Vietnam Asks State-Owned Firms to Sell Foreign Currencies

By Nguyen Pham Muoi. Jun 02th, 2011, from The Wall Street Journal. HANOI—The State Bank of Vietnam has asked all state-owned firms to sell their foreign currency to banks beginning July 1, part of a plan outlined in February to eliminate the use of foreign money in the domestic market.

The central bank announced the directive Wednesday in a statement on its website. It didn’t provide details on the amount of foreign currency state-owned firms are believed to hold.

The central bank also asked banks to raise their reserve ratio for foreign-currency deposits maturing in less than 12 months to 7%, from 6%. This will raise banks’ costs to absorb dollar deposits and should eventually force them to offer lower interest rates on such deposits, discouraging the public from holding dollars.

Hanoi-based bankers said the latest steps are in line with government efforts to boost the value of the local currency, the dong, and build Vietnam’s foreign-exchange reserves. On Thursday the central bank capped the interest rate offered on individuals’ dollar deposits at 2%—down from the 3% limit set in March—and lowered the cap for corporate accounts to 0.5% from 1%.

These steps come after the dong has lost more than 15% of its value against the U.S. dollar over the past two years. The central bank has devalued the currency four times but still has failed to stop the bleeding.

“Though the government has introduced various measures to control imports, monthly trade deficits have been rising fast so far this year, making the authorities come out with new steps to support the dong’s value and improve foreign reserves,” one executive at a commercial bank said.

According to Nguyen Hai Ha, an analyst with MBCapital, one of Vietnam’s largest fund management groups, the steps will help the central bank meet short-term targets on the reserves and the exchange rate.

In the long run, however, “the dollar is expected to rise because local reserves of the U.S. currency are thin, while trade deficits continue to rise,” the analyst said.

The central bank said companies will be able to buy back dollars later if they need them.

Vietnam’s trade deficit widened to $1.7 billion in May from $1.49 billion in April, its largest monthly deficit since December 2009, government figures showed.

The country’s trade deficit during the January-May period was $6.59 billion, compared with $5.46 billion deficit a year earlier.

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Macau Casino Group Poured Billions of Dollars into Vietnam

Sun City is currently the largest casino resort group in Macau, spending billions of dollars investing heavily in casino resorts in Asia and set up casino business in Vietnam.

The group was founded in 2007, owns about 17 VIP clubs and 280 gaming tables, serving Macau’s largest betting and casino market as well as VIP clubs in Korea, China and Philippines.

Currently, Sun City operates large casinos with monthly betting up to 130 billion HKD (approximately 17 billion USD). However, in order to expand its business in Asia, Sun City is spending billions of dollars investing in casino real estate projects in Japan and other countries, including Vietnam.

This plan of Sun City kicked off in 2014 with the acquisition of shares and the bid to operate large casinos in many countries.

In Vietnam, a 4 billion USD casino resort project in South Hoi An is underway to build phase 1 with a total investment of 500 million USD with the participation of Sun City. Three partners involved in investing in this billion dollar resort complex are Sun City, Chow Tai Fook (Hong Kong) and Vinacapital.

According to Bloomberg, Sun City owns 34% of the complex through its subsidiary and has acquired the casino management contract of the project.

The South Hoi An project has scale of up to 985.6 ha, the total investment is 4 billion USD. Currently, the phase 1 of the project is expected to develop on an area of about 163 ha, with an investment of nearly 500 million USD, including resort, casino complex, luxury golf course, hotel rooms, luxury apartments and add-ons…

Previously, Sun City has also been eyeing the Vietnam resort market when concerning and want to invest in a casino project in Duong To (Phu Quoc). However, due to the land fund in this area has been licensed to other investors, Sun City wants to replace by Rach Tram, Bai Thom commune.

In 2010, VinaCapital and Gentinh Berhad of Maylaysia were licensed to invest in South Hoi An project, however, due to financial difficulties, in 2012, Gentinh Berhad unexpectedly withdrew from this project, thus VinaCapital has been continuously seeking for investment cooperation partner. In 2014, Hong Kong billionaire Cheng Yu Tung – the owner of Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook, a Hong Kong-owned jewelery and real estate group, ranked by Forbes as the fourth richest person in Hong Kong with total assets worth 16.2 billion USD has participated into this project, in partnership with Sun City and VinaCapital.

