The Saigon Times Daily: How can you collect information in Vietnam?
- Leon Chee: Information is gathered in basically three stages. One is from publicly available sources. We work with agencies here, to get all this basic company information. The second step is to get information directly from the phone. This is one of the strongest ways and the main method that we have in getting information from the companies.
We call the companies to explain to them why it is important to share this information, because others want to do business with you. Of course we have companies who will tell us, “No, I don’t want to tell you anything. It’s secret.” And we have a lot of companies who understand the importance of sharing information, especially for those who export. So the representatives of the company will share with us the financial performance, confirm some of the information that we have, and provide some information about the operation of the company.
The third step is something that is not yet possible in Vietnam. We have direct information feeding from various sources. For example, in some countries the cost, the legal information when you have bankruptcies, and things like that (the company has been sued) is automatically fed to D&B.
You just mentioned that, from time to time, companies refuse to feed D&B with information. So, in such a case, what will D&B do?
- Beyond trying to convince the subject or the company to share information, if they say no, there is actually nothing more that we can do. And what will happen in that kind of situation? The report we are trying to write will not have the kind of information that we want to produce. So, for example, the companies will say, “No, I cannot give you financial statements.” So, the report will not have financial statements. We will finish the report, no choice, we will put it into the system. Our customers know that in some cases we cannot get a company’s financials.
How many firms in Vietnam do you collect information already?
- We have 85 000 records on Vietnam companies. For those companies, we have about 75 % with company financials. Actually, Vietnam is one of the so-called “good location”, where we can get good information. That’s why I’m always very impressed. A lot of people ask the question, “Are you sure?”. Actually, we can get information on 2010 company financials in July. In some countries, this is very difficult.
What is the percentage of the companies D&B gets, compared to Vietnamese companies as a whole?
- I don’t think there is any official source about the number of companies operating in Vietnam. But our estimate is that there are about 350,000 active companies. So we are only about 20 %, 25% covering the market. Not good enough. Ideally, we would like to have about 50 % coverage in every industry. Of course, we want to have 100% coverage.
Now, how about the fee, when a Vietnamese firm asks you for information?
- For companies in Vietnam if they need information from overseas, the fee varies, ranging from US$200 to US$350. For companies in Vietnam, who want a domestic company report, they have to pay from US$100 to US$260.
You have done a lot of research on Vietnamese companies. So, what is the most critical issue here, in terms of collecting information?
- Unfortunately, Vietnam doesn’t have a central company registry. It takes more time to collect information. We would like to work with the relevant government agency to see what we could do to help.
You mean that the Vietnamese government should set up such an office?
- I think this is very important for every country. It really grows trust and confidence, especially for foreign direct investment firms. If I come to Vietnam, and don’t know where to find information about an ABC company, it’s very difficult to move.
How can you detect fraud?
- We have a strict process of collecting information. Our business analysts are trained to find out or to try to uncover whether the company is trying to give us bad information. Very often, the company that we interview does not give fraud information. They will either give information, or say they cannot give.
On the Internet, there are so many risks in doing business and you cannot trust everybody. So how can a Vietnamese company build a good reputation via the Internet?
- After verification and validation, we provide a company a logo that they can put on their website. This is what we call the D&B Registered Seal.
And they have to pay for that?
- The normal pricing is US$200 for a year. We also have a special seal that a company can put in its e-mail. When it sends an e-mail, the seal is there. When the receiver looks at the seal, he or she clicks on it, and basic information of the company will appear. That is US$80 per year.
The concept is similar to, when going to a shop and buy wine, you want to buy a bottle of wine that is US$30. But there are so many bottles at US$30. So you just turn them around to see whether there is a gold medal. If you find it you may think, “this is gold medal. It must be good”, and you buy. So, the same thing with a company. If it has this seal, it is trusted.
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