Exclusive interview with Luong Vo Ta, General Director of Vinh Hung JSC, Vietnam

Established in 2006, Vinh Hung Trading, Consulting and Construction Joint Stock Company (Vinh Hung JSC) has become a leader in supplying products and technological solutions for transportation and industrial construction.

Vinh Hung sale’s network spreads throughout the country with the Head office based in Ha Noi, the Branch located in Ho Chi Minh city and the Representative office located in Da Nang. The company has played an important role in creating competitive advantages of Vinh Hung brand name, contributing to ensuring sustainable development of the Company in three fields: “Trading, Manufacturing, and Construction”.

An interview with Mr. Luong Vo Ta - General Director of Vinh Hung JSC about how the enterprise approaches Asian markets, especially to India during the Covid-19 pandemic and the opportunities along with challenges of Vinh Hung when expanding exports to these markets.

Can you share with our readers how Covid-19 situation updates are in Vietnam?

As of April 1st, 2021, there have been 2.603 total infections of coronavirus in Vietnam. At the moment, Vietnam has recorded 35 deaths related to the pandemic so far. Vietnam never had a national lockdown and we try to localize the lockdown and limit the area, as small as possible. In 2020, Vietnamese Government estimates showed the economy growing 2.9% and set to grow 6.6% in 2021. Although this is the slowest rate in more than 30 years, it still proves Vietnam to be a rare winner from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sharing a long border with China, Vietnam has appeared the first infected case since late January 2020. Right from that time, we have taken very drastic measures that most other countries had only implemented from March-April 2020 against Covid-19 such as:

• Closing the border, banning flights from China
• Testing and the mass, centralized quarantine of tens of thousands of people.
• Strengthening the propaganda to prevent epidemics
• Compulsory wearing masks in public places, spraying bacteria frequently, etc.

That is how we successfully contained Covid-19 and fulfilled the government's dual goals of controlling the epidemic while maintaining economic growth

How has Covid -19 affected Vietnamese enterprises?

As businesses in the world, Vietnamese enterprises were negative affected by the pandemic. When the first outbreak happened, enterprises were very confused, many factories closed, consumption decreased, and foreign investment decreased suddenly. Especially, Vietnam has a very high ratio of exports and imports to GDP (198%) so its economy depends a lot on the international market. As a result, we were affected strongly when the pandemic broke out around the world.

However, after efforts as mentioned above, Vietnam proclaimed success in containing the coronavirus and positioned itself as a safe place to do business, and capitalized on demand from international manufacturers looking to diversify their supply chains away from China. Exporters have more chances to expand to the global market while manufacturers in the world are stagnant because of the pandemic.

These factors have helped Vietnamese businesses in general and our company, in particular, to quickly recover and made the macroeconomy of Vietnam an impressive growth in 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.

What is the secret of Vinh Hung JSC to overcome the difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic?

The first and foremost reason as I mentioned above was Vietnam’s Covid-19 response success. Besides, the government implements a policy of "dual goals" to promote economic development where transport infrastructure is a priority sector. In 2020, a series of key national projects were invested and focused mainly on the Eastern cluster of the North-South Expressway and the North-South High-Speed Railway (HSR), Long Thanh International Airport Project, Terminal T3 Project in Tan Son Nhat International Airport. This policy has exploded the demand for our company's products.

On the company side, we thoroughly implement 5 main strategies:

• Compliance with the guidance of the Ministry of Health to limit the spread of the virus. Thanks to that, there was not a single case of Covid-19 in our company and our company still operates normally.
• Applying technologies to reduce face-to-face interaction and increase productivity.
• Investing in modern machinery and equipment to increase the manufacturing capacity. Besides, the production management and quality control systems are standardized in accordance with international standards. In 2020, we were certified with ISO 3834 and EN1090-2 (Exclusive class 3).
• Increasing the quality of technical and sales teams to capture opportunities in the booming development of the domestic market.
• In addition to exploiting traditional markets such as the Philippines, Brunei, and Indonesia which are currently working with major partners from Spain, Korea, we promote exploring new markets such as India, Singapore, Thailand, etc. I evaluate these countries as potential markets with high demand in the coming time.

What is your assessment of the opportunities and challenges of the Indian market for Vinh Hung JSC?

India is the 5th largest economy, 7th largest area, and the largest population in the world. This country is also the most dynamic economy in the world in recent years. According to our research information, the Indian government is investing great resources in the development of transport infrastructure.

According to statistics, the average import-export turnover between Vietnam - India in 2020 reached about 1 billion USD per month on average. The number shows that Vietnam – India have become important economic partners of each other, two-way trade turnover has grown strongly and sustainably. Currently, India is one of the 10 largest trading partners of Vietnam, and Vietnam is one of India's leading trade partners in the ASEAN region. In addition, that India has also cut import duty and anti-dumping duty on some iron and steel products from Vietnam creates favorable conditions for Vinh Hung to bring products into this country.

However, the differences in culture and business environments between Vietnam and India is the most difficult challenge for us. Moreover, there should be an effort to develop cooperation in Covid-19 time when we can not visit each other or have direct interaction.

How has Vinh Hung JSC approached the Indian market recently?

Working with our India partners, we can see that India has a very high demand for the quality of goods. Providing high-quality products is a core value that our company brings to each customer. When approaching the Indian market, Vinh Hung JSC already has experience working with large international corporations in Vietnam as well as in the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei. In each area, we listen, adapt and renovate – so we can successfully improve productivity and performance regionally. Besides, our products are in accordance with international standard certifications such as ISO 9001-2015, ISO3834, EN1090-2 so I believe we can meet the distinct standards such as IRC standards set by the Govt. of India.

In addition, Vietnam has local strengths that not many countries have such as cheap high-skilled labor, convenient maritime transportation with low cost and a strong foundation in mechanical engineering. Therefore, we confidently provide products with affordable prices but international insights in competition with suppliers from China, Korea, and European countries.

(This interview first appears in Metro Rail Today, May 2021)