Ha Noi FC have been crowned champions of V.League 1 with five games to spare after claiming an unassailable 16-point lead following Sunday’s 2-0 triumph over Song Lam Nghe An.
Following a goalless first half at the Hang Day Stadium, Hoang Vu Samson opened the scoring for the hosts in the 61st minute before adding a second in the third minute of injury-time to put the result beyond doubt.
The win means that there is now no way second-placed Sanna Khanh Hoa BVN can catch Ha Noi despite them also winning on Sunday, as they beat Nam Dinh 2-1.
By wrapping up the title, Ha Noi are also guaranteed a return to continental football following a year’s absence and should be entering the AFC Champions League at the second preliminary round of qualifying, with a spot in the AFC Cup their consolation should they fail to qualify for Asia’s premier club competition.
Goals from Lam Ti Phong and Nguyen Hoang Quoc Chi put Sanna Khanh Hoa firmly in control of proceedings, although they did have to endure a nervy finish to the contest as Pham Van Quy pulled one back for the hosts just after the hour mark.
Elsewhere, Rimario Gordon hit a hat-trick to help FLC Thanh Hoa beat Hoang Anh Gia Lai 3-0, SHB Da Nang recorded a 2-1 win over XSKT Can Tho, while Nguyen Van Ngo and Dominique Da Sylva were both on target in the second half as Sai Gon beat Becamex Binh Duong 2-0.
A community-based HIV testing pilot set up in Vietnam in 2016 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Viet Nam Authority for HIV/AIDS Control is empowering communities and changing lives.
On Tuesday nights, Dang Quoc Phong and his friends get together at a café in Can Tho, Vietnam. They’re not just there to drink coffee and catch up – some are getting tested for HIV. “Guys like coming here because they feel more comfortable, and it’s convenient to be able to pass by after work or classes,” says Phong, a peer leader among men who have sex with men.
A few blocks away, on Wednesday mornings, female sex workers Le Thi Phung and Duong Ho Hue Tam welcome other FSW to their house to drink tea, talk and, if they want, test for HIV.
Duong Ho Hue Tam does an HIV test for a female sex worker in Can Tho, Vietnam.
Free HIV testing has been available in hospitals and clinics across Vietnam for some time, but getting those at highest risk of infection to come to a facility has proven difficult.
Data from 2016 revealed that just 36% of people who inject drugs, 41% of men who have sex with men, and 43% of female sex workers had ever tested for HIV. But as Vietnam focuses on reaching the global target of 90% of people living with HIV knowing their status by 2020, getting people the health services they need, where and when they need them, and without financial hardship is now a priority.
To help with this goal, the Vietnam Authority for HIV/AIDS Control partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016/17 to pilot community-based HIV testing in two provinces. This makes Vietnam one of the first countries to adopt WHO recommendations targeting those not testing in traditional facilities.
In the pilot, people from the men who have sex with me, female sex workers and people who inject drug communities were trained to use HIV test kits and to counsel their peers to take a test. Last year, 2520 people at risk of HIV in Thai Nguyen and Can Tho provinces were supported by a peer to get tested. Among those, 140 people were found to be HIV-positive and 94% (131/140) started antiretroviral therapy.
The community-led approach has enabled more people with HIV to be diagnosed and start lifesaving treatment. This is important both for their health and for preventing others from becoming infected, as treatment reduces the amount of virus in a person’s body, dramatically cutting the risk that they will pass it on.
In 2017, peer testing identified 60% of all new HIV cases in Thai Nguyen and 30% of new cases in Can Tho. Nearly 70% of those who took an HIV test in the pilot were first-time testers, suggesting that this community-based approach is achieving its goal of “reaching the unreached”.
As a result of the pilot success, partner testing is now also being implemented – where partners of people who test positive are encouraged to also get tested. Of the 68 partners tested, 27 (40%) were also confirmed to be HIV-positive and 93% (25/27) started treatment.
“The peer leaders in Thai Nguyen and Can Tho are helping people within their communities to find out their HIV status and get started on treatment when necessary. They’re also helping gather evidence for the development of national guidelines on community-based HIV testing,” said Dr Kidong Park, WHO Representative in Vietnam. “This innovative approach is essential to ensuring the people who really need access to HIV testing get it.”
WHO has worked closely with the government to support provincial AIDS centres in training, monitoring and supporting peer educators so that they can provide high-quality services. Financial support from the local government has been mobilized to ensure peer educators receive an allowance to cover their costs. This is essential to the sustainability of community-based HIV testing, ensuring it can continue after the pilot is completed.
Vietnam is aiming to end transmission of HIV, in line with global goals. While there is still a long way to go, the commitment of peer leaders like Phong, Phung and Tam is changing lives, and showing how enabling communities to take the lead can make a difference.
New analysis of 71 countries just released by The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) at World Economic Forum 2018 on Asian has identified key pro-growth policies and highlights standout role of companies in driving outperformance.
