THE STORY OF THE SOWER

14:00 | 07/05/2021

From the wet ground, we started to plant the first seeds for TNG Holdings Vietnam 25 years ago. Without stretching for a moment to become a hero like Saint Giong, the journey of more than two decades has been shown through the cultivation, enthusiasm and responsibility to jointly build a sustainable private business, towards bringing the convenience to the society.

FIRST LESSON IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY

For the young generation in the late 80s and early 90s, Russia in our memory was a snow-covered land, was melodious notes of Russian songs: “Two banks”, “Birch”, and was images of generous and enthusiastic Russian people, fragrant apple orchards, etc.

When we first arrived in the land of birches, we international students only had one dream, which was starting a simple life like everyone else after returning home and working for a government agency or a university. None of us had the ambition to pursue doing business.

But in 1991, when the Berlin Wall fell, in an instant, the Russian economy turned around. Many Russian people overnight fell into extremely difficult situations and their income was not enough to live on. As for us, international students, the amount of scholarships granted each month only covered half of our time there. Choosing to stay and continue our studies and graduate in Russia meant that we had to find a way to earn money.

Fortunately, thanks to the strong friendship between the two countries, Russia still created conditions for many Vietnamese to come for work and studies in the early 90s. A Vietnamese community was formed in Moscow. Many Vietnamese people found business opportunities when there was a serious shortage of raw materials, food, and goods.

Seeing the opportunity and obtaining an operating license from the government, we began to invest in converting a stadium in Moscow into a market, with the desire for Vietnamese people in Russia to come and do business. However, what we did not anticipate during the long snowy nights on the cold construction site was how to attract small traders to the market. The first week the market opened, it was empty without a single person. Without thinking too long, I decided to directly call each individual. For each person who came to the market to sell their products, they were given a few dozen dollars, even if they could not sell their products. Only a month later, small traders including Vietnamese and Russian people took turns queuing to buy tickets to get inside the market.

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Kỷ niệm khởi nghiệp tại Nga trong giai đoạn gian khó giúp tôi hiểu rằng khi bước chân ra khỏi gia đình, bài học đầu tiên học được đó là sự chủ động, linh hoạt trong cuộc sống

Có nhiều thứ nằm ngoài tầm kiểm soát của bản thân mỗi người. Và hơn hết, đó là bản lĩnh, có lòng tin vào chính mình, tin vào những ước mơ để nhìn thấy hào quang phía trước.

THE RETURN AND THE FIRST SEEDS IN THE HOMELAND

In 1996, we decided to return home. But at that time, Russian - the language I pursued throughout the years studying abroad - was no longer popular. After 10 years of development and renovation, many people switched to learning English, Chinese or other languages to catch up with the trends, making people like me who came back from Russia didnot know where to apply for a job.

In that context, although Vietnam’s economy opened up in the second half of the 1990s, with more business and employment opportunities, the unemployment rate in Hanoi was still up to 10%, the average GDP was only USD 350 per person. Many private enterprises were established at that time with the same purpose of creating stable jobs for workers.

We had the same purpose. As a result, Nam Thang Joint Stock Company operating in the field of shoe processing for export was established on a May morning in 1996, although no one in the leadership had any knowledge of the manufacturing field.

Nam Thang Company Limited at that time was the largest private enterprise in Hanoi with a scale of about 1,000 workers, sometimes up to 2,000 workers. Although newly established, many partners still called Nam Thang as a “firefighter” because there was a team that was always ready to work at full speed, solving problems in output on schedule for customers with high demands. Even at one time, the whole factory worked at 150% capacity, with no weekends and no holidays, and everyone enjoyed their work.

GRAB THE TRANSFORMATION OPPORTUNITIES

We cannot achieve anything by simply saying “No”. In the past 25 years, TNG Holdings Vietnam has not said no to any opportunity for changes, from a shoe factory, to industrial park development, to banking, to residential real estate, etc. to a multi-industry group as you can see now.

