Different to the usual chaos found at gasoline stations on the streets of Hanoi, the Idemitsu Q8 (IQ8) station at the capital’s Thanh Long Industrial Park, the first 100 per cent foreign-owned gas station in the country, is orderly and professional. Local netizens fawned over the new gas station after photos appeared on Facebook showing a man, identified as General Director of IQ8 Hiroaki Honjo, standing in the rain and greeting every customer with a bow. Motor car drivers who have paid a visit to the gas station noted that staff also clean their windows and rearview mirrors while their vehicles are being filled. Change in business culture Mr. Honjo’s bow and IQ8’s commitment to accuracy within 0.01 liters caused a degree of debate on social media. According to experts, the presence of the first 100 per cent foreign-owned company in Vietnam’s retail gasoline sector is expected to create a more competitive market, where the sector has long been dominated by State-owned monopolies like Petrolimex, PVOil, and Saigon Petro. IQ8 is a joint venture between Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan Group and Kuwait Petroleum International Ltd (KPI), established in 2016. Each partner owns 50 per cent of charter capital. The joint venture aims to develop a professional gasoline business in Vietnam in the years to come. Following this first gas station in Hanoi, IQ8 will expand to certain provinces in the south. It is equipped with a system of automated station management software that allows card payments and the accurate management of… [Read full story]
VietNamNet Bridge - It is really good news for S-Fone and Beeline, the small mobile networks, that "big guys" have decided to inject money into the networks to help the networks survive and develop. However, bigger networks say the move will not cause any obstacles to them. Small networks get more money Several days ago, SaigonTel, the company of Dang Thanh Tam, the third riches stock millionaire in Vietnam, announced the deal of purchasing 35,983,665 shares for SPT, the owner of S-Fone mobile network. With the deal, SaigonTel will become the biggest shareholder of SPT which holds 30 percent of…... [read more]
Illustrative image. (Source: VNA)Binh Duong (VNA) – Some 1.7 billion USD in foreign direct investment (FDI) has been poured into southern Binh Duong province since the beginning of 2015, surpassing the yearly target by 70 percent and up 11.1 percent year on year.According to the provincial People’s Committee, the province licensed 176 new FDI projects during the period, worth 966 million USD, and 734 million USD was added to 113 operational projects.Chief among these is a 274-million-USD textile project run by Far Eastern Polytex Vietnam, a member of Taiwan’s Far Eastern Group, in Bau Bang Industrial Park. Another is a…... [read more]
Vietnam's Ministry of Finance is working on a proposal to reduce retail fuel prices as soon as possible in light of the recent decrease in global oil prices, Finance Minister Vu Van Ninh said Thursday. But local fuel trading firms need time to recover the losses they incurred during 2007 and over the first eight months of this year, Ninh told Thanh Nien on the sidelines of Thursday's National Assembly session. Domestic fuel firms are currently making a profit of about VND1,000 (6 US cents) a liter, meaning it would take them from six months to a year to make…... [read more]
The government of Myanmar on January 28, announced the policy on giving eight-year tax break for foreign investors. This country can even prolong the time to draw direct foreign investment (FDI) into economic development projects. Burmese Deputy Railway Minister Lwin Thaung told the media at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, that Myanmar is about to approve the amended Investment Law in late February to replace the one that was issued in 1991. That is a clear message of Myanmar to international community after it performed the first step of democratic reforms. Myanmar’s current economic situation is…... [read more]
The remark was made by Prof. Michael E. Porter, who is now considered the world’s most influential living strategist and is generally recognised as the father of the competitive strategy. Prof. Porter chaired an international seminar entitled “Global competitiveness and competitive advantages of Vietnam” in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 1. The event, hosted by the PACE Institute of Directors, brought together 200 officials, leading executives, scholars, policy makers and economists from Vietnam and other regional countries. Prof. Porter put forth a plan of action aimed at sharpening Vietnam’s competitive edge, with priority placed on reducing corruption, improving infrastructure…... [read more]