Emerging economies have accounted for almost two-thirds of the world’s GDP growth and more than half of new consumption over the past 15 years yet, as individual countries, their economic performance varies substantially. A new McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report, Out-performers: High-growth emerging economies and the companies that propel them, identifies the emerging economies which have achieved a track record of stronger and more consistent growth than their peers and examines key factors determining their outperformance.
Of the 71 major emerging economies the report analyzes, 18 economies—about one in four—are classified as “out-performers”:
• Seven achieved more than 3.5 percent per capita GDP growth over 50 years, between 1965 and 2016. They are China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand.
• Eleven others grew at a faster pace for a shorter period—5 percent annually in the 20 years from 1996 to 2016. They are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.
While these economies and individual policies differ, outperformers tend to have two fundamental elements in common, the report finds. The first is a pro-growth policy agenda that creates a virtuous cycle of productivity, income, and demand and which encourages savings, ensures stability, and fosters competition and innovation. The second is the outsized—and underappreciated—role of large companies in driving productivity and growth. The 18 outperformers identified in the report have almost twice as many large firms (defined as publicly listed ones with annual revenue over $500 million) as other developing countries, adjusted for the size of the economies.
“Development economists have studied and written a lot about policies that have driven growth in emerging economies, and of course good policy is a must,” said Jonathan Woetzel, a director of the McKinsey Global Institute who is also a McKinsey & Company senior partner in Shanghai, the report’s lead author. “But one of the insights of our research is that highly competitive businesses have also played a critical role in propelling GDP growth—a role that is too often overlooked.”
Jonathan WOETZEL
“Decoding the combination of productivity-enhancing policies and the competitive dynamics in these outperforming emerging economies provides lessons for all countries, emerging economies and advanced economies alike, at a time when productivity growth globally has waned,” said James Manyika, chairman of the McKinsey Global Institute and a McKinsey senior partner in San Francisco.
Extending the winning formula of outperformers to all emerging economies could add $11 trillion to the global economy by 2030, a 10 percent boost equivalent to the size of China, according to the report. Out of this, $8 trillion would be the direct contribution from non-outperformers today, assuming they were able to achieve the same productivity growth rates as outperforming countries. With this productivity boost from them, emerging economies could continue to contribute more than two-thirds of global growth by 2030.
Lifting one billion people out of poverty
The 18 outperforming economies identified in the report have lifted about one billion people out of extreme poverty since 1990, helping to meet an emblematic United Nations Sustainable Development Goal. In the 71 countries overall, the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from 1.7 billion to 580 million between 1990 and 2013. The 18 outperformers accounted for almost 95 percent of that change. They were led by China (approximately 730 million lifted out of extreme poverty), India (170 million), and Indonesia (80 million).
Rising prosperity in these countries has also enabled the emergence of a new wave of middle and affluent classes with enough money to save and consume. Outperformers accounted for almost half of the growth in household spending of all emerging economies in the past 20 years.
“Long-term outperformers in particular have managed to achieve stable growth despite the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the global financial crisis of 2008, and other macroeconomic shocks and, together with policies enhancing inclusive growth, that has enabled their middle classes to flourish and expand considerably,” said Anu Madgavkar, a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute based in Mumbai.
Two major factors driving outperformance
The report highlights two major factors driving outperformance. First, outperforming economies tend to develop a pro-growth agenda across public and private sectors aimed at boosting productivity, income, and demand. Steps to boost capital accumulation, including (sometimes) forced savings, are a common feature, as are deep connections to the global economy through cross-border flows of goods, services, finance, and people. Governments in these countries have tended to invest in building competence, are agile and open to experimentation, and willing to adapt global practices to the local contexts. Critically, competition policies they implement create an impetus for productivity growth, increased investment, and the rise of competitive firms.
Second is the standout role of large companies in driving GDP-per capita growth. From 1995 to 2016, large firms’ revenue relative to GDP in outperforming developing economies almost tripled—from the equivalent of 22 percent of GDP to as much as 64 percent. That is more than double the level in other developing economies. The contribution of value added by these outperformer firms to GDP was also twice the share of their peers, and grew from 11 percent in 1995 to 27 percent in 2016. Large firms have scale to invest more in R&D, drive global expansion, train employees, and pay higher wages. This can create a spillover effect, especially to smaller firms connected to the ecosystem of large firms. At the same time, the rise of competitive large firms is dependent on strong small and medium enterprises to supply them.
Large companies in outperforming economies have tended to thrive in a highly-competitive domestic environment marked by contested leadership. Staying at the top is hard, the research finds: the top quintile of firms in terms of economic profit are more likely than not to be displaced by challengers, and they stand a better chance of falling further down the rankings than do companies in high-income economies.
Many firms from the outperforming economies are growing faster and providing higher shareholder returns than their peers in advanced economies. Companies ranked in the top quartile in terms of total return to shareholders delivered average returns of 23 percent from 2014 to 2016, compared with 15 percent for high performers in advanced economies.
They outperform their high-income peers in other ways too: A survey in the report showed that top firms in outperforming economies devote more attention to innovation, deriving 56 percent of their revenue from new products and services, eight percentage points more than their peers in advanced economies. They take decisions faster, and invest almost twice as much as comparable businesses in advanced economies, measured as a ratio of capital spending to depreciation. They are also more likely to prioritize growth outside their home markets—and in doing so, have become powerful global competitors.