With the expansion of casino-based real estate business in Vietnamas well as in other countries in the region, Sun City is clearly seeking to become a leading casino corporation in the world, such as Las Vegas Sands or Wynn Resorts.

According to Bloomberg, Sun City’s expansion ambitions are planned even when the Macau casino market is growing fast thanks to China’s economy recovering and players spending more and more money, with a 20.4% increase in August. Casino revenue in Vietnam is estimated at 1.2 billion USD, according to Grand Govertsen, a Macau-based gaming analyst. Finally, also according to this report, Vietnam now has about 30 gaming establishments with prizes with 1,900 slot machines and 400 tables. With the relationships with VIP customers of Sun City, it is believed that the project will achieve significant ROI.

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Hau Giang Receives 2 Energy Investment Projects

Energy is always a promising sector to attract foreign investors to set up business in Vietnam.

Recently, while many provinces in the Mekong Delta are thirsty for foreign direct investment (FDI), Hau Giang – a province with difficult socio-economic conditions, is receiving investment registration of 2 FDI projects with investment capital of over 4 billion USD in energy sector.

According to the Department of Planning and Investment of Hau Giang province, the 1st project is the Jinko Solar Vietnam, which is the solar polar plant, invested by Jinko Solar International Development Co., Ltd (Hong Kong) in Hoa An commune, Phung Hiep district, Hau Giang province with the goal of producing commercial electricity from solar energy. The plant has a designed capacity of 35 MW, using 40ha of land and the land lease period is 50 years.

The total investment capital of the project is 1,168 billion VND (equivalent to 52.5 million USD). According to the legal representative of Jinko Solar International Development Co., Ltd, the company has sufficient financial resources to carry out the project. In terms of technology, the plant uses the technology to convert optical energy into electricity using energy panels (photovoltaic technology) for high conversion efficiency, reasonable investment cost and suitable with Vietnam climate.

The 2nd project is the Song Hau 3 thermal power plant, invested by Viet Lao Energy Development and Investment Joint Stock Company, representing the consortium of investors including: Deo Ca Investment JSC, Viet Lao Energy Development and Investment JSC, Phongsubthavy Irrigation – Bridge and Road Construction Co., Ltd (headquartered in Vientiane, Laos). The investors propose location of the project at Song Hau Electricity Center, Phu Huu A commune, Chau Thanh district, Hau Giang province.

The objective of the project is to invest in the construction of a thermal power plant to supply commercial electricity to the national electricity network to meet the increasing demand for electricity. The design capacity of the plant is about 2,000 MW (3 x 660 MW), the operating hour is about 6,500 hours per year; annual consumption output is 13 billion kWh per year. The land area for the project is 117.08 hectares, including the main factory area, slag yards, construction yard…The project implementation period is 50 years from the date receiving investment policy decision. Total investment of the project is estimated at 81 trillion VND (equivalent to 3.636 billion USD), 100% investors capital.

At the present, there are 29 FDI projects in Hau Giang province with total capital of 808,563,599 USD. If the 2 above projects are granted investment certificates, then Hau Giang will rise to the 2nd place in terms of attracting FDI investment in the Mekong Delta (only after Long An province, which currently attracts above 6.7 billion USD of FDI capital).

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M&A Due Diligence and Execution in Vietnam

Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activities in Vietnam have been rapidly increasing over the the years in value and number of transactions when Vietnam’s opening policies to attract foreign investments loosen up.  The M&A due diligence and execution are therefore important steps to ensure a successful transaction.

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Vietnamese Chains Attracting Foreign Funds

US Billionaire Mark Mobius Expanding Investment in Vietnam

Japan Increases Investment in Vietnam in Finance and Services

For foreign investors wishing to take advantage with a certain level of risks in Vietnam where the cost of labour are cheap, mid-income populations are growing, and the need of capital are high, it is imporatant to find the right target companies to invest.  Challenges might arise when approaching the right local companies, locating the right decision makers within the local companies, encountering differences in languages and cultures.

