Tag: vietnam

Hanoi, Vietnam – Small businesses in Vietnam are most likely to invest in technology in contrast to their SMB counterparts in APAC during 2021, new data from CPA Australia shows.

This focus in investing in technology was evident by the fact that seven in ten of the Vietnamese SMB respondents expect to grow this year, the third highest result in the Asia-Pacific. Strong investment in technology and government support are likely to be key drivers of this turnaround.

In addition, Vietnam’s small businesses are the most likely to increase their emphasis on online sales and up their investment in technology in reaction to COVID-19. This change saw the percentage that earned more than 10% of their revenue online jump from 60% in 2020 to 73% in 2021.

Of the markets surveyed, Vietnam was most adversely impacted by the pandemic, with 78% of small businesses nominating it as their biggest barrier to growth last year. In response, many local small businesses invested in improving their business, with 44% increasing their investment in technology and 42% shifting to online sales. Both results were the highest of the markets surveyed.

Can Van Luc, chair of North Vietnam Advisory Committee at CPA Australia said, “While 2021 was a difficult year, 45% of Vietnamese small businesses still managed to grow. Under the government’s dual goals of ‘preventing the pandemic and promoting socio-economic recovery’, inflow of foreign direct investment has grown steadily over the past year–up by 9.2% in 2021. Recovering domestic and overseas demand, together with government policy support, have bolstered small businesses operations and accelerated their digital transformation.”

The data also noted that 60% of Vietnam’s small businesses stated they reviewed their cybersecurity protections in the past six months, nearly double the 32% recorded in 2020. Further, 42% sought professional advice from IT consultants or specialists in the past 12 months.

“Threats of cyberattacks are on the rise as small businesses digitalise. [Around] 64% of respondents are concerned that their business could be cyberattacked in 2022. Given that our country has increased the pace of the development of its digital economy, small businesses should keep investing in capabilities to safeguard themselves against increasing malicious cyberattacks. Measures such as enhancing cybersecurity and consulting IT consultants are crucial to protecting vital assets and customer data,” Luc added.

Singapore – Involve Asia, a MarTech platform for partnership marketing in Southeast Asia, has expanded to Vietnam, marking its growing footprint in the region. 

Involve Asia, which was founded in 2014, has worked closely with e-commerce, travel, and financial services companies to handle their digital marketing campaigns across Southeast Asia. Involve Asia, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has a presence in six countries in Southeast Asia and is backed by venture capital firms Accord Ventures, OSK Ventures International, and GDP Venture, among others.

Marketing partners in Vietnam face lengthy payment processes while working for marketers, and this is what Involve Asia aims to solve. From 60 to 90 days. using Involve’s proprietary risk assessment algorithm, advertisers are able to identify and eliminate fraudulent actions, resulting in faster payment of legitimate results. Because of Involve’s express withdrawal capabilities, marketing partners may manage their cashflows and build up their operations in as little as 15 days.

Jimmy How, CEO and Founder of Involve Asia, said that Vietnam is an important market for Involve Asia as it is one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia with a vibrant and technologically savvy population. 

‘With an e-commerce market in the country that is accelerating rapidly and high social media usage, it presents a ripe opportunity for us to help brands in the country reach their customers through our proprietary MarTech solution in a cost-efficient manner, and ultimately scale their business through partnerships with influencers, apps and affiliate sites,” How said.

How added, “We are looking to expand our footprint in the region by helping advertisers grow and manage their marketing partnerships more efficiently. One of the ways we plan to do this is to enable Advertisers to leverage our risk scoring system to ensure that their marketing partners get paid quicker, without having to hire additional operational staff as their marketing partnerships scale.”

Hanoi, Vietnam – Local bank VPBank in Vietnam has signed a partnership agreement with iGTB, the fintech platform of Intellect Design Arena, to enhance its corporate and SME customer’s experience, as well as operational efficiency.

The partnership is aimed to bring the bank closer to the goal of being the most customer-friendly bank through technology in 2022 with iGTB’s products and services for its corporate, commercial and SME clients.

