Vingroup’s Global Ambitions
Vietnam’s biggest conglomerate, Vingroup, is expanding into global markets as business at home slows. The company plans nearly two dozen projects in at least 15 countries, including a ‘Vietnam Town’ in Uzbekistan, smart cities in India, and a riverfront development in Congo.
Profits from Vingroup’s flagship real estate business have long funded its investments in diverse industries, including automaking and technology. However, Vietnam’s once-sizzling property market is cooling, while its electric vehicle company VinFast is losing money.
As opportunities for large developments at home become harder to find, Vingroup is looking overseas to generate the money needed to fund its ambitions in EVs, artificial intelligence, and robotics. These industries are central to Vietnam’s goal of becoming Asia’s next tiger economy.
One of Vingroup’s most significant projects is a ‘Vietnam Town’ in Uzbekistan’s capital, Tashkent. The development will combine homes, shopping centers, schools, hospitals, and EV charging stations, modeled after Vingroup’s signature projects in Vietnam.
Vingroup has also signed agreements with the Democratic Republic of Congo to build a 6,300-hectare riverfront city between the Congo River and Kinshasa’s international airport. VinFast plans to supply the DRC with electric vehicles and possibly electric buses, as the country plans to replace over 300,000 fossil-fueled vehicles with EVs.
In addition to its projects in Uzbekistan and the DRC, Vingroup is also expanding into India, where it has launched an electric taxi service in New Delhi and signed agreements with state governments to develop smart cities, hospitals, schools, theme parks, and zoos. The company is also building an EV factory in Indonesia and operating an EV taxi service in the Philippines.
Vingroup’s expansion into global markets is a strategic move to replicate its success in Vietnam. The company’s founder, Pham Nhat Vuong, started out making instant noodles in Ukraine in the 1990s and then began building large housing projects in Vietnam. Vingroup then added hospitals, schools, and shopping malls, creating communities that needed other services and goods, such as EVs.
However, experts caution that Vingroup’s formula for success in Vietnam may not be easily replicable in other developing economies. The company may be overlooking the challenges of operating in countries with limited infrastructure and a lack of smartphone penetration, said Tom Courtright of the Africa E-Mobility Alliance.
