Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup, contributed 48.5% of the capital, equivalent to VND 485 billion, and Phan Thu Huong owns 0.5%.

Unlike most other businesses established by Vingroup, this time Vuong has directly contributed capital to and is a major shareholder of VinES. VinES' main business is manufacturing batteries. If successful, VinES will provide batteries for VinFast’s electric cars. VinFast will not have to depend on scarce battery sources in the world, with about 70% being produced in China.

Vuong has invested in batteries amid the fast development of VinFast, with many branches opened in major countries such as the US, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. It targets becoming a global smart electric car company.

VinFast plans to enter the US and European markets with a line of electronic cars to compete with major domestic manufacturers such as Tesla and General Motors (GM) with an annual sale of 160,000 to 180,000 vehicles in the US, equivalent to 1% of total car sales in this country.

In late July, VinFast appointed former Volkswagen vice president as VinFast's global CEO after recruiting many senior management talents from major car manufacturers such as GM, Bosch, Tesla, Toyota, Porsche, BMW, Toyota and Nissan.

Producing batteries for electric vehicles is considered a battle between countries as well as car manufacturers. Demand for batteries for electric vehicles has outstripped supply in recent years.

The demand is expected to increase dozens of times in the next 10 years due to the high demand for electric vehicles. Many traditional car companies like GM of the US have been gradually turning to electric vehicle manufacturing.

The electric vehicle battery market is mainly controlled by a few large corporations such as Tesla, Panasonic, LG Chem... and most are concentrated in China. This industry is said to be promising and will attract large investments. Many start-ups in this field have appeared and expect a breakthrough. Some startups have had negligible sales and may fail to produce and sell electric vehicle batteries, but are valued highly on stock markets.

Vuong is the richest businessman in Vietnam's stock market, with about 9 billion USD. Recently, VinFast planned to raise capital in the world financial market with a valuation of about 50 billion USD.

Vietnam's stock market extended gains on August 10 on the back of energy and seafood shares.

The benchmark VN-Index on the Ho Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) increased by 0.19 per cent, to 1,362.43 points. Market breadth was positive as 217 stocks climbed while 157 declined.

The VN-Index had increased by 1.37 per cent, to close Monday at 1,359.86 points.

The liquidity continued to improve with nearly VN23 trillion (US$1 billion) poured into the southern bourse, equivalent to a trading volume of 716.5 million shares.

The VN30-Index, which tracks the 30 biggest stocks in market capitalisation on the southern market, lost 0.23 per cent to 1,494.41 points.

Of the VN30 basket, 12 stocks jumped while 17 slid, and one stayed unchanged.

V. Ha

Electric vehicles to be subject to tax incentives in Vietnam

The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoIT) has said it is cooperating with the Ministry of Finance to consider the provision of tax incentives to encourage the development and use of electric vehicles in Vietnam.

Gov't reviews Vingroup's proposal on electric-car policy

Some Vietnamese enterprises have invested in electric-car manufacturing and charging stations, but an overall electric car strategy has yet to be developed by the government.