Sustainability in Vietnam | ANT Consulting

Achievement of sustainable development in Vietnam

The sustainable development objectives including economic, social development and environment protection have been integrated into national priority development together with economic growth objective.

With a stable GDP and economic growth, improvement of education, Vietnamese citizens have gained more knowledge about gender quality, environmental and other social issues, thus, creating campaigns to support collective action. For example, the campaign collecting garbage along beaches in Vietnam attracted more than 1000 students to participate in which indicated collective action to mitigate effect of disaster and climate change.

Vietnamese government has significantly improved the rate of hunger eradication, poverty reduction, population, job creation, education and healthcare. Particularly, in 2014, total state budget for hunger eradication and poverty reduction were more than 34 billion VND. Thus, the poverty rate took a nosedive from 14.2% in 2010 to 1.8-2% in 2014, proving average reduction of 2% per year national wide.

The state fund for environmental protection has been increased, thus the policies for environmental protection has put into regular operation. By executing tax exemption for environmental friendly enterprises, businesses in Vietnam have been more aware of coordinating environmental protection policies into long term vision and mission.

Vietnam takes part in international agreement to show commitment to sustainable development such as: WTO, United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change, United Nation Convention to combat desertification, the convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora…

Challenges of sustainable development in Vietnam

There have been some challenges in Vietnam when implementing sustainable development policies. An increase in natural disaster, degenerated natural resource (water and biodiversity resources), wasteful and ineffective production and consumption are causing huge destruction to various local communities.

Even though there have been some supporting policies for enterprises in Vietnam to implement sustainable development policies, they have not obtained full awareness of the link between good environmental, social, and governance performance and the ability of companies to be profitable and survive in turbulent times. Therefore, most of the firms succeeded in promoting sustainable development practices are international businesses.

Sustainable development in business

Since Vietnam takes part in international trade agreements, there will be more international and institutional investors need the information of material environmental, social and governance information about company performance to decide whether to make investment decision.

Sustainable development of the business should be proven by social factors (employee compensation, benefits, staff turnover, safety practices, diversity and local community) and environmental factors (energy efficiency, GHS emissions, biodiversity conservation, water usage, natural resource use, waste to energy and recycling practices). These factors are crucial for investors as they indicates how the company takes into account risks, opportunities, management approach, stakeholder value and long term development.

Sustainability report has been strongly recommended by Vietnamese government. Vietnam Brewery Ltd is one of a few leading companies taking this report seriously. Their report in 2014 stated that the company switched from diesel to biomass as boiler fuel, reducing direct CO2 emissions as a result. In addition to reducing our carbon footprint and mitigating the effects of global warming, the local community has also benefitted from the programme with an additional income from the sale of rice husks. The company also highlighted the code of conduct which allowed the employees to voice their opinions. There have been also other big cooperation taking part in the trend for example Bao Viet Corporation, Vinamilk, Hau Giang Pharmacy…

In conclusion, in order for enterprises in Vietnam to actively engage in sustainable development and voluntarily adopt sustainability as common practice, Vietnamese government should take more urgent actions.

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Passing Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam Leads the Region in The PMI Index | ANT Consulting

Vietnam’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has risen from 51.8 in August to 53.3 in September. Nikkei evaluated that the business conditions of the month had a strong improvement, achieving the best speed since April. Accordingly, the health of this field is positive during the past 22 months.

Ranking the countries according to the PMI index of the month, Vietnam continued to lead the overall growth list with the PMI index rising to a high in September. The Philippines advanced to the second position with 50.8 points, although overall growth is still light.       

Indonesia with 50.4 points indicates that business conditions continue to be improved while Thailand has rebounded to 50.3 points after a decline in the previous two months. After the improvement last month, Malaysia (49.9 points) recorded almost unchanged production conditions in September. Meanwhile Singapore (48.6 points) fell into the decline. Myanmar (49.4 points) continue to have weak business conditions, although the speed of decline is light.

Analyzing the reasons for growth in Vietnam, according to the Nikkei, customer demand increased and new orders increase as a result. This is the most significant increase in 5 months. Order growth rate also improved sharply in September.

Thanks for that, inventories also fell for the third month in a row, the biggest drop since July.

Production output of Vietnam has also increased in 11 consecutive months. All three areas of the market have increased production, led by companies producing consumer goods.

