Vietnamese logistics startup Logivan is one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic startups with a rapid growth trajectory. Founder and CEO Linh Pham talked with VIR’s Thanh Van how she started the platform to help trucks connect with potential customers. Could you shed some light about the facts and figures of Logivan? Vietnam’s logistics costs currently are amongst the highest in the world, accounting for 21 per cent of the country’s GDP ($47 billion), while 70 per cent of trucks are returning empty. This presents a resource drain for Vietnamese businesses and forms a barrier to both local and international investment. Logivan was founded to reduce logistics costs for businesses by an estimated 30 per cent. Linh Pham Established in November 2017, Logivan provides cargo transportation services between Vietnamese northern and southern provinces. Logivan uses a network of truckers with small and medium-sized shippers, providing its platform free of … [Read more...] about Escalating the use of tech through startups
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FE Credit captures consumer finance market via disruptive tech
Vietnam is a progressive nation in Southeast Asia with one of the highest GDP growth rates today. The government and central bank have a stated agenda to digitise the economy, reduce cash transactions, and move towards a cashless economy. Growth factors like the rise in household consumption expenditure pose a VND1 quadrillion ($43.48 billion) opportunity in the consumer lending market. This has attracted several players into the market and neighbouring economies to start or diversify into consumer lending. On the other side was an untapped market in the insurance space which presented a lucrative opportunity to digitally-driven consumer finance players to enter Vietnam. How FE Credit became the front-runner to steal the game away from competitors FE Credit, originally founded as the consumer finance division of privately-held Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VP Bank), established a solid foundation to become the market leader of the unsecured consumer loans and credit cards market. Since … [Read more...] about FE Credit captures consumer finance market via disruptive tech
Vietnam’s telco giants get green light for 5G tech tests
By Sen  July 8, 2019 | 07:44 am GMT+7 Vietnam has become one of the earliest nations in the world to test the 5G network. Photo by Shutterstock/FGC. Viettel, the first to receive permission to trial 5G services in January, is now followed by VNPT and Mobifone, the Ministry of Information and Communications announced Friday. Vietnam’s largest telecommunications company Viettel had announced its 5G trial and made Vietnam’s first 5G phone call in Hanoi in May and said it will expand the test in both the capital city and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s two biggest cities. The military-run company expects to launch commercial 5G services in 2020. Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), the country's second largest telco and Mobifone, the third largest are still setting up their trial networks. While the former said it will deploy its trial in the same cities as Viettel, the latter will test out the technology in the cities of Hanoi, Hai … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s telco giants get green light for 5G tech tests
Viettel pioneers narrowband tech
The GSMA’s NB-IoT global map. — Photo courtesy of Viettel Viettel is among only 50 telecom companies in the world to successfully deploy the narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), a technology developed for devices supporting IoT connectivity. The announcement was made by the Global System Mobile Association (GSMA) before the 2019 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, today. In December Viettel successfully activated the first 30 base transceiver stations (BTSs) in Ha Noi with the platform set to offer services using NB-IoT technology. The IoT infrastructure and platform will be ready for customers in Ha Noi and HCM City in the first quarter of 2019 before the company invests elsewhere in Viet Nam and overseas. Viettel is now also testing some applications based on IoT connectivity and infrastructure, such as smart parking, air monitoring, location tracking, and metering devices, creating the basis for developing and exploiting an IoT services ecosystem in future. … [Read more...] about Viettel pioneers narrowband tech
Korean aircraft engine parts factory presents tech transfer opportunity
Technology transfer The project broke ground on September 21, 2017 and went into operation in December 2018. It will churn out the first batch of parts this month. After being granted an investment registration certificate, Hanwha Aero Engines sent Vietnamese technicians to take a crash technical course in the Republic of Korea. In addition, more than 40 Hanwha Group technicians are present at the factory to train about 200 Vietnamese technicians. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh emphasized the Hanwha Aero Engines factory would become a typical example of technology transfer from Korean enterprises to Vietnam, opening up access to key technologies and enhancing the country’s technological capacity. According to Nguyen Van Binh, the Hanwha Group has invested in projects in Vietnam’s Bac Ninh, Long An, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with total investment of about US$1 billion. With the … [Read more...] about Korean aircraft engine parts factory presents tech transfer opportunity