World-famous seafood producers from southern Vietnam
The prestigious seafood journal, “Seafood Intrafish”, has announced the Top 100 most influential people in the fisheries sector worldwide, with two Vietnamese names.
The first is Le Van Quang, Chairman of Minh Phu Seafood Corporation JSC, ranking 54th.
Minh Phu corporation of Le Van Quang and his family are giant shrimp exporters with export turnover up to 50,000 tons per year and $730 million in revenue last year. Minh Phu is striving to reach $1 billion after breakthrough growth of 40% annually in 2013-2014.
Earlier, on the list of top 100 largest seafood businesses worldwide of Undercurrent News, a journal of fisheries based in the UK, Minh Phu ranked 23rd. The company also entered the list of 20 businesses in East Asia honored as global development enterprises by the World Economic Forum.
On the Vietnam stock market, the property of Quang rocketed last year. Quang and his wife - Mrs. Chu Thi Binh - each earned an additional VND1 trillion (nearly $50 million) last year. His wife reached the top 10 richest people on the stock market, while Quang was ranked 11th.
The bosses of the top four seafood processing companies in southern Vietnam: Mr. Le Van Quang, Ms. Chu Thi Binh, Ms. Truong Thi Le Khanh, and Mr. Dung Ngoc Minh.
While other seafood processing businesses faced difficulties, Vinh Hoan Seafood (share code: VHC) of Mrs. Truong Thi Le Khanh witnessed significant growth in revenue and profit last year. VHC saw triple-digit growth in 2014. Khanh was also one of the few people whose assets increased by over VND1 trillion and is now the seventh richest person in the stock market.
Hung Vuong Seafood of Mr. Duong Ngoc Minh also had unusually high revenue growth in recent years. In the last 10 years, revenue of Hung Vuong rose by 1,000 times. In 2013 and 2014, its turnover increased 46% annually.
Real money
The scale of the above companies is huge and they recorded breakthrough growth in recent years. Their market share both at home and abroad are expanding. Their performance contrasts with the plight of endangered seafood giants in the Mekong Delta, such as Bianfisco, Phuong Nam, Thien May and Song Hau.
Ms. Truong Thi Le Khanh, Ms. Chu Thi Binh and Mr. Duong Ngoc Minh reached the top 10 richest people in 2014, passing many giants in the fields of banking, real estate, technology, stock and retail.
The success of Minh Phu, according to Intrafish Seafood, is that this firm is known on the world market as a mogul in the field of shrimp processing and export of Vietnam, with the processing capacity of more than 300 tons of shrimp per day and modern processing technology.
Vinh Hoan, meanwhile, is a leading tra catfish breeding and producing in Vietnam. This enterprise can take initiative of raw materials for export, and is focusing on increasing its value chain and applying new technologies, such as the production of collagen from fish skins.
Like Vinh Hoan, Hung Vuong Seafood of Mr. Ngoc Minh gives priority to building sources of material supply, and raising financial capacity.
In addition to the focus on quality and expansion of aquaculture, Hung Vuong has issued more shares and bonds to raise funds to serve its ambitions of being the biggest shrimp processor in Vietnam, directly competing with Minh Phu.
