Corporate

After Stripe International’s purchase of NEM, another Japanese investor Advantage Partners has acquired local women’s apparel company Elise Fashion, stirring up the fashion market in Vietnam. Advantage Partners acquired Vietnamese fashion chain Elise Advantage Partners, through its Asia Fund, has acquired Elise Fashion, according to dealstreetasia.com. The transaction has marked the first acquisition between Advantage Partners’ funds and a Vietnamese company. Advantage Partners said the deal would accelerate Elise’s growth by leveraging its experience in the women’s fashion segment. The private equity firm has invested in fashion companies such as Meganesuper, an eyewear retailer in Japan, and outdoor wear chain ISG ishii-sports. Established in 1992, Advantage Partners has deployed five buyout funds and closed its first Asia fund last year with $380 million commitment, to make investments outside of Japan. Prior to Elise, it had backed … [Read more...] about Japanese Advantage Partners acquires Vietnamese fashion chain Elise

What Vietnam stands to gain from ICT How do you think Vietnam measures up to other Asian nations in information and communications technology (ICT)? Vietnam has grown to become one of the most attractive investment markets in the region across several sectors, but the ICT industry and its digital economy stand as the most promising. From growing e-commerce, online gaming, travel booking, and offline-to-online platforms such as ride-hailing and food delivery, Vietnam’s digital economy continues to thrive, with its gross merchandise value being 4 per cent of the country’s GDP, higher than any other country in Southeast Asia. The ICT sector will continue to be a driving force for growth and transformation in the Vietnamese economy, especially in delivering Industry 4.0 ambitions, as this will secure the country’s strong competitive regional position in the coming decades. What opportunities can you see in Vietnam for overseas investors to deploy ICT solutions and … [Read more...] about What Vietnam stands to gain from ICT

A leading financial company that caters to millions of Vietnamese people scooped almost a dozen awards in 2018 alone, highlighting its strong standards in innovation and Fintech application in the consumer finance industry. FE Credit’s CEO and directors were delighted to receive the prestigious The Asian Banker award FE Credit has been recognised as one of the top 10 largest private companies in the finance, banking, and securities sector, as announced in the annual rankings of Vietnam’s 500 largest enterprises (VNR500) in 2018, conducted by Vietnam Report. It is also the only finance company within the top 100 largest enterprises in Vietnam across all sectors. The VNR500 ranking has for 12 years been researched and published based on multiple criteria including enterprise revenues, total assets, and total labour force, as well as their corporate prestige. In addition to outstanding business results in 2018, FE Credit received 10 further awards from prestigious … [Read more...] about FE Credit sweeps up new accolades

Targeting Vietnam as an important market in Southeast Asia, MM Mega Market will continue eyeing ambitious development goals for 2019. Phidsanu Pongwatana, managing director of MM Mega Market Vietnam, talked with VIR’s Thanh Thu about the major milestones the company achieved last year and where it wants to be in the next 12 months. Phidsanu Pongwatana, managing director of MM Mega Market Vietnam MM Mega Market had quite a ­vibrant year in 2018. What can you share about your most important achievements in Vietnam over the past year? For the first time MM Mega Market (MM) officially exported Vietnamese produce to Thailand. Since the beginning of last year, we have been exporting four containers, or an equivalent of 100 tonnes a month, of staple agri-products, including dragon fruit, sweet potatoes, and various snacks. After almost a year exporting Vietnamese produce to the 700-mall Big C system in Thailand, these products have now been much welcomed by Thai … [Read more...] about Mega plans for Mega Market

Customer experience is the new frontier for consumer finance Mr. Basker Rangachari - FE Credit’s Chief Marketing Officer Given the increasing competition among consumer finance companies, those who want to win the game ought to make their products and services stand out from the pack and deliver superior customer experience. Going digital is one of the approaches that help simplify products and shorten the lending process, ensuring a win-win situation for both customers and the businesses themselves. Digitisation as a competitive edge Duong Nguyen, leader of Financial Service Organisations and IT Advisory Services at EY Vietnam, once noted that what technology can do to consumer finance companies, will go beyond risk management and lending process, to emerge as a stand-alone channel to reach out to potential customers who are young and tech-savvy. Given over 60 per cent of the 94 million population in Vietnam is aged 35 or less, and 54 per cent of these are internet … [Read more...] about Customer experience is the new frontier for consumer finance