State-owned MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation and private pay TV firm AVG on December 18 officially struck an agreement to terminate and liquidate a highly controversial deal in which Mobifone had illegally acquired a 95% stake in AVG, reported the local media.
Under the agreement, MobiFone, a unit of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), was paid back all the money it had spent on the deal.
The sum amounted to VND8.775 trillion (roughly US$362 million), including the VND8.445 billion it had spent on purchasing the majority stake in AVG and other additional costs. MobiFone has also returned 344.66 million AVG shares to the private firm’s shareholders.
MobiFone made headlines early in 2016 when it announced it was venturing into the pay TV market with its acquisition of the controlling stake in AVG. At the time, MobiFone expected the deal to help it gain an additional one million subscribers in 2016 and become one of Vietnam’s top three pay TV firms by 2020.
In March this year, the Government Inspectorate concluded that the deal, which had not been approved by then-Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, had violated investment laws and caused an estimated loss of some VND7 trillion (over US$300 million), including AVG’s liabilities of VND1.13 trillion, for the State budget.
The government watchdog found that the country’s third-largest telco had provided false and incomplete information and had falsified AVG’s financial status in its report to the MIC on the deal, which resulted in MobiFone paying VND8.89 trillion for the stake, well beyond its actual value.
The acquisition led to MobiFone’s poor performance from 2016 onward, with profits that year falling by VND321.7 billion against the previous year. As of late 2017, its accumulated losses amounted to more than VND1.98 trillion, which adversely affected its plan to go public.
MobiFone and AVG called off the deal in March this year, with AVG pledging to make a full refund. By May, AVG’s shareholders had returned more than VND8.5 trillion to MobiFone to reclaim the majority stake.
Since the Government probe, MobiFone has introduced innovations and reformed its organizational model and business units. After the difficult period, MobiFone said it had already met the profit target for this year.
In October, due to serious violations in the now-cancelled deal, Nguyen Bac Son, 65, was stripped of his title as the former Minister of Information and Communications for the 2011-2016 tenure, while his successor Truong Minh Tuan, who served then as deputy minister, lost his ministerial post.
One month later, former MobiFone General Director Cao Duy Hai and incumbent Deputy General Director Pham Thi Phuong Anh were arrested on mismanagement charges related to the infamous acquisition.
With a nine-point increase over the second quarter of 2018, due to growth in confidence over employment prospects and personal finances, Vietnam’s consumer confidence level has reached a peak for the past decade and the country has risen to second position globally, according to the latest issue of The Conference Board Global Consumer Confidence Survey, conducted in collaboration with global researchers Nielsen.
The report also showed that the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in the Asia-Pacific region remained high, up two points from 112 points in the second quarter to 114 in the third quarter of 2018.
The report also showed that the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) in the Asia-Pacific region remained high, up two points from 112 points in the second quarter to 114 in the third quarter of 2018.
Vietnam and Malaysia’s CCI were 129 points and 127 points, respectively, surpassing Indonesia and the Philippines to be among the top three most confident countries globally.
Malaysia and Thailand saw the highest growth rate in the third quarter, up 10 percentage points; the highest in the world. Indonesia and the Philippines saw slight declines, of one point to 126, while Singapore grew four points to 98.
“Vietnam’s consumer confidence in the third quarter of 2018 was significantly higher than in the third quarter of 2017 (129 against 116) and reached a record nine-point gain over the second quarter of this year,” said Ms. Nguyen Huong Quynh, Managing Director of Nielsen Vietnam.
“This strong growth is a consequence of confidence in personal finances as well as the level of willingness to spend. It’s clear that consumer change is positive. Manufacturers and retailers need to capture the latest trends in the consumer market and need to act faster to respond to the needs of consumers.”
Vietnamese consumers continue to be optimistic about their personal finances, with 82 per cent saying their personal finances are “good” or “excellent” over the next 12 months (up 6 per cent vs. the second quarter,) and at the same time are ready to spend, with 63 per cent believing that the next 12 months will be a good time for them to buy the things that they want and need, (up 8 per cent against the second quarter).
“Although job stability and health are the two biggest concerns among Vietnamese consumers, compared with the previous quarter, interest in these two factors is more influenced by the economy, their family, and daily living expenses.” Ms. Quynh said.
“This means that when consumers face multiple concerns, their purchasing decisions are affected accordingly. Businesses must always keep a close track of changes in consumer spending.”
e-Commerce in Vietnam will surpass this year the 6,200 million dollars that it moved in 2017 and will reach 10 billion by 2020.
Their calculations are based on the growing purchasing power of the population and national trends in online purchases, as well as the high tenure of mobile and inter-phone services (53 and 57 per cent, respectively, in a population around of 94 million inhabitants).
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the best-selling products in this way are clothing (39 percent), cosmetics (28 percent) and food and beverages (25 percent).