It is imporant that the local consultants with the understanding of the business and legal environment in Vietnam where the local companies are incorporated could be involved at an initial stage to monitor and minimize the risks, improve the effectiveness of the M&A process in Vietnam.

The Vietnam consulting company could also provide corporate intelligence and insights of the Vietnam targeted companies to have an overall evaluation of the compliance of the Vietnam companies, possible risks involved and growth potential.  Financial forensic services might also be needed before other further steps.  Then, the following will need to be considered when undertaking the M&A in Vietnam.

Due diligence

M&A due diligence in Vietnam is a vital step because it determines whether the M&A will succeed or not. There are some aspects that must be carefully considered:

• Financial reports

Review all the financial reports of the Vietnam targeted companies within 3 to 5 years to assess the current and future financial situation. These data needs to be audited by a reputable independent auditing company. Evaluating financial situation targets on many aspects such as the reasonable connection between the financial statements, operating and sales margin of the business in relation to the average in that industry.  These data allow valuation real value of the targetbusiness.

• The cash flow

Checking the dates on invoices showing that whether targeted businesses have paid promptly or not. Term of payment may vary from industry to industry, but generally 30 to 60 days. If the money order is paid after the billing date period of 90 days or more, it means that the business owner may be struggling with cash flow. Finding out that if the clients’ inability to pay bills or not is very important.

• The staff

Determining the importance of staff for the success of the businessconsidering work habits of employees, working time of key employees; ability to remain working after a change of the owner occurs; the incentives necessary to keep key employees; ability to easily replace key employees; the relationship of key employees with the company’s customers.

• The customers

This is the most important assets of the Vietnam targeted company. Make sure that clients are as the other tangible assets of the business. Evaluating customers on some primary aspects: the relationship with the current owner of the business, customer history with business relations and the contribution of each customer to the profits of the company; assessing that customer will leave or stay when the business having new owners; customer services and dispute of the company, the relationship of the former owner of the business with the community or the industry.

• Business location

This is especially important if the targeted company is a retail company. Does the importance of business location play a crucial role for the success of the company? How is the location of the company you plan to acquire? Is there sufficient parking lot for customers? How does the company depend on sales in the region? How is the prospects of the business in this area? Does this place have been in the process of rapid change from new residential district office building or not? Has business location become more or less desirable because of contemplated changes in surrounding area or not?

• Competitors

Considering this aspect in order to define the capacity of the targeted business in the industry, the following questions would help: who are its competitor and what are their strategies? Does the price war happen frequently? How has the competitive environment changed?

• Business registration, permits and zoning

It’s necessary to make sure that business registration certificate and other legal documents can be easily given to the buyer. It would be better to acknowledge the procedures to transfer these documents and its fee with the help of local management consulting company in Vietnam. If the targeted company is a joint-stocks company, what is the procedure for the business registration? Can foreigners own the company 100% according to Vietnam laws?  Conditional investments in Vietnam need to be considered carefully by lawyers in Vietnam to avoid mishaps.

• The company image

Company image can be a significant asset and that cannot be assessed in the financial report. There are many intangible factors to consider when evaluating a company: how to serve customers, how employees answer the phone and the level of support the community or the industry.

Negotiate the price

It is important to understand the purpose and motivation of both parties. The sellers’ motivation are formed and affected by value drivers. There are two main value drivers which are approach value and avoidance value. Approach value is our purpose such as prosperity and avoidance value is the negative effect that we need to eliminate. Normally, the buyers try to find out what are the reasons why the owner wish to sell the companies. This will help the buyers plan a reasonable strategy beforehand.

A research analyzes the general aspects that the buyers seeking for via conducting surveys companies’ owner who have sold or transformed their enterprises. The research results are focus on profit maximization (79%), minimization of tax payable (73%), protection of viability of the company (71%)…(Source: Acquisition Marketplace Review, 2007).

