Employment on demand

Robust growth trends projected for investment in healthcare. Source: freepik.com Kim Dental, Vietnam’s largest private dental care platform, has recently raised $24 million in a series B round. The investment was led by ABC World Asia, a private equity fund dedicated to investing across Asia, seeded by Temasek. Proceeds from the round, which saw the participation from existing backer Aura Private Equity, will support Kim Dental in expanding the delivery of affordable and reliable oral health services across Vietnam. Kim Dental owns and operates a fast-growing network of 19 dental clinics across four cities. The clinics provide dental check-ups and treatments as well as more advanced orthodontics, prosthodontics, oral surgery, and implants. Kim Dental employs 120 dentists and dental surgeons, as well as over 600 clinical and operational staff serving over 23,000 patients per month. Kim Dental also operates a dental laboratory to support its clinic network with in-house production of crowns, dentures, and bridges. Huynh Minh Viet, CFO of Kim Dental said, “With this successful round, we’re now well-positioned to expand our delivery of international quality dental care to the fast-growing communities across the country, thus improving community access and helping to elevate the standards of oral healthcare in Vietnam, so that we achieve more positive overall healthcare outcomes in our country.” Meanwhile, SK Group is said to be mulling over an investment in Vietnam’s largest pharmacy retail chain, Pharmacity, with an expected value of up to $90 million, according to Dealstreetasia. Phamarcity is Vietnam’s largest pharmacy retailer with approximately 500 drugstores. The company has a plan to open its 1,000th store this year. If the deal is concluded, it would make up SK Group’s second investment in Vietnam’s pharmacy and healthcare market. Last May, SK Investment III, a subsidiary of South Korea’s third-largest conglomerate SK Group, received 12.32 million …

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Thoughts return to stronger rail options. Source: freepik.com Although the Ever Given container ship was rescued one week after being stranded in the Suez Canal in Egypt, the trading world remains rocked as hundreds of billions of US dollars has evaporated in the wake of the global trade system significantly relying on this narrow canal. The incident has also posed questions on developing other transportation channels, in which trans-continental rail routes may be top of the list. “One of the most effective channels is to develop a rail route running through Asia and Europe. This would be very good for exporters in Vietnam,” said Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Agency of Foreign Trade. It is now recommended that exporters should consider and take advantage of the current rail route connecting Vietnam through China to Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, and Germany. From Germany, the goods can be transported to other European markets. Currently if goods are transported via this rail route, it would take a month from Vietnam to Germany, with a cost of $8,000-9,000 per container, which is higher than the $6,000-8,000 for sea transportation which can take up to 50 days. However, the existing difficulty is the difference in railway widths and also standards of the trains themselves. The width of Vietnam’s railways is one metre, while that of other nations is around 1.4m. Moreover, trains in Vietnam cannot accommodate a huge volume of goods at the same time – each train can carry a maximum of 90 tonnes of goods for 15 compartments. If exporters want their goods transported by trains from Vietnam to overseas markets, they will have to change trains many times, meaning higher costs. These factors currently make it difficult for Vietnam to boost the transportation of goods by train to other international markets. Kazakhstani Ambassador to Vietnam Yerlan Baizhanov previously told VIR that Kazakhstan, China, and …

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GE's latest 9HA.02 turbine is accelerating the shift to LNG After a wave of investment in solar and wind power over the past two years, Vietnam is now witnessing strong interest in the field of electricity generated with the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG). A report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) published in January stated that Vietnam has quickly become one of the most promising LNG import markets in Asia, and many domestic and international investors have expressed their desire to pursue projects in the country. They are encouraged by changes in government management that no longer sees coal-fired thermal power as the centre of the power system, as well as the rapid growth of renewable energy in the nation’s power structure. As such, investors have actively portrayed LNG as a cleaner source to replace coal and argue that gas-fired power units will be one of the main power sources required to feed public demand and supplement unstable renewable sources. The IEEFA report also stated, “Vietnam’s electricity industry has never seen a wave of investors expressing so much interest as they do now, that – with the accompanying diplomatic pressure – remains unprecedented in the country’s history.” Interest in LNG power may also be related to Resolution No.55/NQ-BCT on the orientation of Vietnam’s National Power Development Plan (PDP8), which emphasises the rapid development of LNG thermal power plants. However, at the same time, experts advise that priority must be given to developing LNG import and distribution infrastructures. According to the nation’s target until 2030, Vietnam must import 8 billion cubic metres of LNG per year, while the current rate is zero. The focus on LNG power generation is also attributed to its advantages, such as ensuring a stable power supply and minimising the impacts on the environment. “The third draft of the PDP8 for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2045, is proposing to …

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