Celebrating Journalists’ Day with VIR

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc answers press interview questions

VIR is the foremost English-language business publication in Vietnam (pictured above are VIR Group’s publications)

Stoney Su Country Director, Cargill Incorporated

Over the past 23 years of doing business in Vietnam, Cargill has always come to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and referring to the Vietnam Investment Review for market insights and advice as we trust your sources of information.

It helps us a lot in proposing business ideas and making business decisions, whether to bring in new lines of products and services, or to expand our current business footprint in the country.

We highly appreciate your macro-economic stories, very well written by VIR reporters, whether they are stories of boom and bust or implications from social, political, and diplomatic events as reference for foreign direct investment to make business decisions.

Thank you for being such a good companion to foreign investors in Vietnam.

Despite a conspicuous shift in the media landscape caused by the 21st-century Information Age, such a key, influential mainstream medium like VIR still matters and you still play a vital role in modern journalism.

What we would like to see from VIR in the future is to continue to transition and transform by leveraging digital, mobile, and social platforms to reach readers more effectively and respond faster to any changes in the market.

Please keep up your good work as a trusted partner of businesses.

Happy Journalists’ Day to all the members of VIR.

Wyeren Yap Vooi Soon General Director, Gamuda Land (HCMC) JSC

Since entering the Vietnamese market in 2007 as a foreign developer from Malaysia, Gamuda Land in general and myself in particular found a lot of differences in the culture as well as the real estate market. At that point in time, in order to get familiar with the market and to have a better understanding of the customers, choosing reputable publications was a necessity for us. We found that VIR is one of few valuable sources of information on both national and international economic issues, especially its property section, which is related to our business nature. Hence, our company has subscribed to VIR ever since.

The section I like the most is Property, because I can find information on many issues related to our business.

As an expatriate living and working in Vietnam, finding credible, up-to-date, and industry-recognised knowledge, data, and information is very challenging. It is particularly hard to acquire publications in English, and VIR’s English version provides me with lots of information and data.

VIR is one of few publications which provides very relevant, non-biased, and thought-provoking data and information. As a real estate developer, we need to keep ourselves updated with market trends, governmental policies, and reputable consultants’ advice, which is provided quite clearly in VIR’s publications.

If there is anything to improve, I would say that I wish to have more in-depth stories on FDI. Also, in the time of global integration, I wish to have more infographics, boxes, and charts which can offer more figures than text stories.

Sami Kteily Executive Chairman, PEB Steel

Over the last more than 20 years that I have been in Vietnam, VIR has been my main source of reliable and authoritative data on investment in Vietnam, especially FDI; the statistics on FDI are very informative and help give me a better understanding of the investment landscape.

There have been cases where PEB Steel came to know about new investors or projects from information found in VIR.

Not only do I look forward to Mondays when I receive my copy, reading it cover-to-cover on the same day, but I make sure that my PA keeps hold of any issues I miss when I travel overseas. The variety of sections covered in each issue (investment, companies, money, property, etc.) is wide, interesting, and commendable.

The interviews, however, could be more useful if they were conducted with some truly challenging questions to the interviewees. Sometimes I feel this is not the case and it is just a window for companies to promote their products and services.

Happy Vietnam Journalists’ Day!

Thomas J. Treutler Partner and managing director, Tilleke & Gibbins Vietnam

As an avid reader of VIR for 25 years now, it is clear that VIR is always on top of new developments in governmental policies and the investment situation.

It is really helpful to keep up on new investment trends through VIR, and investors look forward to every issue.

It would be interesting to see more statistics on M&A transactions and trends from different countries.

VIR should continue to do more focused, specialised editions on specific industries, such as the pharm

aceutical sector, high tech sector, automotive sector, and more.

Simon Matthews Country Manager for Vietnam, Thailand, and the Middle East, ManpowerGroup

As a company that provides comprehensive, innovative, and very complex workforce solutions to companies in various industries, we try to provide added value to our clients who already decided to trust us with their business, and become their strategic partner for all HR issues. It’s a great honour to have partnered with VIR over recent years.

ManpowerGroup have benefited from the fame and wide publication network of VIR as the leading business medium for the FDI community in Vietnam, in order to provide our insights and services on the labour market.

I believe VIR is doing a good job at conveying up-to-date information from businesses and government and I’m really glad to hear that you are growing strong and diversified, just like us.

Among many interesting columns, I specifically enjoy the ‘Investing’ and ‘Your Consultant’ sections, which provide helpful information and advice from experts or senior leaders. As economies become more knowledge-based and technology-driven, educational attainment and skill diversification become more important to labour markets and jobs of the future.

