Sao Mai Group: Resourceful to Ride out Crisis

 

Established in 1997, from a small business with limited operating scale, after 12 years, with its acumen and sound development strategy, Sao Mai Group has had five member companies operating in many different fields such as construction, real estate, seafood processing, financial investment, tourism and trade.

 

If the economic crisis is causing many businesses to dilemma, half-way production, loss and even bankruptcy risk, Sao Mai Group seems to easily deal with these factors in a very ingenious manner. Even when the market faced up with the most difficult phase, Sao Mai Group’s business and investment activities were still normal, even made many breakthroughs. A number of projects are still being developed and invested, including Tri Ton Residential Area (Tri Ton district, An Giang province), Tinh Bien border gate residential zone (An Giang province), Binh Khanh residential area (Long Xuyen district, An Giang province), Vam Market residential zone (Hoi An commune, Cho Moi district, An Giang province) and a residence for South Korean specialists in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. Specifically, Sao Mai Group is promoting to invest in an office building complex in combination with housing, service and commercial areas in District 8, HCM City. The project consists of 32-story twin towers with a floor area of 90,000 sq.m and a total investment of VND1,000 billion. The company also created a land fund in the northern market like Hanoi and Hoa Binh to invest in real estate projects in the near future.

 

In the field of export seafood processing, despite being a newcomer with numerous difficulties and challenges, Sao Mai quickly made admirable results. Amongst five member companies owned by Sao Mai Group, International Development Investment Joint Stock Company (IDI) is an exemplary and dynamic member at present. IDI has created major breakthroughs in the development strategy of Sao Mai Group, especially in the field of seafood processing.

 

Founded in 2005, IDI quickly asserted its position when it together with its parent company, Sao Mai Group, took part in many large-scale projects like Vam Cong Industrial Complex in Lap Vo district, Dong Thap province. According to the plan, IDI will invest to build a complex of three export seafood processing plants, each of which will have a daily processing capacity of 600 tonnes of materials, or 1,800 tonnes by three processors. After nearly two years of construction, at the end of 2007, the first phase of the first seafood processing plant was completed and put into operation with a daily processing capacity of 150 tonnes of materials.

 

With modern production lines and technologies, the first plant was quickly confirmed its name on the market thanks to its top quality. Within a short time, IDI has attracted nearly 100 customers and partners who sell its products, tra and ba sa catfish, in such markets as Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Sao Mai Group’s General Director Le Thanh Thuan said: The company is quickening the construction and preparing for the operation of second phase of the first seafood processing plant to double its processing capacity to 300 tonnes of materials per day and is seeking export opportunities in new markets like the US and Russia.

 

Possibly, while many businesses have recoiled amid global economic crisis, Sao Mai Crisis Group proved its effective operation and showed its capacity. In 2008, its return on charted capital reached 41 % while cash dividend payout was 30 % and the remaining 11 % is set aside for investment and reproduction funds.

 

Not only focusing on earnings, Sao Mai Group is also very enterprising in its investment and development plans. If the economic crisis forced many companies to cut staff, Sao Mai Group was trying to attract talents and grey matters to meet its development requirements. In the latest two years, Sao Mai has employed some 2,000 staffs.

 

In 2008 and the early months of 2009, the economy was unpredictable, prices of fuels and materials were widely fluctuated, foreign exchange rates were volatile and consumption markets shrank. The Board of Directors and the Board of Managers of Sao Mai Group had to seek out measures to deal with those problems.

 

With its determinations to overcome the crisis and turn the crisis into opportunity, General Director Le Thanh Thuan found out that lying idle meant death and there are always opportunities in crisis. From the beginning of 2008, the Board of Directors of Sao Mai Group worked out solutions to cope with economic recession, launched emulation campaigns in the whole company in order to motivate its workers to enhance working productivity and economise materials and raw materials to reduce production costs. This approach has promoted the operating efficiency of the company as it strengthened the solidarity inside the company. The company pays high attention to luring talented people by attractive treatments.

 

Not waiting for the opportunity to come, the company is actively searching for markets. Mr Thuan has paid many working trips to foreign nations to find out new customers. Most of his trips were very successful and brought in high-valued contracts for the company. Hence, seafood processing plants have stable markets and customers.

 

When the crisis has no signs of ending, many businesses have cut production but Sao Mai Group identified that this was an opportunity to develop and occupy the market share and search for new market segments. In addition to real estate, tourism and seafood processing expansion, Sao Mai Group is promoting several projects such as a 3-ha by-product processing plant, costing an estimated VND70 billion, in Vam Cong Industrial Complex; husk firewood production plant (compressing rice husk into firewood bar), exporting rice processing project. In the next five-year business strategy (2010-2015), Sao Mai Group will invest in a seaport complex on 260 ha and at a cost of VND1,500 billion in Vam Cong Industrial Complex to meet exporting demands in the Mekong Delta. This project will serve more than 10 large factories and clear 4 million tonnes of goods for local storehouses. This is a highly feasible project expected to create new breakthroughs in the investment and development strategy of Sao Mai Group.