VINACAM: Cooperation for Joint Development

Vinacam was set up by five shareholders in 2005 with a chartered capital of VND34 billion. The Vietnam General Corporation of Agricultural Materials (Vigecam) contributed 36.76 per cent of equity by its assets. However, after more than three months, Vigecam suddenly retreated due to its difficulties. The break-up with Vigecam left numerous difficulties for the newly established company of Vinacam.

 

By defining difficulty as a test and an opportunity to know the capacity in the market, the leadership of Vinacam Joint Stock Company built its detailed development strategy to pursue its sustainable development objective of “cooperation for development.” To survive and develop, prestige is the decisive factor. As farmers do intensive labor, Vinacam always ensures the best quality and the sufficient quantity. The company has applied many measures to reduce transport and packaging costs to lower the selling price on the basis of mutual benefits.

 

With its appropriate business strategies and prestige, the Vinacam trademark has gradually won the trust of both domestic and international partners. After four years of operation, Vinacam supplied more than 2 million tonnes of fertilisers of all kinds worth more than VND10,000 billion (US$600 million) and spent over US$500 million on imported fertilisers. In 2008, the global financial crisis sent many giant companies into bankruptcy. However, Vinacam was still operating well with impressive business results such as pre-tax profit equalling 450.39 per cent of the amount made in 2007. With its achievements, Vinacam continued to be rated one of the Top 500 companies in Vietnam by online newspaper VietNamNet and Vietnam Report Ratings Company.

Despite of success, the leadership of Vinacam Joint Stock Company is, at all times, concerned about sustainable development. At present, domestic production meets 50-60 per cent of the demand for urea fertilisers and 100 per cent of fused magnesium phosphate. Vietnamese producers can, apart from meeting all domestic demand, export phosphate to other countries like Japan, Australia and Malaysia. According to Mr Vu Duy Hai, General Director of Vinacam Joint Stock Company, in the future imported fertilisers will decline as local supplies increase. Thus, Vinacam needs to diversify its business realms. This was why the company contributed 70 per cent of capital in Vina G7 Joint Stock Company in late 2006 to build an export wood processing plant, which is sourced from local supplies, in Long Thanh district, Dong Nai province. After one year, export revenue of Vina G7 has exceeded US$400,000 a month. The company expects to earn US$1 million each month from the second quarter of 2010 and create jobs for more than 1,000 people.

 

To minimise transport costs and sharpen competitive edges, Vinacam founded Inland Waterway Transport Joint Stock Company to serve the transportation demand of Vinacam and its customers. After two years of operation, the company is an active element to bring the Vinacam brand to a new high. At present, Vinacam is actively seeking partners to build an inland clearance port covering 9.3 hectares in Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park and urging Vina G8 Joint Stock Company to carry out the highly isolated poisonous industrial park in Tien Giang province. This is an enterprising project but reflects the far-sighted vision of the Vinacam leadership to reduce rampant environmental pollution. Mr Hai said “Vinacam always understands its capacity when it maps out development strategies. Vinacam does not dare to think of becoming an economic group in the near future but it will cooperate with other companies to exploit their internal strengths for joint development.