Locally-owned Vietnam Reporthas conducted a survey of over 300 of Vietnam’s biggest enterprises,including foreign invested firms. Results showed that 95 percent ofrespondents are bullish on their revenue outlook for this year, while 84percent said their 2014 revenue would exceed that of last year. Only 11percent said they expected unchanged revenue.
“The figures showthat most enterprises are confident in their performance and economicoutlook. They are also expecting significant business recovery thisyear,” noted the survey.
According to the results, priorities forthis year included customer care (65.6 percent), human resourcesdevelopment (60.7 percent), upgrading technology (50.8 percent), localand overseas market expansion (45.9 percent), and research anddevelopment (41 percent).
In late January, US-backed globalmanagement consulting firm Boston Consulting Group reported that themiddle and affluent class in Vietnam would double between 2014-2020,from 12 to 33 million. It also said that the number of consumers with amonthly income of 15 million VND (714 USD) was growing fast.
TiborNovakm, country manager and chief representative of Hungarian-backedpharmaceutical firm Gedeon Richter’s representative office in Vietnam,told VIR that the firm was looking for opportunities to producepharmaceuticals in the country.
“Vietnamese people are spendingmore on medicine and we are researching the market. If it meets ourconditions, we might consider building a factory here,” he said.
The Vietnamese pharmaceutical market was valued at 3.34 billion USD this year, up from 2.94 billion USD in 2012.
AnuvatChalermchai, brand director of Thai-backed SCG Cement BuildingMaterials, told VIR that Vietnamese consumers’ spending on eco-friendlybuilding materials was growing strongly. “That’s a very favourablefactor for us in Vietnam.”
In this year’s first quarter, SCGVietnam earned revenue of 133 million USD, impressively up 76 percenton-year. This year SCG will market several new products and technologiesin Vietnam, such as concrete roof tiles and fibre cement board, COTTObathroom products, and COTTO Italian ceramics.
András Somos, CEOof Hungary’s consulting firm SKC-Consulting also told VIR he was quiteupbeat about business opportunities for SKC in Vietnam thanks to risingconsumption. “We’re providing consultancy for many Hungarian firmswishing to do business in Vietnam, like Prigram operating inautomatisation, General Com operating in water treatment and medicalequipment maker Meditech.-VNA