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British paper: Investors in Vietnam optimistic in face of gloom
The Financial Times, a British international business newspaper, ran an aritcle on December 21, providing readers an outlook of business sentiments felt by VinaCapital, one of the leading investment funds in Vietnam, after the company has born some brunts of the global financial crisis.
Don Lam, chief executive of VinaCapital, the investment company he co-founded in 2003, continues to put a good face on a tough environment, says the Financial Times.
According to the paper, Lam has financed a wide range of investments, from office towers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, to a five-star hotel and golf complex in Danang central city; and from pharmaceutical and dairy products companies to a restaurant chain featuring “pho”, the national soup dish.
The VinaCapital chief executive argued that Vietnam’s exports strengthened when the world slows down, because its exports are at the lower end of the cost scale and the country’s lack of integration with the global financial world and its lower debt should keep it on the sidelines of the financial storms.
However, the paper pointed to the fact that the asset value of VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund has fallen 47 percent so far this year to 594 million USD as of December 5. Shares in the fund fell even further, by 72 percent on the London Stock Exchange for the year to December 10.
However, he said, property in fact continues to shows some promise. The VinaLand fund has the best year-to-date growth in net asset value, up 17 percent, of any Vietnam fund.
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