Since its inception in 1993 Design International Co. Ltd, (D.I) has gradually secured its strong foothold and reputation in the jewellery field in Vietnam. Reporter Bich Thuy of the Vietnam Business Forum Magazine has interviewed Mr. Guy Peemans, General Director of D.I.
The demand for gold in the Vietnamese market is on the sharp rise. What is D.I doing to grasp this opportunity and can you tell us something about its business plans?
D.I is a wholly French-invested enterprise with over 3,000 staff since it began operation. Although D.I jewels are processed in Vietnam, they are mainly exported to European markets like France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal, and the United States and Australia. D.I opened end of last year a new 12,000-square metre factory in Linh Trung II Export Processing Zone to support our market expansion strategy. D.I will train additional nearly 2,000 new staff and 3,000 staff at a later time. By the end of 2006, D.I’s total staff number in three factories in Vietnam (Bien Hoa City, Linh Trung and Thu Duc) will be increased to between 4,000 and 5,000.
At the moment, there is no official school to train jewellers in Vietnam. What is D.I doing to resolve the employment issue as your company expands?
Although the existing jewellery training school in Vietnam doesn’t reach the quality standard required for our production, D.I can resolve this issue using its own capability. More clearly, when recruiting, D.I bases selection on the talent and ability of candidates to apply for suitable on-the-job training methods for them. Apart from employing workers living near its factories, D.I also seeks employees in other provinces. D.I’s recruitment processes are carried out meticulously to discover able staff.
Can you reveal D.I’s strategies to increase revenues and export value of jewels in the coming years?
Firstly our human resources, product quality and prestige. D.I is very confident about its products because they have excellent quality to compete on the international markets. Hence, in the last three years, D.I has trebled its production capacity. In 2005, two million products were made in Vietnam and in the next two years, the production output will reach 4-5 million units a year. To realize this target, D.I is seeking orders from its overseas sales network. In my opinion, one of the factors heightening competition on the market is the hard-working Vietnamese staff in combination with talented French designers and managers, who manufacture exquisite products for consumers.
In addition, D.I factories in Vietnam are still relying on imported materials. So, D.I set up two centres in Thailand and Hong Kong to supply sufficient materials for Vietnamese factories.