Top southeast asian destinations

A survey conducted by global payment technology company VISA revealed 79% of Vietnamese consumers are in favor of the government initiative focused on transforming the country into a cashless society.

Source: VISA.

Notably, the rate is the highest among Southeast Asian countries, with Indonesia came in second with 75%, and Thailand in third place with 73%.

VISA’s survey suggested Southeast Asian consumers are extremely optimistic about their future use of cashless payments. Close to seven in 10 consumers expect their usage of cashless payments to increase in the next 12 months, it added.

Source: VISA.

“We see this trend highest in Vietnam (74%), Indonesia (73%) and Thailand (72%),” stated VISA.

VISA’s Group Country Manager in Southeast Asia Tareq Muhmood said over the past few years Southeast Asia has become a hotbed of payments innovation thanks to its high rate of internet connectivity, large unbanked population and government initiatives focused on transforming countries into cashless societies.

“The use of digital financial services in Southeast Asia could generate up to US$60 billion in revenues for the financial services industry by 2025,” said Muhmood.

Source: VISA.

Moreover, there has been a surge in the number of people using e-wallet and digital payment methods in Vietnam over the past years, of which around 42% of local consumers are using mobile contactless for payment, higher than the Southeast Asian average of 36%.

The rate of usage of credit and debit card for payment in Vietnam, however, is at 56%, which is lower than the region average of 65%.

While these figures are still modest, there is a growing number of Vietnamese people becoming more dependent on digital services in their daily lives.

According to VISA, 81% of the respondents are interested in digital banking, the second highest rate in the region, behind Thailand (84%).

“Consumers see the benefits of digital banking, such as being able to bank at any time, saves time and effort as they no longer need to wait in line at the bank branch and view it faster than traditional methods of banking,” VISA noted.

VISA attributed greater openness of consumers in mobile payments to better data security measures that are in place. As a result of consumers’ high confidence in data security, they are more receptive towards sharing their data to enjoy discounts, promotions and relevant services.

In this regard, 70% of Vietnamese respondents said they are willing to share location data from their phones in order to receive special discounts, promotions and services, the third highest in the region.

Openness to data sharing is key to influencing the growth trajectory of digital banking, stated VISA. Open banking is a very possible future for Southeast Asia given nearly three in five consumers (59%) are willing to share their financial information with providers. This is led by Vietnam (75%) and Indonesia (64%), VISA informed.

Consumers are willing to adopt open banking if it ensures greater speed and efficiency in making transactions, results in more personalized financial products and services and offers a wider range of financial providers to choose from, it concluded. Hanoitimes

Ngoc Thuy

Randy Dobson, founder and chairman of CMG.ASIA, TK Nguyen, CEO of NRG Asia, and members of GAM, VCS League of Legend Champion 2021. — Photo courtesy of CMG.ASIA

Fitness, lifestyle and entertainment company CMG.ASIA and NRG Esports, one of the world’s biggest professional gaming and entertainment companies, have announced a partnership to establish NRG ASIA, a new esports management and media company focused on representing Southeast Asia’s up-and-coming players.

The new entity completed its first Southeast Asian team acquisition with the purchase of Viet Nam’s League of Legends GAM team from Yup.gg, a Singaporean esports media company.

Following its acquisition of GAM Esports, the current VCS League of Legends Champions and five-time winners of the Vietnamese league, NRG will provide the team with top quality training, resources and infrastructure to elevate its prospects of bringing home the first LOL World Championship to Viet Nam.

TK Nguyen, CEO, NRG Asia, said: “With the expansion of NRG into Southeast Asia, we are excited to begin this new journey headquartered here in Viet Nam. Starting off with the five-time League of Legends VCS Champions, GAM, our goal is to elevate GAM from being Viet Nam champions to leading World Championship contenders.

“In addition, having the opportunity to work with an exceptional leader like Andy Miller, who has successfully created multiple championship esport teams, is beyond exciting for all of us. We can’t wait to bring a world championship back to Viet Nam.”

NRG co-founder and CEO Andy Miller said: “With so much passion around esports in Southeast Asia, we thought Viet Nam was the perfect place to launch NRG’s global expansion. Besides, Randy Dobson, CMG.ASIA chairman, and Mark Mastrov, the founder of 24-Hour Fitness and co-founder of NRG Esports, have a history of successful collaborations going back over two decades.” — VNS

SK Group held Orientation Day on May 6 to officially welcome the top 13 startups in the SK Startup Fellowship programme in 2021. — Photo courtesy of the organiser

The second annual SK Startup Fellowship Programme has announced a shortlist of the top 13 start-ups that will compete in the final round.

They come from a wide range of sectors such as mobility, healthcare, medtech, fintech, edutech, agritech, and artificial intelligence. Despite the difference in sectors, most start-ups share the same vision of creating a positive social impact with their products or solutions.

