Money in money out

Some billionaires have made big investment in agriculture with an ambitious plan to build a strong brand for Vietnam’s farm produce, but they do not expect to make a profit in the short term. Soc Trang ST25 rice Decade of investment Vinaseed (NSC) of Nguyen Duy Hung and Vinmart of billionaire Nguyen Dang Quang have reached an agreement on the distribution of ST25, recognized as the world’s best rice variety in the world, within the Vinmart and Vinmart+ network nationwide. Soc Trang’s ST25, cross-bred in 2010, is now grown on a large scale in Mekong Delta. The famous scented rice variety of Soc Trang gives high yield which can be farmed for two or three crops a year. Meanwhile, Thailand’s scented rice is a long-term variety and there is only one crop a year. ST25 has been distributed throughout the country for 10 years thanks to efforts by Hung and Quang. The task of building Vietnam’s rice brands and improving rice production so that Vietnamese no longer want foreign rice has been partially implemented. Large corporations and prestigious businesspeople have created changes in the thinking about rice production. Doan Nguyen Duc, or Boss Duc, president of Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAG), who laid a foundation for large-scale agricultural production with billions of dollars poured into his projects has reaped fruit in the agriculture sector. Duc said he will continue to develop agricultural production in an ambitious plan to build an "outstanding Vietnamese agricultural empire" in Southeast Asia. Two years after the signing of a cooperation agreement with Thaco, HAGL Agrico has more potential than ever. The huge land bank owned by HAGL Agrico and its potential were why Tran Ba Duong, president of Thaco, an automobile manufacturer, agreed to pour money into the company. It is estimated that $1 billion was invested by Thaco into Duc’s enterprises, mostly in the agricultural sector. HAGL was well known as a big real estate firm, but is now better …

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NOSE FOR NOTES: Phùng Văn Hùng has pursued his hobby of tracking down old money for more than a decade. VNS Photo Hồng Vân By Minh Phương, Vân Nguyễn & Linh Chi Flicking through the pages of some of his old currency albums, Phùng Văn Hùng’s mind rewinds to the first time he became fascinated with money. It was 11 years ago the 30-year-old began his hobby, and since then he has spent most of his free time searching for old notes to add to his collection. And it’s not just old Vietnamese currency that excites him, as he’s also a lover of money from other countries. Right now his collection is bursting at the seams, with more than a million different types of notes. But there’s always room for more. “I have collected old notes since 2009, so it’s been more than 11 years now,” he said. “A passion for old money is in my blood. When I went to the Hà Nội Museum and saw a currency album, it piqued my interest and I began searching for and collecting old currency. My first album is one that I bought at the museum, which cost me VNĐ150,000, or about US$9 at that time.” When he first began collecting money, Hùng was still at university so struggled to buy the ones he desperately wanted. Sometimes he even went hungry, preferring to spend his cash on old notes rather than a bite to eat. “It was very tough when I first started out collecting,” he said. “I was a student at the time, so I didn’t have much money for trading. I couldn’t ask for my parents’ help, so I used money for meals to build up my collection. And I think those tough times make me appreciate my hobby even more.” He believes a collector must have the ability to understand different notes, comparing and classifying them in order to assess their true value. “People think that the older a note is, the more expensive it will be. But that’s not true,” he explained. “Value is defined by rarity. For example, a VNĐ2,000 note issued in 1987 by the State Bank of Việt …

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Around $200 billion is now in tumult after a succession of days of network congestion and the news about the required increase in minimum trading lot from 100 to 1,000 shares on the HCM City stock market. Nguyen Giang, owner of The Way Coffee, completed the procedure to open an account at SSI Hanoi Branch after hearing that the HCM CIty Stock Exchange (HOSE) was planning to increase the required minimum trading lot from 100 shares to 1,000 shares. The reason behind the plan, as explained by Le Hai Tra, HOSE’s CEO, was to ease the overload. However, this was not good news for many investors, including Giang. Because of Covid-19, he no longer can work as an outbound tour guide, which he did for 10 years. In 2020, he opened a street coffee shop. However, the third Covid-19 outbreak once again affected his business. Giang then decided to make financial investments as he has confidence in the bright prospects of the stock market. However, the calculations of the investor may fail because of HOSE’s tentative policy. If the tentative policy takes effect, Giang will have to spend VND100 million at least for every purchase transaction of VIC (Vingroup), VJC (Vietjet), VCB (Vietcombank) and VNM (Vinamilk). If buying SAB (Sabeco), he would have to spend VND180 million at least, and ifor VCF (Vinacafe Bien Hoa), he would have to spend VND240 million. These are very large amounts of money compared with Giang’s investment plan. However, Tra said the policy, once applied, would bring benefits. It would not only help ease congestion thanks to the reduction of 40-50 percent in number of transactions, but would also better protect small investors. Nguyen Duy Hung, president of SSI, also commented that this is the best choice for now to maintain the system’s operation. However, many experts and securities companies don’t share the same view. They have warned that the policy isn't in line with stock market development and discriminates against small and …

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