In the future, I expect to see more insights from VIR about human investment and the labour market, in order to provide readers with the right skills for the workforce and inform enterprises about new and suitable methods for success.

Lee Ju Hyeob President Director, Posco VST

I have a great deal of respect for the work done at VIR in relation to business news. The reporters and managers of VIR go to extremes to paint an accurate picture of what is happening and make the paper one of the most through and reliable sources of business news in the country.

VIR and many other publications and broadcasters have supported us since we began and together we have been steadily working to promote Vietnam, build a domestic industrial sector, and contribute to Vietnam’s reputation as a country on the move.

The information we need more of to be better able to meet the demand of the marketplace is related to three key areas.

Firstly, we need accurate and reliable information on government policies, agendas, and direction.

Secondly, we need information on market trends and projects related to the development of the power sector’s infrastructure.

The third area of interest is competitive information.

Matthew Powell Director, Savills Vietnam

For the last 20 years, Savills Vietnam has had a long, close relationship with VIR in which we openly discuss Vietnam’s real estate market. Personally, I have worked closely with VIR’s editorial and journalistic team for the last 14 years. Not only has Savills Vietnam been an active advertiser in VIR where we promote our projects and services to high-end audiences, but we have also discussed trends and movements of Vietnam’s property markets in

multiple articles over the years.

VIR is a fantastic source of information for what is happening in Vietnam, providing insights into various sectors: business, banking and finance, real estate, policy, and more, hence obtaining a high-end audience. I like VIR for its well-designed structure with specific sections that enable me to absorb high-quality information in a short amount of time in a regular weekly format. I hope VIR continues to further improve the quality of articles and in-depth analyses which have always been well-received and appreciated by its readers.

Taveesak Srisuntisuk Managing Director, Hexagon Metrology, Ltd.

I know VIR and your magazine Timeout not only as a news channel, but as a friend who connects me to social and business life in Vietnam. Above all, VIR has prestige with domestic as well as foreign companies thanks to your breaking news, and sharp and precise articles and commentary.

Your news is not only trustworthy, with a quick pace of updates, but also very precise. This proves that you always prioritise the verification of information sources and deploy the full referencing process when producing news.

In addition, I do not see any sensationalism, which shows the viewpoint of journalists in your newspaper. VIR has an opportunity to improve in the area of content by having deeper knowledge of the subjects under discussion and by offering relevant, in-depth of analyses various sectors.

Glenn Kong Wai Keong General Director, Vietnam International Container Terminals

VICT congratulates the people in the journalism industry on Vietnam Journalists’ Day.

VIR provides readers with up-to-date information on domestic and foreign investment in Vietnam, allowing the supply-and-demand markets to better understand the trends and opportunities, and providing necessary studies and preparations to benefit from their investments.

The regularly updated statistics on the value of foreign investment with breakdowns by investing countries, by invested provinces and region in Vietnam, and by industrial clusters, are valuable data to help readers in their quantitative analysis of the depth and breadth of the investment direction.

I take this opportunity to wish VIR continued success ahead and am looking forward to more updates and publication from VIR.

Jorge Martin-Martinez General Director, DKSH Vietnam

Vietnam is currently one of the most exciting places in the world in which to do business. With a prospective GDP growth of almost 7 per cent for 2018, Vietnam is among the fastest-growing economies worldwide.

When I talk to my business partners all over the world, many of them consider investing here.

VIR plays a fundamental role here: It is a window to the world and promotes Vietnam as an attractive place in which to invest and do business.

At the same time, VIR is a valuable source of information for us at DKSH, especially for our thousands of employees.

I personally read VIR very frequently with great attention, and make sure to share the most valuable insights with our business partners and employees.

Nirukt Sapru CEO Vietnam and ASEAN and South Asia Cluster Markets, Standard Chartered Bank

On behalf of Standard Chartered Bank Vietnam, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to VIR on the occasion of Vietnam Journalists’ Day.

Standard Chartered is strongly committed to Vietnam and we are continuing to invest more resources in the country to grow our business across all segments and better serve the evolving needs of clients. Market information is important to us and we highly appreciate the breaking news and the comprehensive insights on economic and financial affairs that you provide. These are very helpful for us in driving our businesses. Thank you and please keep up the good work.

As a leading international bank, our purpose is to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity. We are pleased to have been featured in VIR several times to share our thoughts and expertise with the hope of contributing to the sustainable growth and prosperity of Vietnam’s economy. We hope to further strengthen our partnership with you and are delighted to assist you as and when needed.

I wish VIR success ahead, may you receive greater interest from readers.