In terms of input costs, Nikkei noted that due to rising raw material prices, including raw materials from China, input costs rise significantly, the strongest since May 2011. Therefore, in September 2017, for the first time in 5 months, companies must increase output prices.

According to Mr Andrew Harker from IHS Markit, the company that collected the survey results evaluated that the third quarter ended with a positive note for Vietnamese producers. As a result, manufacturers may continue to grow in the last quarter. Nevertheless, he noted that Vietnam should be cautious as inflationary pressures reappeared.

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Fast-moving Consumer Goods Market in Vietnam | business consultant in Vietnam | ANT Consulting

1.Overview 

With increasing disposable income, rising living standard, stable GDP and economic growth, young population and low inflation, Vietnam is one of the most dynamic emerging market in Southeast Asia region. Fast moving consumer goods industry has promised a robust development.      

2. FMCG in Vietnam 

FMCG growth 

The MoIT forecast that total revenue of the consumer goods-related sectors in Vietnam will hit 140 billion USD in 2016, thus creating great opportunities for FMCG businesses at home to boost production and expand the market. There is a significant volume growth from -1,6% in 2014 to 2,7% in 2015 in terms of demand for FMCG and the figure is expected to continue increasing in 2016 and 2017 (Nielsen, 2015). Vietnam’s volume growth in 2015 in only behind Thailand and the Philippines in South East Asian religion. In short term, urban citizens remain positive value growth of 3,6% whereas value of growth in rural areas grow at weak pace. The latest statistics released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that after China, Thailand is Vietnam’s second biggest suppliers of consumer goods with its garments and household utensils present in nearly 8,600 markets across the country. Besides, Japan and the Republic of Korea are also penetrating into the Vietnamese market through chains of convenience stores. 

Value contribution in FMCG 

It can be seen from the chart beverage contribute the largest value to FMCG industry while baby care products remain the lowest value contribution. Interestingly, urban prefers liquid tonic food drink with the rise of 4,4 PTS when the most popular beverage in rural is soya milk with the increase of 8,7 PTS. 

Distribution channel 

The data of Kantar research shows that traditional trade outlet such as wet markets and grocery stores is still one of the most popular channel for FMCG. Convenient stores/mini market is a new rising star in distribution channel which experience 60% growth from 2014 to 2015. For example, VinMart + have appeared from 100 to 200 store in 2015, Circle K from 97 to 129 stores, and Shop & Go from 103 to 130 stores. E-commerce also will be a big trend which reaches steady growth of 13%. 

Consumer behaviour patterns 

Consumer confidence index also experiences positive trend since Vietnam is the 6th most optimistic country globally. Despite of the increase of 6,3% CPI in 2015 compared to 2014, Vietnamese consumer is prudent, still prefer saving than spending. Pricing has also been one of the most important decision making factor during purchase. Additionally, dropping shopping frequency proves that Vietnamese consumer has been lessen spending 

The demand for high end FMCG is still week regard to relatively low income of majority of Vietnamese consumers in rural areas. Compared to other South East Asian countries, Vietnam’s per-capital expenditure on food and non-alcoholic beverages was US$200 in 2011 while this figure is US$900 in Thai Land and US$1000 in Malaysia. 

3. Future trend and potential investment 

Booming of foreign investment in FMCG 

Vietnam has emerged as a popular destination for multinational and regional retailers. It is allegedly agreed that Vietnamese consumers are more likely to prefer foreign brands. In addition, 57% of Vietnam’s population below 35 years old, 44% monthly increasing income, 30% urbanisation rate with 3,4% growth rate per year; and 1.6 times more college and university graduate (Nielsen) result in the shift toward modern trade outlets such as shopping mall and supermarket. Some of well-known foreign retailers are AEON (Japan), Lotte (Korea), Central Group (Thailand), Mark and Spencer (UK). In additional to strong foreign competitors, Vinmart and Citimart are the most popular domestic rising stars in FMCG/retail market in Vietnam. 

Shopper get smarter and more purchasing power 

In 2015, 48% of Vietnamese consumers stated that “staying fit and healthy” is the top concern (Nielsen). Therefore, Vietnamese consumers have become more concerned about the quality, hygiene and safety of the products. Due to high competition in FMCG industry in terms of manufactures and retail outlets, Vietnamese consumer have more purchase power decision. This implies that manufactures as well as retailers also need to be more selective with the products that provide to customers. 

