Vietnam Report survey shows enterprise optimism

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Locally-owned Vietnam Report has conducted a survey of over 300 of Vietnam’s biggest enterprises, including foreign invested firms. Results showed that 95 per cent of respondents are bullish on their revenue outlook for this year; 84 per cent said their 2014 revenue would exceed that of last year. Only 11 per cent said they expected unchanged revenue.

“The figures show that most enterprises are confident in their performance and economic outlook. They are also expecting significant business recovery this year,” noted the survey.

According to the results, priorities for this year included customer care (65.6 per cent), human resources development (60.7 per cent), upgrading technology (50.8 per cent), local and overseas market expansion (45.9 per cent), and research and development (41 per cent).

In late January US-backed global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group reported that the middle and affluent class in Vietnam would double between 2014-2020, from 12 to 33 million. It also said that the number of consumers with a monthly income of VND15 million ($714) was growing fast.

Tibor Novakm, country manager and chief representative of Hungarian-backed pharmaceutical firm Gedeon Richter’s representative office in Vietnam, told VIR that the firm was looking for opportunities to produce pharmaceuticals in the country.

“Vietnamese people are spending more on medicine and we are researching the market. If it meets our conditions, we might consider building a factory here,” he said.

The Vietnamese pharmaceutical market was valued at $3.34 billion this year, up from $2.94 billion in 2012.

Anuvat Chalermchai, brand director of Thai-backed SCG Cement Building Materials, told VIR that Vietnamese consumers’ spending on eco-friendly building materials was growing strongly. “That’s a very favourable factor for us in Vietnam.”

In this year’s first quarter, SCG Vietnam earned revenue of $133 million, impressively up 76 per cent on-year. This year SCG will market several new products and technologies in Vietnam, such as concrete roof tiles and fibre cement board, COTTO bathroom products, and COTTO Italian ceramics.

SCG’s latest innovations seen for first time in Vietnam include SCG Smartwood Modeena Series - “Style your wall unique”, which makes your walls distinctive as it embraces multiple layers within the same plank. SCG Smartboard Modeena Series is ideal for creating big dimensions for walls unlike any other wood substitute.

András Somos, CEO of Hungary’s consulting firm SKC-Consulting also told VIR he was quite upbeat about business opportunities for SKC in Vietnam thanks to rising consumption. “We’re providing consultancy for many Hungarian firms wishing to do business in Vietnam, like Prigram operating in automatisation, General Com operating in water treatment and medical equipment maker Meditech.”