New enterprises filing for registration
Instead of bold investment, several enterprises have been more cautious in their decisions by renting factories and making full use of their own capital.
After the Tet holiday, Thieu Le Binh, Director of Golden Woods Vietnam in Dong Nai Province’s Bien Hoa City was rapidly recruiting an additional 50 workers to operate their furniture production plant.
Despite being a new investor in the furniture industry, the company has still found new opportunities amid difficult circumstance.
“Where someone sees difficulties others may find opportunities. Outlets for products are the most important thing and luckily we’ve got our first orders,” Binh said.
Foreseeing possible challenges to their business, the company has decided to rent a factory instead of building a new one.
“Several furniture companies abandoned their factories in the recent period, so we’ve decided to rent their infrastructure to save on investment costs,” he noted.
The factory is expected to churn out its first products on February 18, for exports to the Europe. In order to meet the order schedule, they have decided to outsource part of their products before recruiting enough workers.
Opportunities amid challenges
Huynh Hieu Dung, director of a private firm in HCM City’s Binh Thanh District said despite decreased revenues last year, he had decided to expand business since early this year.
Dung’s company has specialised in car leasing and second-hand car trading for four years.
“I hope that with the government’s involvement, the economy will gradually rebound. Despite forecasted difficulties, I think this is a good time to invest. I will open some new branches across the city after investing VND1.5 billion (USD71,873) into each branch,” Dung said.
While having a great demand for capital for the investment plans, Dung tried to make full use of his own capital instead of taking out high-interest loans.
Diep Nhat Thanh Giao, deputy director of the Dinh Nguyen & Anh Limited Company said he was in desperate need of capital for new investment plans, but wouldn’t use bank loans.
“We are specialising in advertising, so we often get payments after delivery. Any delayed payment could add to our difficulties,” he said.
Tran Ai Thien Huong, general director of My Vinh International Investment Consultancy Company said this year would be a good chance for keen investors. Apart from current markets in the US and South Africa, her company plans to expand their operations into China and Myanmar during the year.
Lawyer Tran Le Tien, head of Khanh Tran Law Firm in HCM City said the number of new investment projects and projects upping their investments was the same as previous years. Most investments had been poured into the trade and service sectors this year instead of construction materials as last year.
Nguyen Thanh Long, from Hanwa Kakoki Joint Stock Company in HCM City said despite difficulties in China and Japan last year, his company had decided to invest in Vietnam this year.
“We’ve decided to open a representative office in Vietnam this year. We will import industrial machines from Japan to Vietnam for sale,” he added.
Concerning the garment and textile industry, several foreign investors have been building factories and opening offices in Vietnam.
A fibre joint venture between Vietnam and Australia has invested in a plant with a capacity of producing 80,000 products per year in HCM City’s Tan Phu Trung Industrial Park. The company plans to begin operations this year.