A recent study by a US university revealed that Vietnam ranks 48th in terms of rapid change to the digital economy and 22nd in terms of digitization.
According to local experts, in 2020, just under a third of the country’s population will make their purchases online, with an average annual expenditure of 350 dollars per person.
James Kopenec, an US citizen, has become the 15 millionth foreign tourist visiting Vietnam on December 19.
Upon Kopenec’s arrival at the Ha Long international port, a special welcome ceremony was held for him and the other two lucky guests, who came out of the cruise before and after him – Annita De Vriesere from Belgium and Masahiko Nagaishi from Japan, respectively.
According to a report on VNS, a state-owned media, the three, visiting world heritage site Ha Long Bay, are on board a cruise trip, which travels through Singapore, Thailand’s Laem Chabang port city, Vietnam’s Phu My, Chan May and Ha Long, and Hong Kong.
A cruise in Halong Bay, Vietnam @ VTC
Recently, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a decision to establish a state-owned tourism development fund, following his approval of a project to restructure local tourism to turn it into a spearhead economic sector and make Vietnam one of the nations with the most developed tourism sector in Southeast Asia.
The project sets a target of 45 billion USD in tourism revenue by 2025. The sector is expected to serve 32 million foreign tourists and more than 130 million domestic visitors, contribute more than 10 percent to GDP and create 6 million jobs.
Vietnam 2019 public holidays and national holidays
Accordingly, State employees will be granted four days off during the New Year holiday, from Saturday, December 29, 2018, to the following Tuesday, January 1, 2019. They will have to work the following Saturday, January 5, to make up the extra day off on Monday, December 31, 2018.
Meanwhile, the Lunar New Year (Tet) break will last for nine consecutive days, from Saturday, February 2, until the end of Sunday, February10.
On the occasion of the commemoration for Hung Kings – the traditional founders of the nation, which falls on the 10th day of the third lunar month (April 14), State employees will have three days off, from April 13 to 15.
In celebration of the April 30 Victory Day and Labour Day, civil servants and officials will take a five day leave from Saturday, April 27, until the end of Wednesday on May 1. They will have to work on the next Saturday, May 5, in lieu of the extra day off on Monday, April 29.
As the National Day on September 2 falls on Sunday, State employees will be given three days off work from Saturday, September 1 to Monday, September 3 with the latter compensating for Sunday.
These dates may be modified as official changes are announced, so please check back regularly for updates.
The labour ministry also noticed agencies and units that do not have regular weekend breaks to arrange appropriate holidays based on their specific programs and plans.
“Industry 4.0” is another name of the fourth industrial revolution that will change the way we work and enjoy our lives. It is predicted that the artificial intelligence (AI) might be more and more intelligent and it will gradually replace the high-skilled workers in the industry 4.0.
The Law Society of England and Wales defined: “The term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ can be applied to computer systems which are intended to replicate human cognitive functions. In particular it includes ‘machine learning’, where algorithms detect patterns in data, and apply these new patterns to automate certain tasks.”[1]
AI has currently had two attributes for legal application, namely machine learning and natural language processing. Machine learning is the capability of computers to teach themselves and learn from experience.[2]Natural language processing is the capability of computers to understand the meaning of spoken or written human speech and to apply and integrate that understanding to perform human-like analysis.[3].
The legal automated machines have been capable of accessing to vastly increasing amounts of digitized data such as court cases, legal documents and pleadings, legal journals and research, legal websites, and a range of legal subject matters.[4]
Machine learning can save attorneys many hours of work and potentially save clients a substantial amount of money.[5]
The Bots Are Coming! illustrate photo
Up to now, AI has been going so far as follows. Legal automated intelligence: Several technologies have been developed to do some tasks of lawyers. For example, ROSS Intelligence is built on IBM’s Watson intelligence to perform legal research. It can understand questions asked in natural language, analyses the questions, then goes through the body of law to provide specific, analytic answers.[6]
Some major U.S law firms have employed Ross for their work. “Everything in our line of work is about efficiency. There is zero doubt that ROSS gets my legal research done faster”, said Mitchell Nowack, a partner of Nowack & Olson.[7]
Legal document automation: The technologies can help us create legal documents raging from simplicity to complexity. In Australia, Law-path has developed a technology that is named “Lexi” to produce customized legal documents for clients. It is introduced: The information and documents are delivered through online interactive chat. The software combines machine learning and natural language processing principles to process user information that is filtered through rules and logical causal connections. The end result is a document that matches user queries.[9]
Legal prediction: In providing legal advice, lawyers frequently provide legal predictions. It takes a great amount of time for a lawyer to research legal database and facts to give an appropriate legal prediction. The automated legal analysis and prediction may save lawyers’ time. One of the first automated legal prediction programs is Lex Machina. Lex Machina was created by George Gregory and Joshua Walker and then purchased by Lexis in 2015. Lex Machina uses natural – language processing technology to the big data of legal information to predict the behaviors and outcomes that different legal strategies will produce, enabling them to win cases and close business.[11]