“The role of contested leadership among these companies is very revealing and helps explain why they are emerging as formidable rivals to incumbents in advanced economies, said Jeongmin Seong, a senior MGI fellow based in Shanghai.
Looking to the next wave of out-performers
Looking forward, the report finds that the next wave of global growth can be led by a new set of emerging market outperformers that can on the one hand successfully drive pro-growth agenda while growing large productive firms and, on the other hand, adapt to changing global contexts. Manufacturing seems to be peaking earlier than it used to in developing countries, for example, automation is on the rise and cross-border trade flows have lost some of their dynamism since the 2008 financial crisis. New anchor economies might emerge and create opportunities. For example, as China moves away from some labor-intensive manufacturing and toward more R&D-intensive manufacturing, it is creating opportunities for India, Vietnam and other emerging economies, especially for goods produced in low-income countries from Indonesia to Uzbekistan. Overall, the share of goods trade among emerging markets, both south-south and China-south, have risen from 8 percent in 1995 to 20 percent in 2016.
The report concludes with an in-depth look at individual regions and identifies a number of countries including Bangladesh, the Philippines, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka, that could feature in a future wave of out-performers if they continue to put in place the economic fundamentals and maintain recent rapid growth.
About the McKinsey Global Institute
The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the business and economics research arm of McKinsey & Company, was established in 1990 to develop a deeper understanding of the evolving global economy. Our goal is to provide leaders in the commercial, public, and social sectors with the facts and insights on which to base management and policy decisions. The partners of McKinsey & Company fund MGI’s research; it is never commissioned by any business, government, or other institution. The Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania ranked MGI the Number 1 private sector think tank in the world in its 2017 Global Go To Think Tank Index. Visit: http://www.mckinsey.com/mgi for further information about MGI and to download all reports.
Christopher Axe knew what to do as soon as he saw homeless Vietnamese people. He’d been there before.
The Hanoi Railway Station is one of the hotspots in the capital city for the homeless. They gather there once the city has gone to sleep, taking refuge for the night.
On a Thursday night at around 10pm, groups of homeless people had replaced the crowds of passengers when Axe arrived at the station along with 20 or so volunteers.
They carried with them bags full of neatly organized hot, nutritious meals and other necessities.
Knowing their “delivery” guys had arrived, the homeless people, elders and children included, rose and stood in line to receive food, drinks, clothes, footwear, and even toothbrushes and toilet paper.
No one pushed anyone or cut the line because everyone knew that Christopher and his team were well organized and would arrive there every Thursday at this hour.
“I have been here for almost a month, if it wasn’t for this meal, I would have gone to sleep with a roaring belly many nights, ” said Bui Thi Thu Hang.
The fifty-year-old woman had come from the northern province of Hoa Binh to Hanoi, to try and make a living by wandering around the train station and seeing if any opportunity came up.
She is one of hundreds of beneficiaries of Help Hanoi’s Homeless (HHH), a charity founded by Axe which has been distributing 100 donation bags once every week at three locations in Hanoi.
At first Axe personally made the meals to ensure enough vegetables and protein were included, and to make sure they were hygienic. After learning about his work, some restaurants decided to chip in, reducing his workload.
Christopher Axe, once homeless himself, is now an English teacher and aspiring writer. His experience has allowed him to provide genuinely useful assistance to the homeless in Hanoi for a year. Photo courtesy of HelpHanoihomless.
Christopher Axe knew what to do as soon as he saw homeless Vietnamese people. He’d been there before.
The Hanoi Railway Station is one of the hotspots in the capital city for the homeless. They gather there once the city has gone to sleep, taking refuge for the night.
On a Thursday night at around 10pm, groups of homeless people had replaced the crowds of passengers when Axe arrived at the station along with 20 or so volunteers.
They carried with them bags full of neatly organized hot, nutritious meals and other necessities.
Knowing their “delivery” guys had arrived, the homeless people, elders and children included, rose and stood in line to receive food, drinks, clothes, footwear, and even toothbrushes and toilet paper.
No one pushed anyone or cut the line because everyone knew that Christopher and his team were well organized and would arrive there every Thursday at this hour.
“I have been here for almost a month, if it wasn’t for this meal, I would have gone to sleep with a roaring belly many nights, ” said Bui Thi Thu Hang.
The fifty-year-old woman had come from the northern province of Hoa Binh to Hanoi, to try and make a living by wandering around the train station and seeing if any opportunity came up.
She is one of hundreds of beneficiaries of Help Hanoi’s Homeless (HHH), a charity founded by Axe which has been distributing 100 donation bags once every week at three locations in Hanoi.
At first Axe personally made the meals to ensure enough vegetables and protein were included, and to make sure they were hygienic. After learning about his work, some restaurants decided to chip in, reducing his workload.
The English teacher’s commitment to help the homeless has seen him come up with a map that highlights 35 locations in Hanoi where the homeless usually converge so that philanthropies know where to help out.
