VietNamNet Bridge – Many Vietnamese billionaires will refuse to talk about themselves and their business, keeping the public out of the know and preferring to stay away from the stock market.

Ngo Han JSC (NHW), for example, has announced that it is no longer a public company. According to the Vietnam Depository Center, NHW had 98 shareholders by September 19, lower than the required number of shareholders to be a public company.

NHW, owned by well-known businesswoman Ngo Thi Thong, will have to de-list, even though NHW remains a profitable company which holds 40 percent of the electromagnetic-wire market share.

This bit of news has reminded investors of the recent de-listing of a number of businesses, including Nguyen Tuan Hai’s Alphanam (ALP) and Chu Thi Binh’s Minh Phu Seafood Company.

The ongoing movement of pulling shares out of the bourse, according to analysts, shows that businesses feel discouraged about the benefits of listing.  

Meanwhile, many other businesses, of large scale with high profits, led by reputable and well-known owners, have no intention of listing on the stock market.

Vu Van Tien and Dao Hong Tuyen are two big names whose companies people believe should be listed, as they are Vietnam’s richest billionaires with assets of billions of dollars.

However, information about their companies is “top secret”, because the shares of the companies they invest in have not been listed on the bourse, and there is no sign that they will be listed.

Vu Van Tien is the owner of Geleximco and ABBank. Dao Hong Tuyen, dubbed the “Tuan Chau Island King”, is busy with his multi-billion dollar project in Ha Long City.

Businesswoman Le Thi Thuy Nga, chair of Nam Cuong Group, who is believed to be a rival of Doan Nguyen Duc, the second richest millionaire on the stock market, is a powerful real-estate developer with dozens of projects in northern Vietnam.

Nga, which took over her husband’s post after his death in 2010, has been following his way of doing business in a discreet way.

Observers said that many powerful conglomerates, like the chaebols in South Korea, have appeared in Vietnam and are managed by well-known families.

These include Nguyen Thi Nga, the owner of BRG Group; Tu Huong of the Hoan Cau Group; the Ly Quy family and Truong Family; Tram Be; Nguyen Thi Dien of the Phuoc An Group; Do Minh Phu of Doji; and Vu Quang Hoi of Bitexco.

There are many reasons for Vietnamese businesspeople to seclude themselves from the public.

Speaking at the 2014 Vietnamese entrepreneur award ceremony, Le Phuoc Vu, chair of Hoa Sen Group, said: “It is not really good to become famous. Fame brings inconveniences.”

A retired worker also noted that his former young boss had never intended to list shares on the bourse, because the business would have to expose its finances.

“There is always the other side of the coin, and fame also can bring inconveniences,” he said.  

Manh Ha