Thien Nam – Difficulty starting a business

After graduating from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Tran Tho Huy worked at Cho Ray Hospital. And here, when Japan transferred the elevator system to this hospital, it gave him an opportunity to approach and learn.

In 1984, Mr. Huy moved to work at the High-rise Building Equipment Repair Enterprise, a state-owned enterprise in which there is the field of elevators. The systematic approach to elevator engineering from repair and overhaul has rekindled in this man his aspirations to research and manufacture elevators in the country.

Since 1987, with a few employees, most of which are long-time experts in the elevator industry in Saigon before 1975, have given up the cramped state-owned shirt to establish an Automated Facility – the first facility outside of Vietnam that repair, maintain elevator.

By April 1994, Thien Nam Elevator Joint Stock Company was established. Initially, there were 42 employees with the main business of installing and maintaining a number of imported elevators. After a few years of establishment, Thien Nam’s engineering team began to manufacture cargo elevators to serve a number of requirements of production units. After that, Thien Nam gradually produced passenger elevators. Thien Nam had luck during the initial installation and maintenance of many Korean, Japanese, and French elevator brands..so he learned a lot from experience. At this stage, domestic conditions are still very limited in terms of materials, supplies and components. In order to manufacture electrical control cabinets, Thien Nam had to send people to Hue Street (Hanoi) to search for old electrical and electronic components imported from Hai Phong port by “sea train”…

In 2006, foreign partners bought 15% shares of Thien Nam to cooperate in product distribution and maintenance. Thereby, the management and technical team of the company has learned and acquired many useful things for the product development of Thien Nam in the future.

By 2016, Thien Nam acquired shares of foreign partners and steadfastly only supplied products manufactured by Thien Nam itself. It is an affirmation of the bravery of the Vietnamese elevator business.

Nearly 30 years of construction, Thien Nam has become the leading enterprise in the domestic elevator manufacturing industry. Thousands of elevators with high localization rate have been supplied to the domestic market and exported to fastidious markets.

CEO Tran Tho Huy next to the control cabinet product – the heart of the elevator researched and manufactured by Thien Nam

Need more leading birds

Korea’s miraculous “makeover” to become a newly industrialized country after only two decades is a startling story. And it gives very profound suggestions for many countries to refer to.

In 1961, Korean President Park Chung Hee decided to carry out rapid industrialization by encouraging and supporting a number of private corporations with great potential. The policies on preferential capital, foreign debt guarantee… are strongly directed by the Korean Government to support businesses. Thanks to that, Korea quickly created world-class Samsung, Hyundai, LG…

It is these private economic organizations that form the backbone of Korean industry. They are the important kernels, to gradually create ancillary industrial ecosystems that develop along. The growth circles are continuously expanded so that Korean industry can develop sustainably and create super-profitable value.

Back to the story of Vietnam’s elevator industry. Vietnamese enterprises with the capacity to produce thousands of elevators per year by self-reliance and self-reliance like Thien Nam are very rare.

We need such leading birds to lead and ignite the spirit of national pride and self-reliance to awaken the national spirit of entrepreneurship.

Chairman of the Vietnam Elevator Association (VNEA) Nguyen Hai Duc hopes that businesses in the industry will always nurture great aspirations – turning into “Corporate cultural DNA”

Aspiration “Made by Vietnamese”

In 2020, Brand Finance (a world leader in consulting and brand valuation) ranked Vietnam’s National Brand at US$319 billion, an increase of 29% compared to 2019, the highest growth rate in the world at the time of assessment. Brand reputation and ratings depend a lot on products, goods or precisely the capacity and reputation of a country’s production.

This shows that macro policies have paid much attention, considering the private sector as the driving force for development. The “concaves” in the policies have been gradually removed to create an open and flat corridor for businesses to accelerate. And that is also the expectation at the macro level of the whole economy.

At the end of March, VinFast (belonging to VinGroup) signed a preliminary agreement to invest 2 billion USD in building a factory to manufacture electric cars, electric buses and electric vehicle batteries in North State. Carolina, USA. This agreement received the support of US President Joe Biden and was shared by him on Twitter on March 30.

A week later, VinFast continued to register for an initial public offering (IPO) in the US. If successful, this will be the first major IPO of a Vietnamese enterprise in the US. The ambition of Vietnamese enterprises is no longer as small as before.

The new domestic elevator manufacturing industry is in the early stages. There will be many surprises, difficulties and hardships for businesses involved. But perseverance, self-reliance, self-reliance and great ambition will open up countless opportunities.

We expect that Vietnamese elevators will definitely have a place not only in the domestic market but also in many countries around the world. Products “Made by Vietnamese” (Created by Vietnamese people) will direct businesses to the playing field of globalization.

It will not be just a commercial issue, but rather an affirmation of Vietnamese people’s intelligence, entrepreneurial spirit, pride and national pride. With the same desire, discipline and self-respect, we will succeed./

Hai Nguyen