Recalling the time more than 20 years ago, when Nam Thang Shoe Factory was about to expand its operation model with 4 production lines and relocate to the Industrial Park in Pho Noi (Hung Yen), there was an unexpected thing happened. The time when the industrial park was just competed was also the time when Lifan Motorcycle Group (specializing in vehicle production) searched for a factory in the North and wanted to rent our premises. That was an opportunity and TNG Holdings Vietnam promptly seized it to expand its investment in industrial real estate. That deal is even more meaningful when Lifan was the first industrial cluster to be effectively exploited and make a great contribution to Hung Yen province’s budget, especially in the context that this locality was just separated from another province with the toal budget of only VND 70 billion.

In the early 2000s, Nam Sach Industrial Park (Hai Duong) was invested. At that time, the traffic was still not convenient, but I was still at the construction site every day to encourage the spirit of the staff members and also to monitor the progress. I was ready to wade into the rice field to check how shallow it was. No one asked me to do that, but I understood it was the responsibility of the leader to be able to inspire the staff members. And until today, TNG Holdings Vietnam still upholds the principle of “The leaders set an example for employees”.

However, the price of the breakthrough was not cheap. When the construction of Nam Sach Industrial Park was just completed with an investment of about VND 100 billion, the SARS pandemic occurred (in 2003). Because Vietnam is located in the right center of the epidemic, no enterprise wanted to rent space in Nam Sach Industrial Park. At that time, the bank interest rate was up to 18%/year, which meant that for every year that passes, when there were no tenants, we had to pay VND 18 billion in interest. This was not a small number for a business just starting out in the field of industrial real estate.

We all had to come up with a plan to attract investors in different ways. We constantly presented our projects and even made commitments. Fortunately, after only one year, the rent places in Nam Sach Industrial Park were occupied as planned. We understand that obstacles in life are great teachers for those who have the desire to strive and rise.

THE ID CARD THAT HELPS TTNG HOLDINGS VIETNAM DEVELOP SUSTAINABLY

In the past 25 years, we can see some businesses are growing better, some others are going backwards or dissolved. So what has made the solid strength of TNG Holdings Vietnam?

It is the light from our mission of bringing a convenient life to the society that is always a guide for us to be on track. Business strategies in each period or staff members may change, but the value of bringing a convenient life to the society that TNG Holdings Vietnam has always consistently pursued will never change.

I understand that the key to the success of every business lies in the hands of staff members. We sit in the same boat. In order for the boat to overcome the waves and challenges, each person must be responsible for buffeting with difficulties, thinking of all measures to fullfil the tasks in the most perfect way.

As the person who laid the first bricks for TNG Holdings Vietnam, I also affirm that the group will not have the glory as you see today without individuals who put all their love, dedication and integrity in their work. That is, anyone, when being assigned any job, will try to find solutions to finish their job in the most perfect way. If we are not enthusiastic, we will not be able to find solutions together to overcome many difficulties and crises. This is the problem any business needs to solve when facing market difficulties.

Up to now, the biggest asset that TNG Holdings Vietnam has is its strong and unified system. In many ways, TNG Holdings Vietnam is like a family. There, everyone is respected and free to express their opinions. Fortunately, those who have stayed with TNG Holdings Vietnam to develop the group are imbued with and are daily spreading the culture and core values of the group.

In addition to the responsibilities for the work and responsibilities before the collective, there are responsibilities to the social community. Every day, TNG Holdings Vietnam still quietly lights up a ray of hope for disadvantaged people in all corners of the country, spreading love to the future preschools of the country through many activities such as “Sharing love”, “Supporting students’ studies”.

Looking at the upcoming journey of TNG Holdings Vietnam, I envision a much broader future than the past twenty-five years. TNG Holdings Vietnam is still a multi-industry group but will invest selectively in a product system that brings a new mark, different from what is available in the market. In the next 5 years, the member companies of TNG Holdings Vietnam will be listed on the stock exchange and standardized one by one, preparing for a breakthrough in the long steps ahead.

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