The motivation of the buyer in most cases is similar to the motivation of the seller, which is to maximize profits, expand markets, increase revenue, operating areas, areas of activity, minimize taxes…

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting servicesthat assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice
• Outsourcing Services

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

How ANT Consulting Could Help Your Business?

Please click here to learn more about ANT Consulting or contact our lawyers and consultants in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antconsult.vn or call our office at +84 28 3520 2779

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JLL: Vietnam Tourism and Hotel Industry Is Growing

Vietnam tourism industry has achieved steady growth in recent years. Furthermore, Vietnam has become an attractive tourist destination for foreign visitors.

According to a report of JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle), Vietnam resort real estate has become one of the most mentioned markets in Asia Pacific and in the future, the potential for development is still very wide open.

In 2015, Vietnam has seen a strong increase in the number of foreign tourists when it exceeds the goal of 10 million international visitors by 2020. According to Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in 2017 Vietnam is expected to increase by 15% the number of international tourist arrivals to 11.5 million and tourism industry ‘s revenue will reach 20 billion USD.

In order to facilitate growth, the Government of Vietnam has recently exempted visas for travelers from many countries. As a result, the number of international tourists has increased steadily. The target for international visitors travelling to Vietnam in 2020 has been revised up to 20 million tourists with 30 billion USD in revenue and generated 3.5 million jobs in the tourism sector, increased sharply compared with the initial target of 10 million visitors.

According to JLL, the impressive growth in the number of tourists travelling to Vietnam will promote important strategies and increase investment in tourism product development to take advantage of existing strengths in the domestic tourism industry, as well as the development of new areas. As infrastructure investment continues to grow and private funds participating in the transportation and hotel sectors, Vietnam may open new destinations beyond its usual destinations such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang/Hoi An.

Along with the “boom” in the number of tourists travelling to Vietnam, tourism products are also increasingly diversified, the resort real estate products associated with golf course are opened, the Government also loosen the regulates on the activities of prize-winning entertainment complex. In addition, the type of ecotourism, culinary tourism, spiritual tourism is also expanded more diverse.

According to JLL, the strong growth of the tourism industry and the number of visitors are shown most clearly in the resort real estate supply, especially condotel. Accordingly, in the period 2017 – 2018, Da Nang will welcome about 2,500 hotel rooms come into operation, the number in Nha Trang is 2,200 and Phu Quoc is about 2,000.

Assessing the potential of the resort tourism industry, according to JLL, Vietnam’s increasing tourist arrivals and a growing economy make the hotel and resort market attractive to many investors in the region. To sum up, Vietnam resort real estate has become one of the most mentioned markets in Asia Pacific. In the near future, international hotel operators are increasingly interested in resorts, while real estate developers continue to seek investment opportunities.

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Why Binh Duong – Highlight of Attracting FDI

Binh Duong is a potential destination in Vietnam for foreign corporation to set-up business and manufacturing facility.

According to the latest data of the Department of Planning and Investment of Binh Duong Province, in the first 11 months of 2015, this province has attracted 1.823 billion USD FDI capitals, reaching 182% of the annual plan, increase by 19% over the same period in 2014. With this result, Binh Duong occupies the 4thposition in the country in attracting FDI and continues to assert as a “hot address” in attracting investment in the Southern key economic zone.

Benefits of Setting up Business in Hanoi

Benefits of Setting up Business in Da Nang

Benefits of Setting up Business in Ho Chi Minh City

Assistance in Setting up Business in Vietnam

M&A Services in Vietnam

Most recently, in November 2015, Binh Duong province has granted the investment registration certificate for the project Kocham Tower with a total investment of 2 million USD to build the office building, culture school, Korean cuisine restaurant… This project comes from the idea of Association of Korean businesses in Binh Duong in which they want to have working place near the company’s factory and the provincial government then they can proposed opinions to tackle the problem.

In the spirit of creating the most favorable conditions for business and investors, the provincial authorities have flexibility in approving the project. The project was granted an area of 1,500 m2 in Binh Duong New City and Korean businesses has also promised to quickly organize funds and complete the project in the shortest time.

