On the 48
th founding anniversary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (April 27, 1963-2011), Reporter Le Hien has granted an exclusive interview with Mr Ha Van Tham, Member of VCCI Board of Directors, and President of Board of Directors of OceanGroup, OceanBank, on VCCI's contributions to the business community.
As a member of the VCCI Board of Directors, what are your opinions about VCCI’s activities in the past time?
It is obvious that, with its roles and duties, VCCI always proves that it is a common home of Vietnamese business associations and communities and is a forum for businesses to express their thoughts and aspirations. VCCI actually plays an important role in protecting the rights and interests of enterprises by ensuring fair competition in business and improving the transparency of business environment by recommending mechanisms and policies to State management agencies, contributing ideas to lawmaking, putting forth solutions to deal with difficulties and facilitating companies to do business. When Vietnam joined the WTO - a new playground for Vietnamese companies and business associations, VCCI functioned as a "pilot" to shed the light and provided legal bases for businesses to do business in line with international practices.
VCCI also organised many Vietnamese business delegations to explore markets and attend trade fairs in foreign nations. It also arranges many large business delegations to accompany State and Government leaders on foreign State-level visits. Thus, Vietnamese companies have more opportunities to boost investment, trade, tourism cooperation and other fields with foreign partners and, at the same time, help expand bilateral cooperative ties and exchange cultures with foreign countries.
In my opinion, in addition to the role of gathering strengths for the Vietnamese business community, VCCI firstly needs to continue promoting activities to better the business environment. A transparent business environment will open a fair playing ground for businesses and help the Vietnamese economy to take advantage of its resources to develop and become a real tiger in the region. Secondly, VCCI must play a primary role in promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs. They are sharp-witted, kind-hearted and talented and they are surely a vanguard force in the process of national socioeconomic development.
How have OceanGroup and OceanBank’s cooperation with VCCI been in the past time?
OceanGroup and OceanBank are proud to be one of VCCI’s most active members. In 2008, OceanGroup and OceanBank partnered with VCCI to hold the "National Small and Medium Enterprises Week 2008." OceanGroup served as event organiser and information sponsor for the event. OceanGroup and OceanBank were committed to keeping long-term cooperation with VCCI to organise this important activity for the Vietnamese SME community - an effective, adaptable and driving force of the Vietnamese economy. During the 2008 event, SMEs found out partners, introduced products, services, and get advices from knowledgeable experts.
As a representative of financial and stock television channel, InfoTV-VCTV9, OceanGroup and VCCI also signed an agreement to make InfoTV an all-rounded information-sponsored channel for VCCI. VCCI will transmit economic information, investment cooperation opportunities and trade promotions to enterprises and businesspeople in the quickest manner through InfoTV channel. InfoTV will also have official information from VCCI for audiences nationwide.
We also participated in many VCCI-hosted business delegations to promote investment and trade in foreign countries.
Would you mind revealing Ocean Bank's competitiveness in the current context of economic volatility?
When the bank was converted into an urban bank in 2007, OceanBank has made significant progresses, with the authorised share capital rising from VND1,000 billion to VND2,000 billion and VND3,500 billion in 2010. The bank plan to raise the registered capital to VND5,000 billion in 2011. As of March 31, 2011, OceanBank's total assets valued at VND60,000 billion. In 2010, OceanBank made a net profit of VND691 billion. Ocean Bank is one of the banks with best liquidity in 2010.
OceanBank anticipated hardships facing the banking industry in 2011 due to tightened credit policies adopted by the Government to curb inflation. Indeed, operations of commercial banks have slowed down by higher refinancing and discount rates and tightened credit policy. OceanBank is not out of this hardship but the bank has proactive measures to mitigate their impacts on business operations.
OceanBank does not over-emphasised the profit target but it put top priority on strengthening the system stability, sustainable development and risk management, improving the quality of products and services to generate highest values for customers. The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders 2011 unanimously ratified the intensive and extensive development strategies, aiming to make OceanBank one of 10 lenders in Vietnam, powered by advanced banking technology, dedicated professional and knowledgeable staff.
In 2010, OceanBank managed to obtain breakthrough achievements amid global and domestic economic hardship. Accordingly, its revenue was 6 times as much as that of 2009, reaching VND1,568 billion. The total revenue from financial activities and real estate business was VND2,258 billion. Pre-tax profit reached VND785 billion, up 16 times against 2009. Its basic share interest reached VND2,558, up three times against 2009. The rate of return on the ownership interest was 23.8 percent, reflecting its effective investment.
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