To head towards the vast ocean, enterprises must associate their brands with something meaningful. To do this, we are constantly improving the internal forces of SGI”, Mr. Dang Thanh Tam confirmed.

Mr. Dang Thanh Tam, "captain" of Saigon Investment Group - SGI, is gradually taking the ship of SGI off to the big seas. How is he going to do this?

Why do you want to make SGI a global brand?

In Asia, Toyota or Samsung both have such major products as cars or TV-sets, which have launched their brands to the international arena and make them the symbols of Japan or South Korea. Why can’t we do that for Vietnam? To head towards the vast ocean, enterprises must associate their brands with something meaningful. To do this, we are constantly improving the internal forces of SGI.

How has SGI been since the global crisis?

I can affirm that SGI has completely recovered from the past economic recession of the world. Moreover, the total capital of SGI has tripled compared with the pre-crisis period. The prestige of our brand, our personnel people and the implementation of gigantic projects all climbed up; for example, we have invested in the construction of thermo-power and wind-power plants, which were rarely considered by Vietnamese enterprises previously.

Where do SGI revenues come from?

Most of our revenues are currently coming from such efficient members as Kinh Bac City Development Corporation (KBC), Saigon Telecommunication and Technologies Corp (SGT), Nam Viet Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Navibank), Western Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Western Bank) and Saigon-Quy Nhon Minerals Corporation (SQC). These 5 affiliates will constitute the first leg of the crucial tripod of SGI. I call this tripod leg “the orchid tree”, which is in charge of creating short-term profits for the Group.

In the case of KBC, its business is increasingly stable, making promising profits. Meanwhile, although its rate of progress is slower than KBC’s, SGT is still making money. In Europe, they usually use the term "cash-cow", or "cow milk"; in Vietnam we call it “the hen that lays golden eggs”. And these 2 corporations are such hens.

Then how is the business performance of Navibank and Western Bank?

Each of them earns an annual profit of over ten percent. Because we have committed with the shareholders to publicize the entire operation of SGI according to the set timelines, we are preparing for Navibank and Western Bank to be respectively listed at HoSE in the future.

How about SQC?

As we have said, SGI will go public, and SQC is no exception. We have also submitted the application to list SQC at HNX. According to us, only via going public will Vietnamese enterprises be able to improve their strength and integrate into the world.

So what are the second and third “tripod legs”?

The second “tripod leg” includes such operating industrial parks as those in Binh Dinh, Danang, Hue and Can Tho. Although they have yet to bring profits, they belong to the long-term development strategy of SGI.

The third “tripod leg” consists of our large-scale R&D projects in electricity and high technology. Specifically, in the case of electricity industry, SGI has decided to invest in the construction of Bac Giang Thermo-power Plant with the capacity of up to 600 MW and total investment of $800 million.

In the field of high technology, we are still in the process of learning and researching. I have visited many high-tech factories in some Asian countries, such as the factory of Foxcom Group (Taiwan) in Shenzhen (China) with more than 300,000 workers; in one hour, it can produce more than 90,000 chips with a total value of more than $100 million. And I think of Vietnam.

In fact, this is not just my initiative. To achieve the goal to become an industrial country in 2020, the Politburo issued a resolution in 2001 to “take the short-cut and speed up” in the interest of high-tech development in Vietnam. However, during the past years, we have not gained considerable accomplishments, most hi-tech zones invested by the Government in Hanoi and HCMC have yet to fully promote their potentials. This is simply a consequence of mechanism problems.

Mr. Dang Thanh Tam has been regarded as one of the richest people in Vietnam stock market. Would this brand be strong enough to bring a speed-up to SGI in the future?

I think the brands of SGI or ITA (Tan Tao Investment Group) will stay forever with time.

In the case of my own brand, the brand of Dang Thanh Tam, I need to preserve what is dearest and most precious. I always believe that constant endeavors will help us make something meaningful for this life.

From Investment Bridges Newspaper, Volume 155, dated 02-08 Nov 2009