In the period 2010 – 2015, FDI attraction of Binh Duong has developed rapidly, with an additional of 879 FDI projects with a total investment of over 8 billion USD. So far, in Binh Duong, there are 2567 FDI projects with total registered capital of 22.244 billion USD from 40 countries and territories. In particular, investment in industrial parks is 1,523 projects with a total investment of 13.972 billion USD, accounting for 62.8% of total FDI capital in the province.

In recent years, Binh Duong province has actively building programs, promotion, investment attraction; timely solution to remove difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing the project has created confidence for investors; focusing resources on promoting the construction of infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure; improve the investment environment, implementation of administrative reform to enhance the competitiveness of the province.

Binh Duong has 2 billion-USD-project, all of them are in the field of real estate. About attracting FDI, Binh Duong encourages investment in fields as high-tech, supporting industry, attracting large-scale projects, joining the global production chain.

Immediately before and after the TPP was signed, there was a wave of FDI enterprises coming to Binh Duong seeking investment opportunities and quickly making decisions.

According to information from leaders of Polytex Far Eastern VN (Taiwan), this enterprise is licensed for their 274 million USD project at Bau Bang Industrial Zone in 2015. They admitted to set-up factory in Vietnam to catch the opportunities from TPP and implement the trend to move factories from China, Taiwan to Vietnam.

The Vietnam market is very potential, especially the opportunities after joining the TPP. Therefore, in the future, many foreign enterprises will continue to expand their scale.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice
• Outsourcing Services

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

We could be reached at email: ant@antconsult.vn or tel: +8428 3520 2779 .  To learn more about us, please visit www.antconsult.vn

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Korean Investors Interested in Vietnam Stock Market

Came to Vietnam this time, the Korea Financial Investment Association included CEOs of many securities companies, fund management companies with managed capital flows of about 350 billion USD.

At the workshop named “Capital market and prospects for investment cooperation between Vietnam – Korea”, organized by Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) and the Korea Financial Investment Association, many investors expressed their interest in Vietnam’s exchange traded funds (ETF), the obstacles that these funds may be encountered when listed on the Korean stock market, or the opportunities to invest in state owned enterprises (SOE) that are about to be equitized and divested.

According to the Chairman of HOSE, as of the beginning of December 2015, Vietnam financial market has 34 legal entities which are branches and offices of Korean companies that are operating, supplying a variety of services, create excitement and enhance the value added to the market.

Benefits of Setting up Business in Hanoi

Benefits of Setting up Business in Da Nang

Benefits of Setting up Business in Ho Chi Minh City

Assistance in Setting up Business in Vietnam

M&A Services in Vietnam

In recent years, the authorities have taken many ways to attract foreign investors such as loosening room, promoting the equitization of SOE, launched new products, efforts to improve the market… thereby creating attractiveness and long-term potential for Vietnam stock market, which opens up attractive investment opportunities for these investors.

The workshop is expected to provide more information, introduce potential areas with different views for Korean investors.

According to the President of the Korea Financial Investment Association, annually, the Association often organizes visits to financial agencies in many different countries to learn about investment demand. This year, the delegation come to Vietnam are all the CEOs of the securities companies, fund management companies with managed capital flows of about 350 billion VND.

The reasons for choosing Vietnam of the Association to be the destination to explore investment opportunities because Vietnam is getting more attention from international investors, especially when TPP was signed and Vietnam is also member of Asean Economic Community.

In addition, the Government of Vietnam is making efforts to improve the investment environment, this is the foundation for Vietnam’s economy to develop and become an attractive destination.

Korean investors at the workshop expressed their interest in Vietnam stock market, especially investor structure, the number of listed companies, the number of fund management companies, establishing pension fund, listing the ETF Vietnam on the Korea stock market and investment opportunities to invest in SOE that are about to equitized and divested.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice
• Outsourcing Services

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

How ANT Consulting Could Help Your Business?

Please click here to learn more about ANT Consulting or contact our lawyers and consultants in Vietnam for advice via email ant@antconsult.vn or call our office at +84 28 3520 2779

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Indian Businesses Consider Vietnam as a New Investment Destination

On the occasion of the 45th anniversary of Vietnam – India diplomatic relations and 10 years of strategic cooperation between the two countries, Mr P. Harish, Ambassador of India to Vietnam said that the two countries’ cooperation is very nice, many Indian businesses are considering Vietnam as a new investment destination in the region and choose to set up business in Vietnam.

