HEESUNG ELECTRONICS Vietnam General Director: “We come to Hai Phong for joint development”

After four years of investment in Trang Due Industrial Park, Hai Phong City, Mr. Ko Tae Yeon, General Director of HEESUNG ELECTRONICS Vietnam Co., Ltd has proved that his decision to invest in Hai Phong City is absolutely right. Vietnam Business Forum Magazine has an interview with Mr. Ko Tae Yeon on HEESUNG’s investment story in Hai Phong. Ngo San - Ha Thanh report.

Would you mind telling us about key tasks and important solutions for the company to successfully realize its business plans in 2019 and development goals in 2020?

HEESUNG ELECTRONICS Vietnam is a 100% Korean-owned manufacturer of audiovisual products for automobiles, back covers for OLED TVs and laptop screens. The company has to date invested up to US$30 million in the factory. After more than two years of construction, the facility started official production and obtained revenue of about US$13 million in 2018. In 2019, the company expects a 19% revenue growth to top US$ 15.5 million.

2019 marked the second year of official production. We are changing our approach, with specific actions like focusing on quality, improving customer satisfaction; stabilizing jobs for employees and serving the locality and society.

In the next year, 2020, to carry out the above contents more substantively, we set a core goal of improving the financial strength of the company.

Establishing a Vietnamese-led administration institution is very important and indispensable in the course of business development. To do that well, in addition to improving skills for Vietnamese managers, we also provide extra training for Vietnamese office workers, factory workers and team leaders to raise their skills to better deliver outcomes for the company.

In order to successfully realize the set goals, the company’s leadership focused on carrying out the following main tasks and solutions: Scaling up domestic sales to boost financial health, increasing in-depth expertise for CAN UP (improvement) teams to enhance productivity, performance and profitability; and establishing an institution to expand sales of high-value, core products to increase sales and improve profitability.

Reportedly, you are a leader who is highly appreciated by Vietnamese managers and employees of the company. Do you have any plan to grow your business and strengthen its footing in the market in the coming time?

First of all, this is a great honor for me. Besides, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all Vietnamese and South Korean employees working for HEESUNG, as well as Haiphong authorities for valuable support. Therefore, the company has secured a very strong foothold here.

After joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), Vietnam has actively signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with many countries and many regions in the world. In this context of globalization, foreign-invested companies as well as Vietnamese businesses will be subject to stricter QCD (Quality, cost and delivery) and regulatory compliance.

First of all, we must further improve QCD and customer satisfaction and comply with legal provisions. Regulatory compliance means respecting national laws as well as adhering to the company’s regulations and social norms. Thoroughly carrying out the above issues, the company will be trusted by customers and its brand name will be widely known as a result.

Empowering Vietnamese people, employing Vietnamese managers, creating stable jobs for Vietnamese people, using local suppliers, promoting product development, selling to the local market, and contributing to the locality and the society is very important.

With a Vietnamese management institution, we think that we will further improve QCD, expand Vietnamese and Southeast Asian markets.

How does Vietnam need to optimize its institution’s to continue to be a destination for FDI enterprises in the current context?

In the current world, with potential risks caused by the U.S. - China trade war or geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and increasing trade protectionism, to be a destination for FDI enterprises, Vietnam needs to carry on institutional reforms: Maintaining an attractive investment environment, actively opening up the market, and improving the investment environment; building the foundation for manufacturing, technology, transport and energy, protecting intellectual property rights; reforming and simplifying administrative procedures; improving the education system to increase productivity more than base wage growth.

How do you assess the investment and business environment in Trang Due Industrial Park in particular and in Hai Phong City in general?

We see that Hai Phong has made much positive progress in the past time, from infrastructure and human resource quality to policies for businesses and investors. The city’s public servants are not only friendly, but also open and sincere to investors as they adhere to the guiding principle “Investors in Hai Phong are the citizens”, making investors feel that the city is not just a place to do business to earn money but also a second home.

Nevertheless, Hai Phong also needs a mechanism for high-quality personnel training to train capable workers for high-tech environment. Attracting investment fund for development is necessary, but it needs to match with environmental protection purposes.

Vietnam should review and amend legal regulations to ensure transparency from the perspective of globalization instead of Vietnam. The government should have directions to increase productivity higher than base wage growth. Regulations on overtime work also need to be more flexible for employers and employees to increase economic gains for both sides. In addition, I also hope that the government will soon allow Trang Due 3 Industrial Park to be built for tenants to operate more effectively.

Thank you very much!