Automated Contract Drafting: AI has been challenging lawyers’ exclusivity in contract drafting as well. The machine learning algorithms have been developed to collect and process the contracts that are available in the public domain. The programs with the machine learning algorithms can learn the contractual language from those contracts and then classify contracts on the basis of the degree of standard. When a user enters his request and information, the machine learning algorithms will identify a requested contract, and then find a particular model form which is suitable for the user’s case. If there is no model contract satisfying the user’s request, the program can aggregate standard clauses from across multiple contracts to approximate a single standard document.[12]
In Australia, agtech company, AgriDigital is piloting of the world’s first wheat sale using a smart contract on a blockchain ledger.[13]
Through applied blockchain technologies, distributed ledgers and smart contracts, AgriDigital provides “real time payment to growers, increased efficiencies for brokers, flexible supply chain for buyers and financiers, and paddock to plate transparency for consumers”.[14]
In a 2015 Altman Weil survey of law firm managing partners, 47% said that, in the next five to ten years, they could envision a law-focused AI tool replacing paralegals, 35% could envision the replacement of first-year associates, and 19% could envision the replacement of second- and third-year associates.[15]
In my view, it is not necessary for all predictions to come true, however, robotic invasion in the legal profession is true. I had a nightmare in which robot lawyers ate all human lawyers’ jobs in my city. The robot lawyers transmitted a message, “stop hiring human lawyers to save your time and money at lower risks” to the public. Subsequently, my friend, a corporate lawyer was asked by his boss to quit his job because the boss wanted to replace him with the machine learning which could produce prompt legal answers and contract drafts without any request for overtime rate, vacation leaves, and other benefits. I also saw the robot lawyers representing clients in the courtrooms. Then, I saw a group of top lawyers sitting around a large oval table to discuss about what they would do to prevent the fall of human lawyers. And, I caught some amount of panic appearing on their faces and in their voices. I wanted to say something but my daughters woke me up by a song with the rhythms of spring.
Fortunately, what I dreamed was just a dream even it appeared far too pessimistic. AI capabilities cannot replace all human cognitive functions at this time and for the short term. The quality of language, gestures, and emotions contribute significantly to the success of the communication between lawyers and clients. Although tools like Cataphora can recognize sentiment in an email message, AI is not yet capable of understanding unscripted human interaction.[16]
In essence, either legal analytics or review, or both constitute part but not the entirety of legal advice. Because, a legal advice is not only a simple combination of data and facts but also a product of human sensibility. The degree of legal advice’s quality is substantially subjected to the experience and ability of a lawyer who designs the strategy and manages the performance of legal advice. For instance, robot is still incapable of identifying and working with pitfalls and traps in drafting and reviewing contracts. Further, in my opinion, robot can hardly produce schemes that would serve clients at best in the unpromising litigation and arbitration. I cannot image how a robot can respond to a surprised issue raised by the opponent during the close argument. That is why important legal skills based on human judgment, inference, common sense, interpersonal skills, and experience will remain valuable for the lifetime of any lawyer practicing today.[17]
Ultimately, the cognitive functions in control of a client’s case would be solely owned by human lawyers in five years or more.
Notwithstanding what you are thinking about the automation invasion in the legal profession, the adoption of AI in legal practice is gradual. Understanding and using technologies are a law firm’s major advantage over another one who lags in adopting technologies at this time.[18]
But, adopting technologies and changing the pattern of organization and operation are a compelling reason for a law firm’s existence in the near future. Regarding organization and operation of a law firm, deliberately designed, small and flexible teams will become the predominant approach toward fluctuating workloads, shrinking timeframes and intense flurries of information exchange and coordination.[19]
Athryn D. Betts and Kyle R. Jaep forecasted: “In fact, investing in cost-saving technology is likely to add value for clients, thus potentially further promoting a lawyer’s brand. Instead of the fall of the attorney, therefore, we might only see the fall of the billable hour, as tech-savvy attorneys are able to offer more value in less time.”[20]
In the era of robotic invasion, traditional skills would be not enough to build up a lawyer’s competency since drafting and reviewing can be automatically performed by robots. Law firms would no longer need lawyers for drafting but for being responsible for and control the quality of the work. Lawyers therefore need to equip themselves with a set of new skills comprising of e-discovery, cyber security, and management. Additionally, a lawyer must be able to jump in a wide range of projects at any point to satisfy the client’s diversified needs. Further, characteristics such as an entrepreneurial spirit, curiosity, creativity and strategic thinking skills could assume far more significance in the education and recruitment of future lawyers.[21]
We are now at the dawn of the industry 4.0, so we have enough time to prepare for the robotic invasion in the legal industry in 10 years or shorter or longer term. Do not ignore or resist the robotic invasion unless you want to be left behind. Instead, improve yourself for the brighter future.
