides top-notch services and tailor-made solutions for the most rapid and effective market penetration and market expansion for brands entering Vietnam.

TBS Logistics Center leads local logistics

TBS Logistics Center, a subsidiary of TBS Group, is positioned to capitalise on the increasing demand for warehouse space and logistics services in Vietnam.

TBS Logistics Center is slated to run a key logistics centre for Vietnam and the entire region, which is being planned to cover 115 hectares. The centre is situated in heart of Vietnam’s most dynamic economic region, bordering the southern provinces of Binh Duong, and Dong Nai, and Ho Chi Minh City.

By virtue of its strategic location, TBS Logistics Center is connected to major industrial parks, ports, and international airports in the southern economic region. It provides deepwater access through the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex as well as waterway and road connectivity, which is expected to offset transportation costs and help smooth trade flow.

TBS Logistics Center owns five modern warehouses with 133,500 square metres (sq.m) of warehouse space and 60,000sq.m of container yards. All of its warehouses are equipped with cutting-edge technology and equipment to maximise sorting capabilities for importing and exporting goods.

With large-scale infrastructure, the logistics centre is designed to accommodate hundreds of trucks of all sizes with the capacity of transporting up to 500,000 cubic metres (m3) of cargo a month. It has capacity for storing up to 250,000m3 of cargo ranging from bonded to domestic warehousing and general goods storage. TBS Logistics Center offers a wide range of services including an internal clearance point, a container freight station, bonded warehousing, an empty container depot, and a container yard. In addition, the centre has three customs offices, which helps ease customs procedures for its clients.

The ability to deliver diversified and flexible services at a competitive price is a major selling point of TBS Logistics Center. As a result, the centre has become partners with worldwide logistics corporations such as APL Logistics, Damco, DHL, Yusen, Expeditors, and Geodis.

With the desire to increase value to customers, the company continues its efforts to improve its capacities and functions for the logistics sector. TBS Logistics Center focuses on its core values in every activity, namely professionalism, flexibility, and the application of cutting-edge technology and customer service.

As a result, the logistics company has reported compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of 15-20 per cent over the past few years. The high growth is attributed to its large-scale warehousing and storage facilities and better services.

According to market research company Ken Research, Vietnam’s logistics and warehousing market is expected to register a positive CAGR of 13.3 per cent during the period 2018-2022. The market is further expected to be driven by expanding industrial activities, the growing e-commerce industry, newly-developed infrastructure in the country, and continuous investment by the government in the development of logistics infrastructure and consistent economic growth.

Meanwhile, according to a report by Vietnam’s Maritime Administration, Vietnamese seaports received 519 million tonnes of cargo in 2017, up 6 per cent compared to 2016. The seaports were handling 165.7 million tonnes of container cargo alone, up 12 per cent against 2016. This is the third consecutive year that Vietnam recorded high growth in the amount of cargo shipped via seaports, creating additional demand for logistics providers.

Recognising the increasing demand for such services, TBS Logistics Center has started investments to build new facilities. It is developing its sixth warehouse, covering roughly 51,000sq.m. The project has completed 60 per cent of the construction work and is slated to become operational in the second half of the year. The opening of the new warehouse will bring its total warehouse space to 180,000sq.m.

Furthermore, TBS Logistics Center will continue to diversify its logistics services to keep abreast of market trends in Vietnam and the region. In particular, it plans to develop warehouse to suit the demands of the fast-growing e-commerce market.

In fact, TBS Logistics Center is constantly investing to improve and adapt its logistics solutions to serve new customers. The company also applies a customer-centric strategy to ensure service quality and keep close relationships with its current customers.

To make its services more competitive, the company has recently invested in an infrastructure project to improve traffic connectivity from its centre to the My Phuoc-Tan Van expressway. The project will facilitate traffic flow for goods coming in and out of the logistics centre.

It is also expected to cut travel time from TBS Logistics Center to nearby industrial parks (IP) including Song Than IP, Vietnam-Singapore IP, Viet Huong IP, Tan Uyen IP, Amata IP, and many more.

TBS Logistics Center has also invested in modern infrastructure and equipment, including a smart information technology system, a modern commodity security system, and a green space in compliance with requirements on customer logistics services.

With the desire to become a key logistics centre in Vietnam and a strategic logistics partners for both local and international customers, TBS Logistics Center hopes to contribute to the logistics systems of the key southern economic zone, which accounts for 80 per cent of import-export containers shipped nationwide.

TBS Logistics Center has delivered a wide range of tailor-made logistics services to satisfy all logistics needs for clients who wish to capture growing and emerging domestic and global markets for their goods and services.

Moreover, human resources play an important role in the firm’s growth and success. TBS Logistics Center has built a pool of qualified staff members experienced and knowledgeable in the field of logistics, to maintain quality services.

TBS Logistics Center was established in 2009 as a subsidiary of TBS Group. The group began operating in 1992 as a leather footwear company, but nowadays invests in six key business segments, namely footwear, handbags, investment and asset management, logistics, hospitality, and retail. Each business segment plays an important role in the group’s growth and development.