In March, Momentum Works held a four day immersion in Vietnam, supported by the Department of Industry and Trade (DoIT) of Ho Chi Minh City. Over 50 entrepreneurs, executives, and investors from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia joined the programme.
This was the second Vietnam immersion organised by Momentum Works since August last year. Participants visited top retail groups headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, attended a local import-export expo, held an ecommerce summit, explored various forms of offline retail, and even camped at Cần Giờ Beach.
Thanks to the DoIT’s thoughtful arrangements—especially in facilitating meetings with top retail groups, who not only provided corporate briefings but also brought procurement, supply chain, and ecommerce heads on-site to establish direct contact with the group. The DoIT also arranged express boats for the beach visit.
At the closing dinner, one participant said: “These four days with Momentum Works in Vietnam were more fruitful than six months of my regular work.”
Here are some highlights of the four day programme:
Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG)
MWG is Vietnam’s largest multi-category retail platform with around 5,000 stores and 60,000 employees.
MWG’s VP of Ecommerce Mr Hoàng Văn Đạt hosted the session, covering:
- MWG’s business overview
- Vietnam’s retail market landscape
- Opportunities for Chinese businesses
The sharing was followed by an active discussion, where participants and hosting executives discussed potential partnership opportunities and exchanged contact details.
Saigon Co.op
Saigon Co.op is a leading Vietnamese retail cooperative with nationwide stores. It was founded in the early 1990s in response to Vietnam’s market reforms.
Deputy General Director Mr Lê Trường Sơn shared the Co.op’s 30-year development milestones and strategic directions.
Kido Group
Founded in 1993, Kido is a top Vietnamese food company. Mr Trần Lệ Nguyên, one of the co-founders and current Vice Chairman/CEO, along with CFO, CMO, and Head of ecommerce, welcomed us.
Mr Nguyên, shared Kido’s vision of becoming a digital distribution platform via:
- Expanding customer acquisition through existing channels
- Promoting Vietnamese products
- Introducing quality overseas products to Vietnam
In addition to the strategic insights shared and business connections made, the delegation also received a gift pack of Kido’s products.
WinMart
Winmart is one of Vietnam’s top retail chains, formerly VinMart (founded by Vingroup), now part of Masan Group. It operates nearly 4,000 stores (supermarkets + convenience stores) in Vietnam.
We visited the SkyGarden store in District 7, an affluent area with a lot of expats. The store manager and Southern regional head showed us around the store and explained to us the strategy and operations. Many participants also bought a lot of snacks and fruit.
Van Hanh Mall
Opened in 2018, this 55,000m², 8-story mall in District 10 was developed and operated by Kido Group. It houses international brands like Adidas and Uniqlo, and popular Chinese names like KKV, Balabala, and Haidilao.
As part of the visit to Van Hanh Mall, participants got to explore some of the mall’s most popular stores—Beauty Box, Saigon Co.op, and KKV. At each stop, the store managers shared with us how each brand operates and connects with its customers.
Export Fair & Ecommerce Summit
The delegation attended the opening of the largest export trade fair in Ho Chi Minh City, invited by the organisers. Momentum Works CEO Mr Jianggan Li joined Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee Mr Nguyễn Văn Dũng and others to cut the ribbons for the official opening of the export trade fair.
The fair attracted over 1,000 exhibitors covering different categories of domestic and exporting businesses. Many exhibitors were livestreaming directly from their booths:
Momentum Works also co-hosted the Global Ecommerce and Digital Trade Summit alongside the Export Fair, in collaboration with the DoIT, with the participation of Best Express Vietnam, Topview AI and Adtek. Over 200 local guests from platforms, brands, sellers, and ecosystem partners attended the summit. You can read more about the summit here.
Cần Giờ Beach Camping
We also visited Cần Giờ beach, right next to Vietnam’s first UNESCO-designated mangrove biosphere reserve.
Cần Giờ is the largest district in HCMC and the planned site of a US$6 billion superport and a US$9 billion city development plan, aiming to become a coastal economic center by 2035.
We travelled to the beach by speedboat, which gave us a close view of the main shipping arteries in and around Ho Chi Minh City.
We also had the chance to bond with the Korean Chamber of Commerce at the beach. They sing pretty well:
Closing Ceremony
The closing ceremony of the intensive four day programme took place at the DoIT office.
Deputy Director of DoIT Mr Nguyễn Nguyên Phương chaired the session. Participants reviewed the four-day journey, discussed next steps for future cooperation, and addressed key concerns around policy, trade, and business localisation.
Deputy Director of Commerce Mr Nguyễn Minh Hùng, who visited China with Momentum Works Immersion last October, also spoke about his experiences and encouraged Vietnamese firms to follow global ecommerce trends and seize development opportunities.
The closing ceremony was followed by a dinner, that is attended by more business leaders from Ho Chi Minh city:
Prior to the immersion, we thought about how to effectively give all the 50+ delegates a meaningful and fruitful experience, and make the right opportunities/connections for the hosting business groups. Again, special thanks to the DoIT and our friends in Vietnam for making it possible.
Do keep an eye on Momentum Works’s next Vietnam Immersion, and explore the new international trade and ecommerce environment together.