[1]The Law Society of England and Wales, Horizontal Scanning: Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession, May 2018, at 3, http://www.lawsociety.org.uk
[2]Gary E. Marchant, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Legal Practice, The SciTech Lawyers, Fall 2017, at 21
[3]Gary E. Marchant, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Legal Practice, The SciTech Lawyers, Fall 2017, at 21
[4]Judith Bennett, Tim Miller, Julian Webb, Rachelle Bosua, Adam Lodders, and Scott Chamberlain, Current State of Automated Legal Advice Tools – Networked Society Institute Discussion Paper 1, The University of Melbourne, April 2018, at 21
[5]Athryn D. Betts and Kyle R. Jaep, The Dawn of Fully Automated Contract Drafting: Machine Learning Breathes New Life into a Decades-old Promise, Duke Law & Technology Review, [Vol. 15 No.1], at 226
[6]Judith Bennett, Tim Miller, Julian Webb, Rachelle Bosua, Adam Lodders, and Scott Chamberlain, Current State of Automated Legal Advice Tools – Networked Society Institute Discussion Paper 1, The University of Melbourne, April 2018, at 48
[7]https://rossintelligence.com/ross/coverage/
[8]The Law Society of England and Wales, Horizontal Scanning: Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession, May 2018, at 6, http://www.lawsociety.org.uk
[9]Judith Bennett, Tim Miller, Julian Webb, Rachelle Bosua, Adam Lodders, and Scott Chamberlain, Current State of Automated Legal Advice Tools – Networked Society Institute Discussion Paper 1, The University of Melbourne, April 2018, at 39
[10]Judith Bennett, Tim Miller, Julian Webb, Rachelle Bosua, Adam Lodders, and Scott Chamberlain, Current State of Automated Legal Advice Tools – Networked Society Institute Discussion Paper 1, The University of Melbourne, April 2018, at 45
[11]Judith Bennett, Tim Miller, Julian Webb, Rachelle Bosua, Adam Lodders, and Scott Chamberlain, Current State of Automated Legal Advice Tools – Networked Society Institute Discussion Paper 1, The University of Melbourne, April 2018, at 50
[12]Athryn D. Betts and Kyle R. Jaep, The Dawn of Fully Automated Contract Drafting: Machine Learning Breathes New Life into a Decades-old Promise, Duke Law & Technology Review, [Vol. 15 No.1], at 227
[13]Judith Bennett, Tim Miller, Julian Webb, Rachelle Bosua, Adam Lodders, and Scott Chamberlain, Current State of Automated Legal Advice Tools – Networked Society Institute Discussion Paper 1, The University of Melbourne, April 2018, at 29
[14]Judith Bennett, Tim Miller, Julian Webb, Rachelle Bosua, Adam Lodders, and Scott Chamberlain, Current State of Automated Legal Advice Tools – Networked Society Institute Discussion Paper 1, The University of Melbourne, April 2018, at 52
[17]Gary E. Marchant, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Legal Practice, The SciTech Lawyers, Fall 2017, at 21
[18]Gary E. Marchant, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Legal Practice, The SciTech Lawyers, Fall 2017, at 21
[19]The Law Society of England and Wales, Horizontal Scanning: Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession, May 2018, at 10, http://www.lawsociety.org.uk
[20]Athryn D. Betts and Kyle R. Jaep, The Dawn of Fully Automated Contract Drafting: Machine Learning Breathes New Life into a Decades-old Promise, Duke Law & Technology Review, [Vol. 15 No.1], at 224
[21]The Law Society of England and Wales, Horizontal Scanning: Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession, May 2018, at 10, http://www.lawsociety.org.uk
Qatar Airways first flight QR 0994 departed Hamad International Airport (HIA) and landed in Danang, Vietnam yesterday
Qatar Airways takes “great pride in its role” in being a trade enabler and connector for Vietnamese and international businesses and passengers, said Group Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker.
According to VNS, on board the inaugural Qatar Airways flight to Da Nang, al-Baker, was joined by the Vietnamese ambassador to Qatar Nguyen Dinh Thao.
Al-Baker said, “Qatar Airways is very pleased to extend its reach into Vietnam by launching our third gateway into this beautiful country. The addition of Danang to our global network further demonstrates our commitment to the Far East region, a highly important market for Qatar Airways. And we are excited for passengers traveling to and from central Vietnam to experience our award-winning service and product for themselves.
“With 56 weekly passenger flights to and from Vietnam, we take great pride in in our role in bringing passengers to and from this beautiful county and also being a trade enabler and connector for Vietnamese and international businesses.”
On the new route launch, ambassador Thao said, “This year marks the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Qatar, and we are delighted to welcome Qatar Airways to Danang, its third Vietnamese destination.
