With Conrad Tsang – Founder & Chairman, Strategic Year Holdings Limited
Quang Pham – Director, Crescent Group Capital Management
Richard Trieu Pham – President & Group CFO, TIKI Corporation
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic became a global healthcare crisis, Vietnam was among the most resilient nations to bounce back to resume business activity. While other ASEAN economies had forecasted negative growth in 2020, Vietnam’s GDP managed to grow at nearly 3%. Since then, investors have been bullish about Vietnam, backing investments in the country despite difficulties in undertaking deal due diligence. Cut to 2021, with low vaccination rates and an increase in the number of cases, local businesses have been witnessing a prolonged lockdown situation.
In the changed scenario, will Vietnam prove to be equally attractive as a destination for foreign investments by global MNCs? What will be the somewhat delayed impact of the pandemic on Vietnam’s economy, particularly the startup space? Is Vietnam as a single-country market an attractive bet for risk capital investors backing tech startups?
Our panelists will share their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges in the emerging SE Asian market.
We have Conrad Tsang, chairman & co-founder, Strategic Year Holdings Limited, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm that has increased its investment activity in Southeast Asia. Strategic Year has invested in Vietnamese education startup TEKY Holdings. The firm is spending more resources and time in markets like Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and some cross-border opportunities.
Meanwhile, Quang Pham oversees Vietnam as well as other SE Asia markets for Crescent Group Capital Management (Crescent Point). In Vietnam, Crescent Point had invested $36.2 million in integrated children’s lifestyle platform N Kid Corporation in 2019. Pham was earlier the co-founder and a senior investment manager at VI (Vietnam Investments) Group, one of the largest Vietnam-focused private equity firms.
Our third panelist is Richard Trieu Pham, group president & CFO at TIKI Corporation – Vietnam’s largest homegrown e-commerce platform. TIKI is seeking $200 million in its ongoing Series E funding that has raised nearly $100 million from both strategic and financial investors including insurer AIA, Taiwan Mobile, AppWorks, CE Fintech Capital and Nextrans. The online marketplace has recently set up Tiki Global Pte Ltd, a Singapore holding company, aiming for an overseas listing.
Join this session to get an overview of opportunities in Vietnam.