According to VPBank’s CEO Nguyen Duc Vinh, they will continue to improve customer experience and expand the business ecosystem through a new and efficient digital technology, which will transform its cash management. He also added that they are set to significantly increase the competitive edge for the bank and retain their leadership position as a preferred bank of choice for both SME and for corporate customers.

“VPBank has always been a pioneer in selecting the most up-to-date technology to power accelerated digital transformation. Strengthening our IT Infrastructure to enable and automate digital strategy is our key to improving productivity by 20-30% in order that we stay ahead of the competition. This is why harnessing disruptive digital IT initiatives is currently a major priority for us,” Duc Vinh said.

Meanwhile, Manish Maakan, CEO at iGTB, commented that the partnership powered by iGTB’s global expertise in transaction banking technology will help VPBank achieve its goal of becoming the most customer-friendly technology-driven bank and the most valuable bank in Vietnam.

“I am proud that this latest VPBank deal transformation deepens Intellect’s portfolio to a dominant position in Vietnam. Our investments into iGTB Cash Cloud and iColumbus.ai platforms are the keys to a faster go-to-market, so that our client portfolios across APAC, Middle East, Europe and Americas can realise early returns on their technology investments,” Maakan said.

He added, “Our simultaneous market-depth strategy is a result of years of investment into local Vietnamese regulations & payment systems, backed by iGTB’s local relationship managers and delivery teams out of Hanoi, and our longstanding partnership with Vietnamese FPT Information Services.”

This transformative cash management platform aims to delivers a seamless customer experience with a completely digital integrated transaction banking suite of iGTB’s cash management, trade finance, payments, account services, collections and liquidity ,management powered by its front-end contextual banking experience (CBX) platform.

Hanoi, Vietnam – With the recent reopening of Vietnam’s borders, multinational hotel and lodging company Marriott International has expanded its portfolio in the country. This expansion aims to add nearly 9,000 rooms to the company’s portfolio and see the debut of key brands.

Through this expansion, Marriott’s global brand Sheraton Hotels & Resorts is expected to make its debut in several new destinations across Vietnam, including on the Emerald Island of Phu Quoc, the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay, the ‘City of Eternal Springs’ Dalat, and the shores of Binh Chau. A stylish new Renaissance Hotels is also planned to open in the seafront city of Danang, whilst Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts plans to debut in Danang and Cam Ranh. Moreover, the flagship Marriott Hotels brand is expected to debut in Hanoi, and Hoi An, whilst the Westin – the company’s wellness brand – is expected to open in Hanoi and Cam Ranh. Marriott Executive Apartments, the longer-stay brand, is also slated to start welcoming guests in Danang.

Meanwhile, Marriott’s select service portfolio will be providing a range of offerings for both domestic and international travellers. Fairfield by Marriott is slated to be introduced in locations such as Vinh Yen, Ha Long, and Hanoi, whilst several Courtyard by Marriott hotels are expected to open across Danang, Ha Long, and Nha Trang. In addition, Marriott’s The Ritz-Carlton Residences is expected to make its debut in Vietnam in 2024.

Rajeev Menon, Marriott International’s president for APAC (excluding Greater China), commented, “Our growth in Vietnam reflects the trust our local owners and franchisees continue to have in Marriott International, and we look forward to presenting them with opportunities to leverage our comprehensive portfolio of 30 brands, as well as our strong distribution network.”

Meanwhile, Jakob Helgen, Marriott International’s area vice president for Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, noted that Vietnam is a vibrant destination and has over the years experienced record levels of tourism as international travellers flocked to the country and domestic travellers began to discover the many wonders available in their own backyard.

“With the recent reopening of borders, we are hopeful for Vietnam to rebound rapidly, and we are excited to expand across even more parts of this captivating country,” said Helgen.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Earth Venture Capital (EVC), the Vietnam-based venture capital fund that focuses on startups in ICT, IoT, blockchain, and gamification in SEA, has launched its new Earth Venture Studio in Vietnam. This move follows the rising Venture Studio model which draws attention from both investors and venture capital funds.