Danang International Airport is the third busiest airport in Vietnam and is an important transportation hub in the central region. Being only two kilometers from the city centre, the launch of this direct flight will further boost Danang’s position as the commercial and educational centre of Central Vietnam. It is a fantastic follow-up to Qatar Airways’ introduction of daily services to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in January of this year, and we appreciate Qatar Airways’ strong support for Vietnam.”
Qatar Airways will operate its Danang service four-times weekly with a Boeing B787-8 aircraft, featuring 22 seats in business class and 232 seats in economy.
Passengers will be able to enjoy the airline’s superior entertainment system- Oryx One, offering up to 4,000 entertainment options. Qatar Airways Cargo, the world’s second largest cargo carrier has a strong presence in Vietnam with six weekly freighter services to Hanoi, seven weekly freighter services to Ho Chi Minh City and 28 weekly belly-hold flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and now Danang.
Qatar Airways Cargo will offer more than 1,400 tonnes out of the country each week, where businesses in the country will benefit not only from direct cargo capacity to Middle East, Europe and Americas but also regular services and reduced transit times. Major exports from Danang will consist of garments, perishables and electronics.
Danang, one of the largest cities in Vietnam, is known for its sandy beaches and remarkable history as a French colonial port. The “charming city” offers magnificent views of Danang Bay and its beautiful Marble Mountains, making it an ideal destination for a relaxing summer vacation.
Qatar Airways began direct services to Ho Chi Minh City in 2007 and launched its Hanoi service in 2010. In October 2017, Qatar Airways announced its interline partnership with Vietnam-based Vietjet Air, allowing Qatar Airways passengers to travel to and from points in Vietnam not served directly by Qatar Airways using a single reservation across both airlines’ networks.
The launch of Danang marks the 14th new direct route to be introduced by Qatar Airways in 2018.
US magazine Forbes named Vietnam the hottest investment destination in Asia.
According to the article published by Forbes, Vietnam attracted US$17 billion in FDI commitments last year, arguably the largest for an emerging market relative to its $250 billion GDP.
In the first quarter of 2018, it became the fourth largest Initial Public Offering (IPO) market in the region, surpassing the Republic of Korea (RoK), Singapore and Australia. The realty market in HCM City is booming and GDP is growing at about 7 per cent per year. VNS reports
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) are expected to come into force in the coming months, helping Vietnam further integrate into the global economy. In 2020, the capital Hanoi will host the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The article said such rapid progress could be due to the fact that the country’s leadership has settled on an economic development vision that focuses on offering highly productive, cost effective labour to manufacture export goods. This tactic has driven record FDI inflows, largely from more mature Asian economies such as Japan, RoK , and Taiwan (China), of which more than 90 per cent goes into manufacturing.
It said Vietnam has become integral to the global supply of many goods, from smartphones and electronics to catfish and cashews. The country is also poised to be a major beneficiary of the ongoing US-China trade tensions as foreign companies seek to restructure their supply chains.
The article said the Government’s plan to equitize hundreds of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) has been critical to Vietnam’s growth. The equitization is attracting a flood of portfolio investments across several sectors, most notably retail and healthcare.
According to the writer, investment interest is likely to accelerate following recent legislation drafted by the Ministry of Finance, which stipulates that foreign ownership caps on listed companies – currently set at 49 per cent – will be lifted in 2019.
In addition, it mentioned the country’s young, educated entrepreneurial population of 95 million, which is rapidly urbanizing and experiencing real spending power for the first time.
The article said it is easy to understand why international brands like Apple, Starbucks and McDonalds are betting big on Vietnam, adding that the country’s tech scene is thriving.
The Vietnam’s Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB) on Monday announced a plan to issue US$96.6 million worth of non-convertible bonds by the end of 2018.
The to-be-issued 2,200 bonds would mark the bank’s second issuance round this year. VNS reports.
The bonds will mature in 10 years with face value of VND1 billion per bond, the bank said in a statement on Monday.
Bond yield will be paid every year from the issuance date.
ACB expects the upcoming bond issuance to help raise charter capital so it can meet demand for medium- and long-term loans.
The first bond issuance round took place on November 12 and ACB issued US$96.6 million (VND2.2 trillion) worth of non-convertible bonds, which will mature in three years with an annual yield rate of 6 per cent.
ACB is listing more than 1.12 billion shares, 90 per cent of its total outstanding shares, on the Hanoi Stock Exchange with code ACB.
ACB shares lost 2.6% on Monday to close at VND29,600 per share.
A month after announcing its oversubscribed final close, 500 Startups Vietnam today has announced to bring 500 Startups’ Silicon Valley accelerator curriculum to Vietnam in 2019 in partnership with GS Shop, a Korean multimedia retailer.
The Saola Accelerator, named after the rare Vietnamese deer also known as the “Asian unicorn”, aims to support three batches of Vietnam-connected startups with US$100,000 investment as well as programmatic support. In addition, each participating company will receive access to more than US$500,000 worth of free perks and discounts from twenty 500 Startups partners including Amazon Web Services, Google, and Microsoft.