To fund his project, Axe has contacted different organizations and established a network of “rescue boxes” to be placed in various streets, which contain instant noodles and sausages.
At the Hanoi Railway Station, the distribution of food and other items finished at 1am. Axe returned home to continue writing his novel and prepare English lesson plans for the following day. He teaches at a center in Ngo Quyen Street, Hanoi.
He lives in the comfort of a fully furnished home, but never forgets the nights spent sleeping next to trash bins.
Even to his students, he imparts the values of appreciating life and helping others in need.
This is how he introduces himself to his students: “I was a homeless man.”
Uber tapped seasoned marketing executive Rebecca Messina as its first-ever global chief marketing officer this week.
Business Insider caught up with Messina, who said that while Uber already offers reliability, it needs to add more meaning and humanity in the lives of both consumers and drivers.
It’s critical for Uber to quickly articulate a consistent brand vision around the world, said Messina.
She also acknowledged that because Uber came up so much faster, its product may have gotten ahead of its brand.
Messina added that her previous experience has prepped her to build Uber’s brand the right way and turn it into a 21st century icon.
According to an interview by Tanya Dua on Business Insider, after a string of corporate disasters dented its brand last year, the ride-hailing company seems intent on winning back hearts as it prepares for an IPO next year. Perhaps with that in mind, it just appointed Rebecca Messina as its first-ever global chief marketing officer this week.
The seasoned marketing executive was most recently the global marketing chief at liquor brand Beam Suntory, spending 22 years at Coca-Cola in a variety of roles including senior VP of marketing and innovation for venturing and emerging brands prior to that.
Business Insider caught up with the incoming Uber marketing chief to talk about her vision for Uber. Here’s an edited version of the conversation.
Tanya Dua: It’s an interesting time at Uber. You are gearing up for an IPO, and still recovering from last year’s corporate setbacks. Why is it time for the company to get a CMO?
Rebecca Messina: The first is the change in the CEO. We now have someone who really sees the landscape holistically and understands the work that needs to be done. They’ve already made tremendous strides in terms of the evolution in engagement with drivers and with consumers, and built an incredible product that we all need in our life. Now, it’s the perfect opportunity to create a brand that also lives in our heart.
That’s really the role of a CMO, right? I like to call myself, really almost like the ‘chief meaning officer,’ in that how do I really help bring meaning into this great brand around the world and what it stands for. It’s been recognized that in Uber’s trajectory, what got the brand here won’t get the brand where it wants to go. So I think there was no time better than now. And I think Dara saw that and made it first about rebuilding trust. With trust built, we can build meaning on top of that. Trust is the first fundamental.
Dua: Speaking of consumer trust, Uber recently embarked on a massive marketing blitzkrieg. Do you think that has helped? Is it working?
Messina: My sense as a consumer is that we all live in the Uber landscape, right? It’s such an important part of our lives. I think it’s certainly taking the right steps, but I don’t think it’s enough. I absolutely think it’s helping. Dara has integrity in that he means what he says, and I think that’s genuinely felt by consumers and hopefully drivers at large.
Dua: What else do you plan to do to win audience trust back? What are some of the biggest branding challenges that you see for the brand that still need to be overcome?
Messina: There are a number of stakeholders. And my first job, I feel, is to really put my arms around the inside, around all the marketers inside the company, because I think they really have a pulse on all of Uber’s markets around the world. [They know] what’s going on with their consumers and their drivers, and both play an incredibly important role in building trust back with the brand. But we don’t have the luxury of doing that sequentially. We’ll have to quickly ensure that we’re also engaging through our brand experiences with our drivers and consumers.
It’s about employees’ belief and trust in the brand, and engagement of our marketing community and then understanding how we really continue the trust journey with consumers and the drivers everywhere. So I think it’s multifaceted. And we will probably never be done. I don’t know if you’re ever done on a trust journey. Trust is like a relationship. It can get eroded quickly and it can get built back slowly. And I think that’s something we have to recognize — that we will be on this journey for a long time.
Dua: What is your marketing strategy moving forward? What is your biggest priority?
Messina: Certainly, first and foremost, priority number one is about engaging with our 700 marketers around the world, learning from these folks and recognizing the great work that’s already been done. But then obviously standing up and also formalizing the marketing function. There’s a lot of marketers, and we need to organize how we’re going to do our work and how we’re going to engage the other functions in the company and really take that forward.
The second priority is obviously getting really clear on this brand, and that’s not fast work. We have 75 million riders around the world who engage with this brand, and it’s critically important that we are quickly able to articulate a consistent brand vision around the world, a consistent brand meaning, a consistent set of brand values and live those through the actions that we take. It’ll be the first thing I get at with that marketing community and everyone else at Uber.
Dua: Can you give me a sense of how you plan to spend as well? Do you see doing a lot more TV, or do you see yourself branch out more?