India and Vietnam relationship have been developing very strongly since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1972. The two countries advanced their relationship into strategic partnership in 2007 and then became comprehensive strategy in September 2016, when the Prime Minister of India visited Vietnam. This cooperation framework includes security, defense, economic and cultural cooperation, high-level delegation exchanges and people-to-people exchanges.

In terms of trade, bilateral trade has increased tenfold, from 1.15 billion USD in fiscal year 2006 – 2007, to 10.1 billion USD in fiscal year 2016 – 2017 (according to Indian data). The two countries’ leaders have set a bilateral trade target of 15 billion USD by 2020. India is among the top 10 trading partners of Vietnam and Vietnam is India’s fifth largest trading partner in ASEAN region.

Regarding investment, Vietnam currently has 136 Indian projects, with a total registered capital of about 1.28 billion USD, including capital from India through third countries, mainly focusing on areas as oil and gas, renewable energy, minerals, agricultural product processing, information technology and automotive components. The latest project of India in Vietnam is the instant coffee processing project of Tata Coffee Company in Binh Duong province, with a total registered capital of 63 million USD.

In order to achieve this goal, Vietnam and India need to work more closely in strengthening the exchange of business delegations and encouraging investment in one another, to promote trade.

In addition, Vietnam and India are expected to strengthen connectivity in aviation and sea line. Expected this year, Vietjet will open direct flights to India. Furthermore, linkage in the banking and finance sectors is also accelerating. Also, India has also strengthened its projects in Vietnam in the areas of human resource development, IT capacity building, English language teaching and science and technology.

With such a multidisciplinary approach, we can realize a comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and explore the potentials of two nations.

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Education Startup Will Flourish in Vietnam

Education startup will become great opportunity for foreign investors to invest in Vietnam as well as the Vietnam startup community.

GotIt!, a Startup, a Mobile App which is built on the question – answer foundation for a long time has been presented in the top 10 educational apps on App Store in the US. GotIt! has received 9 million USD from Capricorn Investment Group. Investors of GotIt! are also the people who invest in companies creating products that have changed the world such as Tesla Motor, SpaceX, and PlanetLabs. They believe that GotIt! will become “the next big thing” when GotIt! provides services in the areas beyond education.

One other education startup which is ELSA – teaching English pronunciation, has just passed 1,200 competitors to win first prize at SXSWedu – a competition in education technology startup, organized in the United States. This application uses artificial intelligence technology to help users improve their English pronunciation.

And yet, a different startup which is Monkey Junior, specializing in foreign language teaching has won the competition “GIST Tech-I 2016” held in the US after passing more than 1,000 competitors from 104 countries in the world. This is the startup contest initiated by the US government and received the backing of Mark Zuckerberg – CEO of Facebook – as well as many powerful individuals in Silicon Valley.

Belongs to the EdTech field, which is attracting the attention of Vietnamese startup community, Monkey Junior application is available on App Store, Google Play and Amazon with a large number of users from the US (accounted for 43%), Vietnam ( 10-20%), Canada, France… Although this app aims to teach foreign languages, the point to make up the difference for Monkey Junior is that the teaching contents are directed at children, especially children under 6 years old.

We have to mention one other EdTech which is Code4Startup. Code4Startup is the online training website. Although training on programming is not new, the basic difference of Code4Startup is that it is not theoretical teaching, Code4Startup goes straight into practice by guiding learners to build real applications. Hence, Code4Startup has successfully calling for capital on KickStarter.

The common point of this 4 startups is that the project have high applicability, developing towards EdTech (educational technology) and “father” of them are all Vietnamese: GotIt! Of Dr Tran Viet Hung; Elsa was founded by Van Dinh Hong Vu Ngo Thuy Ngoc Tu; Monkey Junior of Dao Xuan Hoang and Code4Startup of Leo Trieu (Trieu Quang Anh).