500 Startups’ flagship accelerator has been named a Top 3 accelerator in the U.S. by notable publications including Forbes and Entrepreneur. 500 Startups has also been running growth programs in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The Saola Accelerator is 500’s latest step in its mission to back talented entrepreneurs anywhere, help them build companies at scale, and develop thriving startup ecosystems around the world.
Illustrative photo
Marvin Liao, Partner at 500 Startups and head of its flagship accelerator program in San Francisco, said, “We’ve learned a lot from working with 1,000 companies in more than 40 growth program batches around the world. We’re excited to bring that experience to Vietnam.”
In addition to capital, the Saola Accelerator will offer enhanced programming including 500’s signature Growth Hell Week plus hands-on support for growth. The program will conclude with a Demo Day, where the companies will share about their products and progress to an invite-only audience of regional venture investors.
The Saola Accelerator will be operated in partnership with GS Shop, Korea’s foremost multimedia retailer with an internationally active corporate venture capital team. GS Shop and 500 Startups have had a close relationship for years, with investments and collaborations spanning from Korea to the U.S. and the Middle East. GS Shop plans to match 500 Startups Vietnam’s investment in select batch companies, bringing the potential investment per company to up to US$200,000. GS Shop also plans to send two representatives to attend the program.
“We believe Vietnam’s existing incubators and accelerators have played an important role in nurturing startups in their earliest stages. Our program is aimed at companies ready to break out and become Asian unicorns – saolas,” Eddie Thai, a lead partner of 500 Startups Vietnam, explained.
Interested startups can apply to the program if they meet the following 3 criteria:
Tech or tech-enabled
Vietnam-connected: serving the Vietnam market, having a Vietnamese co-founder, and/or having a meaningful portion of the team in Vietnam
Have meaningful traction
The Early Bird application deadline is January 2, 2019, and regular deadline is January 20, 2019.
About 500 Startups Vietnam
500 Startups Vietnam is a US$14 million fund investing in promising Vietnam-connected startups. We provide capital, mentorship, and connections to both global and regional startups. Our startups have gone on to raise capital from such renowned investors as Sequoia, Korea Investment Partners, Monks Hill Ventures, and others in Asia, the U.S., and Europe.
About GS Shop
GS Home Shopping (“GS Shop”, KOSDAQ:028150) is Korea’s foremost multimedia retailer as well as a global leader in TV home shopping. “Powered by data and human insights, GS SHOP inspires you to design every moment of life” has been the corporate vision that GS Shop strives to fulfill by working tirelessly to deliver the highest value to customers and to create a new quality of life. This vision is the guiding light that has fueled our growth to the very apex of Korea’s multimedia retail industry.
Shares continued to fall on Tuesday due to the uneasy global market and the worries among investors about the US Fed’s imminent interest rate hike decision.
According to Reuters, Asian markets were down on Tuesday, contributing to concerns about the global economy that brought Wall Street stocks to their lowest levels in more than a year.
S&P 500 lost 2.08 per cent on Monday, hitting its lowest mark since October 2017. It has lost about $3.4 trillion of market value since late September.
The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.27 per cent.
Investors were also quite cautious as they carefully followed the market movements ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (FED) meeting on Wednesday, which is expected to witness the fourth interest rate hike of FED this year.
Domestic oil stocks were hit hard by the slump of global oil prices.
US crude fell as low as $47.84 per barrel, its lowest since September last year. Brent crude oil futures fell 3 per cent to $57.79 per barrel.
In Vietnam, The VN-Index on the HCMC Stock Exchange edged down 0.69 per cent to end the trading at 927.25 points.
On Monday, it fell 1.93 per cent to end at 933.65 points.
On the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index also fell 0.56 per cent to 104.42 points.
The index fell 1.54 per cent to 105.01 points on Monday.
More than 227 million shares worth a combined US$216 million were traded on the two markets.
Meanwhile, market breadth was negative. Declining stocks outnumbered gaining stocks by 288 to 145 while 321 other stocks ended flat.
According to Bao Viet Securities Company (BVSC), due to cautious sentiment and worries of investors about the possibility of the market’s short-term downtrend, selling pressure increased in many stocks groups.
“Market’s demand and supply may turn more balanced in the next sessions when the market falls to strong support zones,” BVSC said in its daily report.
Across the 20 sectors on the stock market, 16 industries saw share prices drop, including energy firms, property developers, brokerages, construction material and food and beverage producers.
The VN30 Index, which tracks the overall performance of the 30 largest stocks by market capitalization, was down 1.19 per cent to 890.68 points. On Tuesday, the negative movements of the world stocks strongly affected the Vietnamese market and investors’ sentiment.
Laggards in the oil group were PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services Corporation (PVD), PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PVS), PetroViet Nam Coating JSC (PVB) and Vietnam National Petroleum Group (PLX).