Messina: I’ve always come from the camp of where you tell your stories needs to depend on what story you’re telling. And so, until we’re super clear on what the brand is going to stand for, I think it’ll be hard to answer that. But it’s going to be multifaceted for sure. Every one of those mediums has a role. Dara’s message was so worthy of television, and needed to be told with that high awareness and high reach. But not every story needs to be told that way, some need to be told more intimately and more one-on-one. We have to figure out the stories we want to tell and where they’re best told.
Dua: As someone coming in from the outside with a fresh pair of eyes, what are some things that you think have worked for Uber as far as marketing is concerned so far that you plan to continue with? And what are some things you really want to overhaul or, or bring in and establish?
Messina: The experience tends to be consistent. Not every car is consistent of course, but the reliability is there. Those are things that are core and help build the brand. I can count on it. That’s really important. It’s reliable. I’d love to continue to push further on making it a little more personal, kind of taking a step forward and just getting a little more intimate, a little more one-on-one and personal with its consumers. I can see opportunity there.
As an observer, as a rider currently, I can see that it’s got reliability, but it might need a little more personality. There’s human interaction every time the rider gets into a car, every single time there’s a conversation waiting to happen. Its about humanity. We do 15 million rides per day globally. That’s a moment for human connection. And that is so powerful and that’s something that makes Uber so incredibly unique. There is something in there that we need to unlock, around humanity and personalization.
Dua: So you’ve obviously had a ton of experience at legacy companies like Coca-Cola and Beam Suntory. A lot of those legacy companies themselves are struggling to adapt today, but there’s a benefit to having had a foundation there. How do you think your time there has prepared you for this role?
Messina: I have the benefit of having been at Coke for some of the best years of their trajectory, in terms of really becoming a global business. And because I got to see it from so many vantage points, from the headquarters, from my time overseas, I saw that growth trajectory and what that looks like. But there’s certain steps, some brand-building fundamentals, that you can’t skip. Uber’s come up so much faster — it’s exponential — that maybe the product got ahead of the brand.
And I think I’ll be able to bring that healthy tension of let’s ensure that the brand and the product are singing the same song and one lives up to the other, instead of one getting in front of the other. And that’s one thing that you learn from a legacy company that built a brand the old way, that there are just certain steps. Consumers have to fall in love with brands and they have to do it step by step, just like we do with people.
Dua: And what are some things that you hope to learn from a startup environment like Uber, that you think you probably haven’t experienced yet?
Messina: I’m humbled that I have this opportunity to join an organization of people that grew up native to this new environment. I’m excited to learn about doing things a little bit in reverse to the way I learned at Coke. Mistakes that we made at Coke were righted in a much longer timeframe, but today we have realtime feedback. Today, we have an ability to do things and adjust and optimize constantly. That is a privilege.
I had once only dreamed of all these ways of measuring my marketing activities that I now have today. I’m walking into a company that does it every single day, naturally. And that is, that’s a wonderful situation to be in. I certainly think I may bring some things that I hope can help advance the organization, but I certainly think I have equal parts to learn.
Dua: What do you think makes for a successful brand and business today? It’s obviously not how the Cokes of the world built themselves.
Messina: The things that make a brand today are some of the things that have always made a brand. It sits on something that is fundamentally a human need or a human desire — and not always a desire that is known. It was smart folks who came before me who realized that there was an opportunity to provide the service that Uber provides, but it sits on something needed. And then, from there it absolutely has to play and speak to consumers hearts’ and consumers’ minds. And I certainly think that we’re on the brink here of becoming one of the greatest icons in the 21st century.
We have an opportunity to make this brand meaningful at both levels — hearts and minds. We have a very rare opportunity to engage the two sides of the marketplace, when a lot of legacy brands have only had a one-sided marketplace. This is where the whole idea of a consumer and a driver coming together is so incredibly powerful. But the job to be done ultimately is still the same. We have to talk to both, we have to bring meaning to both. We have to stand for something we have to do with consistency, and that is key. That has never changed. Great brands are consistent.
This is where the World Economic Forum (WEF) hopes to make a difference. This Swiss non-profit foundation is best known for its annual summit in Davos where business leaders, politicians, academicians and just about anyone of global influence congregate to solve some of the world’s most complex problems.
By bringing the summit to Southeast Asia, WEF on ASEAN looks to find answers to such difficult questions. Carrying the theme of “ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution” WEF on ASEAN 2018 in Hanoi, Vietnam will be attended by 900 political, business, academic and civil society leaders. Notable heads of state that will be attending include Myanmar’s State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien-Loong, Malaysia’s newly elected Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, controversial Cambodian leader Hun Sen, the leader of Lao Thongloun Sisoulith and others.
These heads of state will discuss their ideas and opinions in a discussion titled “ASEAN Priorities in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. Other discussions lined up include Trade in Trouble: Navigating Geo-Economic Tensions and Asia’s Economic Outlook featuring Indonesia’s Minister of Finance Mulyani Indrawati and Santiprabhob Veerathai, Governor of the Bank of Thailand. Also slated to happen at the forum are special one on one sessions with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Aung San Suu Kyi and Hu Chunhua, Vice-Premier of the People’s Republic of China, respectively.