Movement for startup towards EdTech (educational technology) are blooming and the fund as well as foreign investors are increasingly appreciating Edtech in Vietnam.

Every year, Vietnamese spent 3-4 billion USD to send their children to study abroad and the market for online education is very potential on a large scale. Vietnam is a country of more than 22 million pupils and students, is the large customer market that many education companies want to explore. On the other hand, the introduction of this community-based projects to apply in reality is very consistent with preference and development trend of modern education, easy to be welcomed by parents and students in Vietnam.

In addition to the potential of the market, international investors believe that the Vietnam startups in general and EdTech startups in particular have been contributed actively to the social advancement, improve community knowledge and update the world’s new trends in Vietnam; while also contributing to the economic development of the country. Similarly, in the world, such EdTech startups as the Knewton, Coursera, Udemy, Duolingo… are the clear proof of this.

The million dollars online training market has been receiving special attention of foreign investors. By the end of 2016, Vietnam had 309 investment projects in the fields of education and training with total registered capital of over 767 million USD.

Apax English is an example. Recently, ChungDahm Learning Education Corporation (Korea) and Egroup Education JSC have signed a memorandum of cooperation for an additional investment of of 10 million USD for English training in Vietnam. Earlier, ChungDahm Learning and Egroup have brought the Asian’s leading children English program to Vietnam with the brand “Apax”.

From the success of Apax English, many cooperation and investment projects in education are increasingly powerful. Next, there will be the project of SK Telecom (under the SK Group, one of the 3 largest Korean group), bringing the school of programming using intelligent robot to Vietnam. It will become the first cooperation in the education sector with Egroup.

With the above positive signals, hopefully that in the coming time, Vietnam education market will continue to receive “new wind” from the funds and foreign investors.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

• Advisory
• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

We could be reached at email: ant@antconsult.vn or tel: +8248 3520 2779 .  To learn more about us, please visit www.antconsult.vn

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Japan Investors Expand Investment in Dong Nai

Dong Nai is invested by Japanese investors

Japan is one of the two leading countries in pouring capital to invest in Dong Nai province since the beginning of this year and the main investment sector is supporting industry.

According to the Dong Nai Department of Planning and Investment, in the first three months of 2017, the province has granted investment registration certificates to 31 projects with foreign direct investment (FDI), with total investment capital of more than 314 million USD, including 15 newly licensed projects with total capital of nearly 137 million USD and 16 projects register to increase capital with total capital increase of more than 177 million USD.

Japan is one of two leading countries in pouring capital to invest in Dong Nai province since the beginning of this year. The field that Japanese businesses invest in Dong Nai is mainly supporting industry. Dong Nai is also the province that is currently calling for investment to increase the rate of supplying input materials for enterprises and also reducing imports.

In the recent 3 years, there are large numbers of Japanese enterprise come to Dong Nai to invest. In addition to Long Duc Industrial Park, which is primarily attracting Japanese businesses, other provinces have formed subdivisions to invite Japan’s SMEs to invest. Japanese enterprises investing in Dong Nai mainly in supporting industries, electricity, electronics, mechanics, machinery…

From the beginning of 2017, there are continuously Japan’s enterprises and local governments come to Dong Nai to explore investment opportunities. Notably, 22 enterprises coming from Sakai city, Osaka operating in the fields of mechanical engineering, steel, electricity, electronics… came to Dong Nai to visit Amata Industrial Park, Long Duc Industrial Park… to learn policies and investment opportunities.

Recently, Kobelco Environmental Solutions Joint Stock Company under Kobe Steel Group has proposed to the Dong Nai authorities to invest in the clean water treatment sector of the province. Kobelco entered Vietnam at the end of 2010 with the main activities which is water treatment, wastewater, recycling, waste treatment, operation and maintenance. In Dong Nai, the company has invested in waste water treatment system in Loteco Industrial Park and Long Duc Industrial Park.

According to experts, Vietnam’s participation in new FTAs offers many opportunities for businesses operating in Vietnam, including Japanese companies. Hence, more and more Japanese companies are choosing to set up company in Vietnam.

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