However, during the last minutes of the trading day, many large cap stocks such as Bank for Investment and Development (BID), Petro Vietnam Gas JSC (GAS), Military Bank (MBB), Mobile World Group (MWG), Techcombank (TCB) and Vietcombank (VCB), narrowed their downward momentum, lessening the pressure on the overall market.
However, the indexes failed to rebound as many large cap stocks still plunged, including insurer BVH, falling by 4 per cent, IT giant FPT moving down by 2.3 per cent, PNJ – the jewellery producer PNJ decreasing by 3.7 per cent.
Tan Chong Motor Holdings has announced that, from September 10, 2019 it will lose the rights to import and distribute Nissan vehicles and parts in Vietnam.
In a recent exchange filing, Tan Chong said Nissan Motor Co issued a notice of termination of its joint venture (JV) agreement with Tan Chong’s wholly-owned subsidiary, ETCM (V), without stating a reason.
According to The Edge Markets, the agreement was originally signed in 2010 after ETCM bought from Denmark-based Kjaer Group A/S its 74% charter capital contribution in the JV company, Nissan Vietnam Co Ltd, for US$7.4 million then.
The JV firm, in which Nissan holds the remaining 26% stake, has the exclusive right to import and distribute or re-sell Nissan vehicles and their spare parts in Vietnam, for 30 years starting from November 2008.
Tan Chong said the termination of the agreement will have “no significant financial and operational impact on the group for the current financial year.” It said ETCM “remains open to further discussion with Nissan to explore alternative solutions and business opportunities for mutual benefits in Vietnam.”
Meanwhile, Tan Chong has formed a new JV company in New York that will allow it to develop new distribution channels in the United States, Canada and other countries where it has a presence in. The move will also allow the company to source for new products/technologies which can be commercially developed for retail and distribution in Southeast Asia.
We assume a temporary gas shortage in 2020 and 2021 due to a one-year delay of Sao Vang-Dai Nguyet gas field. Recently, GAS’s management shared that the operator of Sao Vang-Dai Nguyet (SV- DN) gas field has faced difficulties in executing the project and therefore the expected operation date could be delayed from Q4 2020 to Q4 2021 (early 2022).
This gas field plays an important role in supplementing gas supply for power plants in the southeast region (Phu My, Nhon Trach power center and Ba Ria power plant) while the old gas field is running out of reserves. SV-DN gas field has total reserves of 20 billion cubic meter/bcm and production volume of 1.5 bcm p.a. Therefore, we cut our gas supply forecast in the southern region by 6.8% and 13.6% for 2020 and 2021, respectively. As a consequence, we cut GAS’s national volume forecast by 5.0% for 2020 and 9.7% for 2021. We assume that gas supply in the southeast region will recover by 23.7% in 2022 with the operation of both SV-DN and the White Lion gas field. LNG imports will support an uptrend in gas supply after that.
We note that a gas supply shortage in 2020 and 2021 may not happen thanks to a new player, Hai Linh Ltd.Co (a private company), that has an LNG project (capacity of 1 million tons) targeting operation from 2020. We anticipate a small gas shortage from November 2018 to February 2019 for gas-fired power plants in the southeast region. According to the General Statistics Office, 11-month accumulated gas volume was 9.14 bcm, +1.7% YoY, which was lower than our estimate of 9.97 bcm for the full year (+3.7% YoY). We assume this could be due to a faster than expected decrease in volume of the old Block 11.2 gas field. In addition, according to industry players, Wild Orchid gas field is expected to come online in mid-February (not late December) despite having its first gas ceremony in November 29. These developments negatively impact GAS, POW and NT2. Changes to our earnings forecasts, target prices and ratings for these stocks are summarized in the tables below.
Summary of the impact on our coverage
GAS [MPF, TP 90,400/share]: We cut our TP for GAS by 6.8% from VND97,000/share to VND90,400/share and downgrade from O-PF to M-PF due to: 1) We cut our earnings forecast for GAS faster than expected and the late operation of Wild Orchid will lead to a temporary gas shortage from November 2018 to February 2019; 2) In addition, we lower our NPAT forecast for 2020 and 2021 by 4.7% and 22.9%, respectively, given lower gas volume, mainly due to the late progress of SV-DN.