The forum will also pay special attention to entrepreneurs and their role in shaping the future of the region with 80 Southeast Asian start-ups selected to participate. These start-ups come from across the region and represent a wide variety of sectors, from financial services, logistics and e-commerce to agriculture, media and healthcare.
“We expect the start-ups to make an important contribution to shaping the debates at the meeting about the impact and course of new technologies and disruptive business models,” said Justin Head of Asia Pacific and Member of the Executive Committee at WEF.
Vietnamese startups do not get the financial support they need from the government at the discovery and validation stages.
The lack of institutional support is one of major factors behind the failure of many startups to take off and thrive, experts say.
“80-90 percent of startups fail in the early stages because they don’t have enough funding to move on to the expansion stage,” said Phan Hoang Lan, head of the Financial Planning Division under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Market Development Department.
According to a report by Dat Nguyen on Vnexpress, funding for startups mostly comes from venture capital funds, businesses and angel investors, not from the government, experts said at a recent conference.
There are three periods in the development of a startup – discovery, validation and expansion, said Lan.
It is in the first two periods that startups need funding the most, Lan said, adding that they end up raising money from family and friends or spending their own.
This situation is very different from other countries like Singapore, where the government offers a variety of grants that can support up to 70 percent of a company’s costs, according to Tech in Asia.
The U.S. News and World ranks Singapore as the 8th best country for starting a business in its 2018 Best Countries Rankings.
Vietnam was ranked 52nd, behind other countries in Asia like Japan (2nd), South Korea (12th), Malaysia (34th), Thailand (38th) and the Philippines (45th).
Since 2015, the government has only been investing in startups in the middle stage of their development, not in the earlier ones, said Lan, who is also the head researcher of the Vietnam-Finland Innovation Partnership Program (IPP2), which seeks to improve local support mechanisms for new innovative companies.
“Government funding for startups should start in the early period. The government needs to be willing to accept failures in their investments, which could also bring a lot of benefits,” she said.
IPP2 research shows that early government funding will reduce the “crowding out effects,” which is when the government’s involvement in a sector substantially affects private companies by reducing their investment spending.
When a business has overcome the difficult period, it will no longer be dependent on the government’s capital and can source investment from other private companies.
Echoing Lan, Nguyen Tri Hieu, an economist with over 30 years of experience working in the U.S. and Vietnam, said startups in Vietnam mostly receive funding from family and friends in their earlier stages, not from the government.
In the U.S., startups can find financial support from the Small Business Administration (SBA), which has an annual budget approved by Congress to enable their establishment, Hieu told VnExpress International.
“But this is not the case in Vietnam, where they get very limited government budget support in some cities and provinces like Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Can Tho,” he said.
Jouko Ahvenainen, CEO of digital finance firm Grow VC Group, affirmed the vital role of the government in supporting startups.
The government needs to build an ecosystem to help local and international investors connect with entrepreneurs and help them expand internationally, he said.
There should be good database of local startups so that investors can make their choices with greater ease, he added.
The number of startups in Vietnam has seen an increasing trend in recent years, reaching 92 last year, a 45 percent increase over 2016, according to the Topica Founder Institute (TFI), which has an annual program that trains and connects startups with potential investors.
These startups raised $291 million last year, up 42 percent from 2016, TFI said.
Startups in Southeast Asia attracted $7.86 billion in total last year, a threefold plus increase over 2016, Tech in Asia data shows.
Vietnam accounted for only 0.7 percent of that figure, lower than Thailand (2.2 percent), Malaysia (3.1) and Indonesia (22).
Without government support, some potential economic development will be weakened, said economist Hieu.
About 90 percent of Vietnamese businesses are of small and medium scale, but they create jobs for a majority of the labor force, he said.
“The future of the economy depends on the success of startups.”
Economists have expressed concern about the impact on Vietnam’s economy if the second US tariff package of $200 billion is ratified after September 6, saying that Vietnam’s GDP may decrease by 0.03 percent because of the trade war.
The VCCI’s (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry) latest report on the US-China trade war says the war will have a long-term impact on Vietnam’s trade and investment.
On one hand, Vietnam will be able to take advantage of the high tariffs that the US and China impose on each other’s goods to boost its exports to both countries. The tension between the two countries may also offer opportunity for Vietnam to lure more investments from the US.
The trade war, however, would also cause a negative impact. Chinese goods, which would find it more difficult to enter the US market, will head for other markets, including Vietnam. Vietnam may see the trade deficit become even more serious with China.
VCCI commented that in the long run, if the war is widespread, things may become unpredictable. The shift of trade flows to alternative markets would have both negative and positive impacts on small economies like Vietnam’s.
It is estimated that Vietnam would see its GDP decrease by 0.03 percent this year, and by VND6 trillion each year.
Meanwhile, Tran Toan Thang from the National center for Socio-economic information and forecast (NCIF) showed his concern about the impact on Vietnam’s foreign investment.
Thang said the US adjustment of the tax law may make American companies investing in Vietnam reconsider their investment strategies, or prompt them to transfer profits made in Vietnam to the US instead of expanding investment in Vietnam.