The emergence of new online channel 

According to Nielson report in 2 big cities: Hanoi and HCMC, 92% of internet users are online shopper and 93% of shopper are middle class and millennial. Additionally, in such a busy world, on-the-go lifestyle will become a big trend in Vietnam. Thus, it indicates the high demand for online platform that conveniently host information and acquire interaction between online and offline store choices. Also lack of innovative approach and strategy to attract online shoppers is a huge issue in Vietnam market at the moment. Also there has been a huge lack of accessibility to online channel in rural areas and other smaller cities. E-commerce in FMCG promises high potential for investment

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FM Logistic Builds 30 Million USD Distribution Center in Bac Ninh | ANT Consulting

On April 10th, FM Logistics – French logistics and transportation company officially started construction of a 30 million USD distribution center in VSIP Bac Ninh Industrial Park, laying the foundation for the company to explore the developing logistics market of Vietnam. 

Once completed, this center will use about 300 employees, providing an area of 52,000 m2 for a maximum of 70,000 inventory boards. Phase I with an area of 21,000 m2 will be completed in the first quarter of 2020.        

Logistics demand is growing strongly in Vietnam, one of the fastest growing economies in the world with GDP growth of about 7% in 2018. The growth of domestic production, wages and consumption, the young population and the explosion of e-commerce are also factors that promote the development of Vietnam’s logistics market. This is an opportunity for international 3PL companies to provide added value of logistics and door-to-door delivery services. 

The distribution center and warehouse in Bac Ninh will support the development of food, retail, fast-moving consumer goods, industrial goods and cosmetics in the booming Vietnamese market. The center also supports increasing storage space of FM Logistic in Vietnam by nearly 10 times, at the time of increasing demand for Grade A storage. This proves FM Logistic’s commitment to invest in Vietnam. 

The entire facility of this distribution center is designed by FM Logistic member company – NG Concept, including a wide range of utilities to accommodate temperature sensitive products, fast-moving consumer goods, electronic equipment, spare parts and even hazardous products. 

Services that will be provided by the center include storage (with different temperature ranges), reception, packaging (or value-added services) and distribution. Optimize internal and external flow of facilities to match the increasing needs of modern retail operations. 

From May 2019, FM Logistic will also start operating a rental warehouse with an area of 6,500 m2 in An Phu, Binh Duong province, 30km away from Ho Chi Minh City. The company officially operated in Vietnam in August 2017. In 2018, the company began providing nationwide shipping services, using its partner network. 

Founded in France in 1967, FM Logistic is an independent logistics company with family scale, with a revenue of 1.2 billion EUR in fiscal year 2018, two thirds of which come from the international market. The company operates in 14 countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America (Brazil) and has about 26,000 employees. 

FM Logistic invests in innovation to bring logistics, shipping and classifying solutions to meet the changing needs of consumers, the development of e-commerce and the distribution of multichannel sales. FM Logistic has served many international and domestic companies in the field of fast-moving consumption, retail, perfume, cosmetics, industrial production and health care.

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The US Increased Imports of Vietnamese Goods | ANT Consulting

Vietnam could become the seventh largest exporter to the US in 2019 if it can maintain the growth rate of 40.2% as in the first quarter. 

According to the data announced by the US Bureau of Statistics, in the first three months of 2019, the export speed of goods from Vietnam to the US increased by 40.2% over the same period last year. This is the fastest growth rate among the 12 largest exporters to the US in 2018. Behind Vietnam is Korea with a growth rate of 18.4%. On the other hand, Chinese goods to the US fell 13.9% amid increasing trade tension between the two countries. 

If maintaining the growth rate in the first quarter for the rest of 2019, Vietnam could surpass the big ones like France, England, Italy and India to become the 7th largest commodity exporter for the world’s largest economy, with an estimated value of nearly 69 billion USD. Last year, Vietnam ranked 12th with the value of goods exported to the US reached more than 49.2 billion USD. 

According to the statistics of the General Department of Customs, in the first 4 months of this year, the US continued to be the largest importer of Vietnamese goods such as textiles and garments with value of 4.42 billion USD, increase by 9.1% compared to the same period last year; footwear (2 billion USD), increase by 13.5%; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts increase by more than 54% (1.3 billion USD); wood and wood products (1.42 billion USD), increase by 34.7%. 

In early May, US President Donald Trump also mentioned that producers could choose Vietnam as a destination after leaving China. According to the Fitch credit rating agency, there were signs that Vietnam could benefit from the impact of trade tension from the flow of trade out of China.

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