NT2 [BUY, TP 31,000/share]: We trim TP for NT2 by 1.3% from VND31,400/share to VND31,000/share as a lower 2018-2023 earnings forecast is partly compensated by the roll-over effect from December 31, 2018 to December 31, 2019. We cut our 2018 earnings forecast by 3.5% due to an expected gas shortage in Q4. We also trim our 2019 recurring NPAT forecast by 1.6% to VND848bn (USD36.4mn, +12.5% YoY) as a lower output forecast slightly outweighs a lower oil price assumption (USD70/bbl vs previous assumption of USD75/bbl). We cut 2020 and 2021’s recurring earnings by 8.5% and 16.0%, respectively, due to the delay of SV-DN. by 5.1% and 5.9% for 2018 and 2019, respectively, as we assume that Block 11.2’s volume is decreasing
POW [BUY, TP 18,400/share]: We cut our TP for POW by 3.7% from VND19,100/share to VND18,400/share on an average 6.5% reduction in recurring NPAT forecast over 2019-2023. We lower our 2018 NPAT forecast by 14.0%, not only due to lower earnings contributions from Nhon Trach 1 gas- fired power plant (450 MW) and NT2 (750 MW) but also due to significantly lower Q4 profit than expected from Vung Ang coal-fired power plant (1,200 MW) due to technical issues. Details of Vung Ang’s technical issue has not yet been disclosed, however, management expects that they will bring Generator 1 on line within December 2018. We also cut our 2018 cash dividend assumption from VND300/share to VND280/share given weak estimated Q4 PBT for Vung Ang of VND50bn (USD2.1mn).
For 2019, despite nearly no change in NT2’s profit forecast, we revise down POW’s recurring NPAT by 5.7% as we conservatively assume the fixing of Vung Ang coal-fired power plant could extend into January.
Prolonged drought and low commodity prices have adversely affected the Vietnamese economy resulting in the decrease in economic growth in the first half of 2016.
However, Vietnamese enterprises are planning to increase their investments in the ICT domain in 2016 compared to 2015. Facing one of the worst droughts in over a century, Vietnamese economic growth stalled in the first half of 2016 and witnessed a reduction when compared to last year.
Vietnamese enterprises are focusing their investments in the core ICT domains of software, IT services, and hardware. While investments in software dominated the ICT budgets of Vietnamese enterprises in both 2015 and 2016, investments in hardware is expect to increase in 2016 in order to achieve greater efficiency in their IT operations.
Additionally, Vietnamese enterprises are focusing on investing in advanced solutions such as business intelligence, communications & collaboration, internet of things (IoT) and cloud computing solutions. Meanwhile, software as a service (SaaS) and public cloud are the most popular cloud computing solutions employed by Vietnamese enterprises in 2015 and infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS) are expected to be the top priority of enterprises in 2016.
This report presents the findings from a survey of 54 Vietnamese enterprises regarding their Information & Communications Technology (ICT) investment trends. The survey investigates how Vietnamese enterprises currently allocate their ICT budgets across the core areas of enterprise ICT expenditure: hardware, software, IT services, communications and consulting.
The report Vietnam ICT Investment Market illustrates the core technologies that enterprises are investing in, including business intelligence, communications & collaboration, IoT and cloud computing. The survey also highlights the approach to purchasing technology adopted by enterprises in Vietnam. Through Kable’s survey, the report aims to provide a better insight to ICT vendors and service providers when pitching their solutions to enterprises in Vietnam.
Understand how the Vietnamese enterprises’ ICT landscape is set to change in 2016 to prioritize your target market. Comprehend how ICT Dongs are being allocated by Vietnamese enterprises in specific geographies and size bands to improve your market penetration.
Make effective business decisions by recognizing the opportunities within each of the core areas of ICT spend (hardware, software, IT services, telecommunications, and consulting). Realign your sales initiatives by understanding the current strategic objectives of Vietnamese enterprises. Enhance your market segmentation with the included, detailed breakdown of opportunities within selected technology categories (business intelligence, communication & collaboration, IoT and cloud computing).
Prioritize your focus areas by understanding which factors are influencing Vietnamese enterprises’ decisions when selecting an ICT provider. Understand the changes in customers’ priorities and identify the business and IT objectives that Vietnamese enterprises are looking to achieve through their ICT investment strategies.
Vietnam International Bank (Upcom: VIB) has moved its headquarters from Hanoi, Vietnam to Saigon from December 17th 2018.
VIB’s headquarters located in Pasteur Street, District 1 – the heart of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), an area which will allow it to better meet customers’ requirements, the bank said in a press release.
“Saigon is the economic hub of Vietnam, having the role to connect and support other cities to develop. It is also the regional and national centre of international trade, culture, creative knowledge, scientific research, high technological transfer, creative industry and the international centre of tourism, finance-commerce and logistics,” said VIB’s CEO Han Ngoc Vu
VIB’s CEO Han Ngoc Vu
According to Vu, VIB relocates its headquarters form Hanoi to Saigon to promote business development and enhance the bank’s brand awareness in the area.
The relocation plan of the bank has been endorsed by its shareholders and approved by Central Bank of Vietnam.
In recent years, VIB has received praise from local and international organizations including positive ratings from the Moody’s and the ‘Bank of the Year’ awards granted by The Banker Magazine @ Financial Times (UK) in 2016 and 2017.
In November 2018, VIB became the first private bank in Vietnam to be approved by the SBV to apply Basel II – the second edition of the Basel Accords, which are recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on banking supervision.