They have two approaches in their business development which are “starting from Viet Nam then go global” and “starting globally then entering Viet Nam.”

In the first approach, the startups had strong R&D capabilities, especially in trendy sectors such as foodtech. In the second approach, the startups showed a high adaptation to the local market when bringing new technology or solutions from the world to Viet Nam. These startups also believe that Viet Nam could be a launchpad for them to penetrate into the Southeast Asian market.

These 13 finalists will continue to have intensive training programmes organised by SKSF’s partners such as KPMG, the Business Start-up Support Center (BSSC) and Nextrans, and networking activities in the start-up eco-system in Viet Nam and neighbouring countries.

They will also participate in the 2021 Vietnam Startup Day, one of the largest and most intensive start-up events in Southeast Asia organised by BSSC. There, they will make pitches to more than 500 investors and venture capitalists and approach 15,000 potential customers.

The 2021 SKSF’s final round is scheduled to take place in October, with the top four receiving grants (non-equity funds) of US$50,000 each and the other nine, $16,000 each.

Nguyen Thi Dieu Hang, CEO of BSSC and one of the judges of SKSF 2021, said: “There is little difference between the start-ups, which has created fierce competition. The jury has struggled to decide who qualifies. ”

Organised by SK Group, SKSF attracted nearly 200 contestants this year, three times the number in 2020. — VNS

The Covid-19 crisis has hit the fashion industry hard worldwide, causing a loss of hundreds of billion of dollars. US fashion retailer J.Crew, for example, filed for bankruptcy. But now is the time for many foreign retailers to expand networks in Vietnam.

In early April, the Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo opened another store at Vincom Phan Van Tri in HCMC. Coming to Vietnam later than H&M and Zara, Uniqlo has expanded its network more quickly. There are now eight Uniqlo stores in Hanoi and HCMC.

Though the fashion brand has not revealed its business results and sales, its owner has revealed a plan to open 100 Uniqlo stores in Vietnam in the next 10 years. Southeast Asia is a large market for Uniqlo and Vietnam is seen as the one with the most potential.

Decathlon, a fashion and sports equipment brand, has opened its second shop at Mega Mall Thao Dien in Thu Duc City.

Some international brands, mid- to high-end, such as Balenciaga and Tiffany & Co are also planning to enter the Vietnamese market.

The Hanoi retail market in the first quarter witnessed the expansion and joining of a series of fashion brands, including Pandora and Weekend Max Mara. CBRE Vietnam predicted that some other fashion brands would open.

Prior to that, Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior opened stores in Hanoi.

Savills commented that Vietnam’s luxury market remains relatively stable despite Covid-19. Domestic demand has not declined too sharply, despite the sharp fall in foreign travelers.

Viract’s report showed that more than 200 foreign fashion brands in Vietnam, mid- and high-end, have official stores.

Colliers International Vietnam also reported that the occupancy rate at large shopping malls in Vietnam is still high despite the pandemic.

Tu Thi Hong An from Savills Vietnam noticed a wave of expansion by foreign brands in the retail market. The retail premises in central areas have better performance, and vacant spaces quickly find tenants. Most of the shopping centers have been filled.

Trading Economics predicts tan 11 percent growth rate in retail sales in 2021, far exceeding other Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam’s household spending in 2021 is expected to increase 9.6 percent year on year, according to Fitch Solutions.

McKinsey believes that luxury consumers are likely to come back sooner than they did after the 2008 financial crisis, with a predicted growth rate of 1-4 percent in 2021.

According to CBRE’s Nguyen Hoai An, the Hanoi retail market is expected to have an additional 73,000 square meters of retail premises in the next three quarters.

M. Ha

Three Vietnamese football clubs will take part in the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup 2021, following the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) making changes to the way that teams qualify for continental competitions.

The changes will see a total of 54 teams participate in the AFC Champions League, of which 32 sides will go straight into the group stage, while the remaining 22 teams will compete in a play-off for the right to progress.

For Vietnam, V.League 1 winners will automatically qualify for the group stage of the AFC Champions League.

These changes will come into effect for the next version of the AFC Champions League, which is scheduled to take place from February 8 to November 27, 2021.

Furthermore, the AFC Cup will see 10 teams automatically qualify for the group stage from the Southeast Asian region, in addition to six teams competing in the play-offs.

Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore will each have two representatives who will go straight into the group stage.

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) will therefore select teams to compete in the AFC Cup based on their performance in the National Cup. Hanoi FC, who beat Viettel FC to win National Cup on September 20, have therefore earned a ticket to enter the next version of the AFC Cup.

In the event that Hanoi FC win the V.League 1, they will instead compete in the AFC Champions League. This will result in the second and third placed teams in the V.League 1 being given the chance to compete in the AFC Cup. If Hanoi finish second in the V.League 1, they will compete in the AFC Cup alongside the third placed team.

The next iteration of the AFC Cup is scheduled be held from February 8 to November 6, 2021.