VinGroup plans to go places

Phạm Nhật Vượng

VinGroup

Phạm Nhật Vượng is the founder and chairman of VinGroup, one of Việt Nam’s largest private business groups with a market capitalisation of nearly US$5 billion based on the company’s share price on the HCM Stock Exchange on July 28, 2017.

Vượng was a rare Vietnamese entry in the Forbes list of the world’s billionaire in 2013 with total assets valued at $1.5 billion. His net assets were estimated at $2.4 billion on Forbes’ website as of July 28, 2017. With a stake of around 65 per cent in VinGroup, directly and indirectly through the Vietnam Investment Group, Vượng has been in the list of 10 richest people on the Vietnamese stock market for eight consecutive years.

Born in 1968 in Hà Nội, Vượng studied in Moscow but started his business Technocom Group by making fast food in Ukraine, building a popular brand, ‘Mivina’ with annual sales of $150 million. He returned to Việt Nam in early 2000s and began investing in real estate at the time of ‘hot land fever’.

In 2009, he sold his food company in Ukraine to Nestle and relocated his entire business to Việt Nam. He founded Vinpearl Land, focusing on hospitality and leisure in Nha Trang in 2001, and began developing commercial real estate under the brand name Vincom in Hà Nội in 2002.

The Vincom Joint Stock Company (VinGroup) was established in May 2002 with an initial charter capital of just VNĐ196 billion (US$9 million). The company has emerged as a prominent player in retail, office and commercial real estate with many famous Vincom projects, including the Vincom Mega Mall Royal City in Hà Nội, which is said to be Asia’s largest underground retail and entertainment complex.

In January 2012, Vinpearl JSC merged into Vincom JSC to form VinGroup JSC with a charter capital of over VNĐ7 trillion. The group has positioned itself as the leading multi-industry corporation in Việt Nam. Its revenues rose to VNĐ57.7 trillion ($2.6 billion) in 2016 along with its rapid expansion into retail, healthcare, education and agriculture industries, with popular brand names including VinHomes, Vinpearl and Vinpearl Land, Vincom Retail, VinCommerce, VinMec, VinSchool, and VinEco.

VinGroup has been planning to place itself on the global economic map. VinEco, the group’s foray into the agriculture sector, aiming to provide safe and clean food, plans to export some of Việt Nam’s dominant agricultural products to Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan and Dubai. In the healthcare industry, the company is collaborating with partners in the United States, Japan, France and Singapore to provide quality treatment for serious diseases like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular problems.VNS