If so, the foreign invested enterprises in Vietnam will also be affected, which means that the competitiveness of the investment environment would decline.
Pham Chi Lan, a respected economist, believes that the trade war between the US and China will escalate, especially if the US wants to prevent China’s plan on hi-tech exports that would compete directly with the US by 2025.
Vietnam is the biggest importer of Chinese goods, while the US is the biggest export market for Vietnam. When conflicts occur with the two biggest markets, this will cause a negative impact.
“Vietnam is the fifth biggest market which enjoys a surplus in trade with the US. Therefore, if Vietnam becomes a country for Chinese products to transit before going to the US, it is very likely to bear economic sanctions,” Lan warned.
“VITA – La Chan Vang” (VITA – Golden Shield) helps customers secure peace of mind in being protected against all types of cancer.
Generali Vietnam Life Insurance LLC has officially launched a new cancer insurance product called “VITA – La Chan Vang” (VITA – Golden Shield), which helps customers secure peace of mind in being protected against all types of cancer. One unique and outstanding benefit of the product is that customers receive 100 per cent of premiums refunded at maturity if there have been no claims for cancer.
“According to a recent report from the World Health Organization (WHO), Vietnam is among a group of countries with the highest rates of cancer,” said Ms. Tina Nguyen, CEO of Generali Vietnam. “This rate is increasing, with cancer patients becoming younger and younger. According to another report from the George Institute for Global Health, released in 2016, 55 per cent of Vietnamese cancer patients are financially distressed or have died within just 12 months of being diagnosed. Obviously, cancer not only impacts a patient’s health seriously but also causes a financial burden for the patient and their family due to the expensive cost of treatment. With ‘VITA – La Chan Vang’, we would like to share that burden with our customers and accompany them in any circumstances.”
“VITA- La Chan Vang”, developed based on the Generali business motto of “Simpler, Smarter, Customer-centric”, provides superior benefits, including:
Simpler: Customers can choose the single premium option to be protected for ten years or the annual premium option to be protected for five years. Customer need only answer some questions and the policy is automatically issued.
Smarter: Once choosing the single premium option, customers can get 100 per cent of the paid premiums refunded if there has been no claim for cancer benefit at maturity. This is a special benefit that was first introduced with cancer insurance. In addition, customers can choose to add additional benefits such as financial support for their income loss / decrease and/or accidental death.
Customer-centric: “VITA – La Chan Vang” is highly affordable. Customers can purchase the product for themselves or for their children, with premiums starting at only VND98,000 ($4.40) per year. The payment for cancer benefits is up to VND500 million ($22,420).
A pioneer in developing differentiated products and services, with “VITA – La Chan Vang” Generali Vietnam continues to provide customers with peace of mind against cancer and with a chance to have 100 per cent of paid premiums refunded if there has been no claim for cancer benefit at maturity.
Generali is an independent Italian Group with a strong international presence. Established in 1831, it is among the world’s leading insurers and is present in over 60 countries. A member of the Generali Group, Generali Vietnam currently has a nationwide network of over 60 GenCasa (agency offices) and customer service centers, serving approximately 200,000 clients after more than six years of operations.
In recent years it has been one of the fastest growing companies within Generali Group and in Vietnam and currently ranks sixth among life companies in the market in terms of new business premiums.
The Sense Market under the 23/9 Park in HCM City is going to be shut down as the authorities plan to reorganise the park, Dtinews reported.
Even though the market was only opened in March last year, the one-hectare site could face problems. The decision was issued by the HCM City People’s Committee. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment was asked to stop extending contracts and all traders must move out by April 30, 2019.
The market has nearly 100 restaurants which offer cuisines from many countries including Vietnam, Laos, Japan, India and Cambodia. There are also more than 400 clothes and footwear stores. The market receives about 5,000 visitors per day.
Many traders have spent hundreds of millions of VND into their stores and haven’t been able to recoup the money yet. Traders, whose contracts expired, already moved out while others are worried about their fate.
Pham Tuyet Nga, a clothes shop owner, said she had poured in VND1bn (USD42,000) and would be in debts if the market was shut down. She hopes the authorities will extend the deadline until the traders recover their money.
Nguyen Binh Phuong, director of Cuu Long Company, the market’s investor, said, “This area was dirty and abandoned. When we were approved by the authorities, we spent VND200bn (USD8.5m) to upgrade and turn this area into a unique destination for both locals and tourists. It also provides jobs for 500 traders who used to work on pavements.”
Nguyen Thi Tranh, director of Saigon Co.op Investment Development JSC, the market’s operator, said the decision was regrettable since this was Vietnam’s first underground market.
They suggested developing underground businesses and services to ensure the green space above
Foreign transactions were the highlight on September 11, with significant net buying.
The VN-Index ended the day on HSX at 985.06 points, up 14.72 points (1.52 per cent), while the VN30-Index closed at 958.91 points, up 15.60 points (1.65 per cent).
On HNX, the HNX-Index finished at 111.43 points, up 0.74 points (0.66 per cent), the HNX30-Index 201.53 points, up 2.5 points (1.26 per cent), and the UPCoM-Index 51.45 points, up 0.41 points (0.81 per cent).