Earth Venture Studio aims to help entrepreneurs reach important milestones within the shortest period of time possible by injecting capital, connecting founders with relevant experts, developing effective and efficient processes to evaluate ideas, developing products, and writing legal documents, as well as establishing a company, amongst others, freeing founders to focus on innovation, leadership, and scaling.

Tien Nguyen, EVC’s co-founder and general partner, shared, “Earth Venture Studio chooses Venture Capital Investment and Empowering Vietnamese Tech Startups as a solution to tackle the climate crisis. Because, the ultimate goal of investment is to bring prosperity, but there is no prosperity on a dead planet.”

This new studio comes after the EVC’s newly closed first fund, which will be used in building a pipeline of early-stage startups which align with its investment strategy, on a global scale. 

With a team of experienced investors and tech entrepreneurs, EVC will be hunting for startups working on applicable technologies to provide scalable solutions to solve climate challenges, including abandoning fossil fuels, switching to renewable energy, and planting more trees.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – The Trade Promotion Agency (TPA) in Vietnam and e-commerce platform Alibaba.com have jointly organised a conference on 18 March to promote exports via the e-commerce platform, as well as the inauguration of the Vietnam Pavillion on Alibaba.com.

The ‘Vietnam Pavilion’ will support Vietnamese businesses in building images and promoting product brands; supporting business connection activities, increasing understanding of Vietnamese products and businesses for international customers.

Through the partnership, the two enterprises will implement business support programs for more than 2500 medium and large enterprises small, helping them to equip them with the right tools and mindset to overcome the post-COVID-19 era. In addition, it further promotes the success of Vietnamese businesses on Alibaba.com, by recruiting e-commerce experts to advise businesses throughout the participation process.

Vu Ba Phu, director at the Trade Promotion Department said that Alibaba.com continues its commitment to the Vietnamese market with unique services to help businesses accelerate and will also launch new membership products for Vietnamese businesses, helping them to better opportunity to introduce products to global shoppers.

Meanwhile, Alibaba.com Deputy General Director Andrew Zheng commented that they strongly believe that Alibaba.com will continue to help small and medium enterprises in Vietnam overcome difficulties for this year.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Consumer research and analytics company Milieu Insight has announced a strategic partnership with dentsu International to improve the agency’s Consumer Connection System (CCS), the agency’s end-to-end communications planning platform, in their Vietnamese market.

Using Milieu Portraits that will fuel higher quality and up-to-date data, the partnership will enable dentsu to use advanced research and analytics tools to help its clients undertake fast turnaround studies and craft effective business and communication strategies. In addition, Milieu’s consumer profiling tool, when integrated into the CCS, will complement and help unlock more use cases ranging from campaign measurements to optimising the activation of digital ads. 

Another service that will be utilised will be Milieu Activate, an automated brand tracking solution and programmatic activation, which leverages millions of data points to serve ads to the right mobile audiences, enabling Dentsu to help their clients drive stronger metrics in terms of click-through rates and conversions. It uses programmatic lookalike modelling to identify target audience with access to mobile device IDs.

Gerald Ang, CEO at Milieu Insight said that their strategic partnership with Dentsu is an important step towards providing the industry with a highly differentiated and data-driven audience targeting solution that will lead to better and more effective campaigns.

“The real-time dynamic nature of Milieu Insight’s consumer engagement platform and the wide range of data that it holds will empower dentsu to help brands gain a competitive edge and build stronger relationships with their customers,” Ang said.

Meanwhile, JP Salustiano, chief strategy officer at dentsu Services Vietnam, commented, “We’re able to offer our clients a higher level of insight and accuracy because of the quality and depth of data Milieu Insight’s Canvas provide, at the speed with which it can be augmented. We are already able to build planning segments for our clients that were not possible before, which gives us greater ability to drive return on marketing investment.”

