Geleximco pursues philosophy of “synthesising resources, sharing successes”

The Green Stars apartment building

Initially involved in the import, export, and trade services, Geleximco has gradually laid the groundwork for its venture into industry, real estate, financing, and information technology.

Geleximco currently possesses more than VND8 trillion ($366.7 million) in equity capital and a workforce of nearly 8,000 employees over its six branch offices in Lang Son, Hoa Binh, Ha Tay, Thai Binh, Quang Ninh, and Can Tho. It also has 30 member units and dozens of affiliates operating throughout Vietnam.

Referring to Geleximco’s international integration commitments, chairman Vu Van Tien told VIR that he had recently returned to Vietnam after a week-long research trip abroad. This visit followed the company’s decision to form a partnership with a group from the G7 countries to expedite the construction of the Thang Long thermal power plant.

The 600-megawatt (MW) power project, developed by Geleximco member Thang Long Thermal Power JSC, covers 125 hectares in the northeastern province of Quang Ninh.

It will consist of two turbine groups, each with a 300MW capacity and a designed annual power production output of about 4.1 billion kWh. Valued at $865 million in total investment capital, the plant kicked off construction in 2014, and the first turbine group is slated to start commercial operation by the second quarter of 2017.

“Multiple challenges persist when investing in a large-scale industrial project. In this project, we are committed to employing cutting-edge equipment and technology imported from G7 countries for optimal efficiency,” Tien said.

Accordingly, Geleximco has teamed up with leading French-US conglomerates Alstom - GE (which will supply the plant’s circulation-fluidised-bed boilers), Chinese bank CDB, and Chinese group Kaidi.

In the industrial field, asides from the Thang Long thermal power plant, Geleximco operates the An Hoa Paper and Pulp Factory in the northwestern province of Tuyen Quang, Thang Long Cement Plant in Quang Ninh province, and a joint venture in motobike assembly and production.

Infrastructure and real estate are also some of Geleximco’s strong points, as evidenced by their pipeline of new urban area development projects: Cai Dam in 37.04 hectares (ha) in Quang Ninh province, the 97ha Maison Du Parc (Thanh pho Giao luu) in Hanoi’s Pham Van Dong road, the 135ha Le Trong Tan project in Hanoi, the 250ha Dong Truc-Ngoc Liep project in Hanoi’s Quoc Oai district, as well as four-star and five-star hotels and trade centre projects.

Geleximco has acted as the strategic shareholder of An Binh Bank, An Binh Securities JSC, An Binh Fund Management JSC, Vietnam Global Management Institute, and tech firm CMC Corporation.

“Acquiring additional resources and co-operation from foreign investors is important because they bring financial support as well as modern technology and management expertise, which are the factors that Vietnamese firms are lacking and need to learn,” Tien shared.

With this in mind, Geleximco has teamed up with many of the world’s leading businesses in industrial production in order to acquire the latest technologies, diversify their product range to meet increasingly demanding customer requirements, and develop a familiar brand in the marketplace.

Since its inception, the company has been co-operating with renowned global players to deploy large-scale projects, helping to generate employment for thousands of local workers, and giving a facelift to the areas where its projects are located.

In the 1990s, Geleximco formed a joint venture with Japan-backed Honda Vietnam to found a company operating in motorbike and parts manufacturing for supply to other foreign-backed firms in Vietnam such as Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Honda Vietnam itself.

Indonesian cement group Semen Gresik spent a pretty penny acquiring a 70 per cent stake in Thang Long Cement JSC, a Geleximco member unit. Malaysia’s largest bank Maybank and World Bank member International Financial Corporation bought a 30 per cent stake to become foreign strategic partners in ABBank. Meanwhile, Japan’s Marubeny Corporation is the contractor in An Hoa Paper and Pulp JSC.

Vietnam is deepening its roots in the global market through the signing of a string of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. Aside from the new opportunities ushered in by international integration, Geleximco is well positioned to cope with new challenges.

Tien said that the company is committed to constantly improving its management expertise, as well as the quality of its products and services. It will pursue these goals while bolstering operational efficiency through increased co-operation with leading players from Germany, Japan and G7 countries in science and technology.