Liquidity on HSX was VND3.5 trillion ($150.3 million) and on HNX was VND515.9 billion ($22.1 million).
Food and beverage stocks to gain ground included VNM, TLG and KDC, by 3.4, 1.1 and 0.8 per cent, as VCF lost 1.8 per cent and TAC 1.5 per cent. SAB closed at its opening price.
Gainers in banking included BID, CTG and SSI, by 3.8, 2.9 and 2.9 per cent, as EIB closed at its opening price. TCB lost 0.9 per cent and TCB 0.4 per cent.
In energy, GAS and PVD gained 2.7 per cent, PPC 2.5 per cent, and PVT 1.1 per cent. PGD lost 0.8 per cent.
The Top 5 shares bought by foreign investors were VNM, HPG, VCB, GEX and SSI.
VNM was the largest net sold share on HSX, followed by MSN, DIG, HDB and BMI.
VGC was the largest net sold share on HNX, followed by CEO, TIG, HAD and TNG.
The ban on sale of liquors with alcohol content of 15 percent or more via the internet was issued one year ago, but online advertisements and sales of strong alcohol continue.
Many websites sell alcohol, and there are numerous products available, including spirits and luxury imports.
Most of the websites are run by individuals and private shops which have professional advertising. The images of alcohol products and selling prices are all shown on the websites, and there are also phone numbers for customers to contact, Vietnamnet reported
Call receivers are always ready to ‘give advice’ on which products to buy. All sellers deliver goods to the door, free of shipping fees if the destinations are not further than 10 kilometers from the shops.
Call receivers are always ready to ‘give advice’ on which products to buy. All sellers deliver goods to the door, free of shipping fees if the destinations are not further than 10 kilometers from the shops.
Asked about the origin of products, sellers say the products are either carried to Vietnam across border gates by travelers, or imported through official channels.
They also say they had not heard about the ban on the sale of liquor with the alcohol content of 15 percent and higher via the internet, and they have been doing business for many years.
Shivam Misra, CEO of Diageo Vietnam, said he is aware that trading liquor products with the alcohol of 15 percent or more has been prohibited since November 1, 2017, and the business has been observing the regulation.
However, private shops have been ignoring the regulation. There are numerous import products with unclear origin, including counterfeit and low-quality ones, available in the market.
Consumers complain they cannot buy genuine products, while businesses don’t know how to contact customers.
The illegal sale of hard spirits online has also caused the State to fail to collect tax.
Dang Thanh Van from Pernod Rivar Vietnam complained that while the company has to comply strictly with the new regulation, other traders break the laws and are not sanctioned.
Nguyen Van Viet, chair of the Vietnam Alcohol and Beverage Association, commented that the regulation can cover only businesses with legal status.
In reply to opinions that genuine alcohol products are much more expensive than those available at many shops in Vietnam, Deputy Minister of Health Truong Quoc Cuong said the selling price in Europe could be up to 30 percent higher than Asia.
“We found that the stage of removing impurities in products, a costly work, was skipped to reduce the production cost,” Cuong said.
A Vietnamese man with high passion for AI (artificial intelligence) has left Google to start up a business with an aim to understand the genetic map of Vietnamese.
With Gene Friend Way, people provide saliva and wait four weeks to know what they need to eat or what kind of disease they may have in the future, especially serious diseases such as diabetes or cancer.
Before becoming a co-founder and CEO of Gene Friend Way, Cao Anh Tuan obtained a doctorate in computing science from Cornell University. Three years later, Tuan joined Google’s staff and worked in the AI division.
However, the expert in Big Data and AI decided to start up a business in the healthcare sector, though he did not have knowledge in medicine and gene research.
With the support of his wife, a PhD in biomedicine and cooperation with three healthcare experts from prestigious schools in the US, Tuan decided to leave Google to pursue his dream.
The world’s genomic analysis has gained impressive achievements, able to decipher genetic information. Scientists have found that human pathogens are not only created by external influences, but also derived from genetic information left in each person’s DNA code.
What Tuan and his colleagues want is to discover where that difference comes from
At first, Tuan’s research team focused on cancer. But later, Gene Friend Way expanded its services.
Decoding Vietnamese genes
Gene analysis technology has been used for a long time in developed countries. However, according to Tuan, studies are mostly based on gene samples of white people. The gene structure of different human races is different.
In Hong Kong, a company provides gene testing and analysis. However, according to Tuan, the company mostly uses results of the research on whites and focuses on marketing.
For Tuan and his co-workers, technology is the key factor. To date, the number of genes which have relations to human identities that scientists have found is 10 times higher than the number announced three years ago.
Gene Friend Way’s founder said he is striving to use the latest research findings.
In Vietnam, doctor Tran Van Khanh is also famous for her research on genetic diseases. Her research helps detect people who carry the ‘bad genes’ and help young parents avoid high-risk pregnancies. About 1,000 patients in Vietnam and their family members have benefited from her genetic therapy.