Lastly, Navin Dhanpal, CEO at Carat, commented, “Through our partnership with Milieu Insight, CCS in its new digital avatar is going to fundamentally shift the media research industry and give our brands the latest insight into not just ‘what’ media their target consumer is consuming and ‘when’ – but more importantly, ‘how’ they are consuming that media and ‘why’.”

Vietnam – Life insurance company AIA in Vietnam has extended its exclusive partnership with Vietnam’s private bank VPBank, changing the originally planned 15 years partnership to 19 years for the distribution of insurance through banks.

VPBank said that it has developed a strong cooperative relationship with AIA Vietnam since 2017, and the extension of their partnership is not only a good sign for them but also good news for customers. 

Through the extended partnership, both companies will continue to help customers access and experience top quality life insurance products and services, along with the preferential benefits of many comprehensive health care plans. In addition, products will be more innovative and many connecting activities in terms of mental, physical, and financial health will also be deployed in accordance with each customer group of the bank.

Wayne Besant, AIA Vietnam’s general director, said, “The extension of the exclusive partnership between VPBank and AIA Vietnam will allow AIA to continue to strengthen its long-term and relevant financial protection solutions. With the healthcare needs of many families in Vietnam, helping them live healthier, longer, and happier lives.”

Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Vinh, VPBank’s general director, commented, “In addition to improving the quality of services for customers, we are delighted by the extension of this partnership to bring to the market new products, and more innovative services, providing more financial solutions to customers for their future lives.”

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – AIP Foundation, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to helping achieve zero road injuries and fatalities in Asia and Africa, has launched a youth-focused campaign in Vietnam called ‘HeadsUp!’. The campaign stresses the importance of the most fundamental safety measure on the road: Wearing helmets.

The campaign, which has also been rolled out in Cambodia, Thailand, and the Philippines, is in fact a video-making competition for students in the said countries, calling them out to create innovative public awareness campaigns for road safety.

“Young people on motorbikes have become an icon of Southeast Asian streets. Scenes of students riding on scooters in the mornings as they make their way to schools depict a region that’s striving to move forward towards a better future,” said AIP Foundation. 

Implemented by AIP Foundation with support from FIA Road Safety Grant Programme, FIA Region II, and FIA Foundation, HeadsUp! will have students from renowned universities create video narratives that reflect the importance of quality helmet use among youth.

“With motorbikes becoming increasingly popular as a major mode of transportation for the young, promoting the use of helmets has become a necessary mission of AIP Foundation,” added the NPO.

Through the competition, the region will see creative campaigns made by and tailored for the “drivers of the future.” The winner of HeadsUp! will receive USD 1,000 and support to develop its video into a full-fledged campaign as part of the global launch.

Deadline for the submission of the videos will be on 31 March 2022, 5 pm ICT. More details can be found on the HeadsUp! website.

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam – Amidst the growing popularity of online shopping, there has been a high demand for shopping beauty products online and interestingly, more men in Vietnam shop for beauty products online than women, according to new research by marketing research company Decision Lab.

According to their data, 58% of their male respondents say they have shopped online for beauty products while 49% of the female respondents shopped online for beauty products. However, female shoppers still dominate all purchases for beauty products, amounting to 69% of the respondents. This is in contrast to the 28% of the male respondents.

“Notable from the responses was that women’s love of the shopping experience – often described as a type of ‘therapy’ – was reflected in the fact that it was men who said they had purchased beauty products online more often than women, with just under 10% more male respondents saying they had done so in the past three months,” the report stated.

The data also showed that shoppers in Vietnam are more informed than ever prior to buying but that the channel of research or browsing activity – be it online or offline – does not always determine the channel of purchase. This is especially true when it comes to non-durable goods like food and beverage, where the vast majority of purchases are still made in brick and mortar outlets.

Furthermore, smartphones have continued to increase their role in the everyday lives of Vietnamese consumers. Thanks to the emergence of branded ride-hailing apps like Grab, the mobile phone now dominates short distance travel bookings and has an equal split with computers of purchases in categories like mobile phones, clothing, and footwear. When it came to long-distance travel and hotel bookings, the computer was still preferred.