To Each His Own

(July 18, 2006) Saigon Times


Minh Phuong Company’s ability to provide reasonably priced quality services on a customer-specific basis has enabled its success in Vietnam’s fiercely competitive forwarding market

Established in July 1995, Minh Phuong is one of the few Vietnamese companies that has successfully progressed in the forwarding business. “We have gained success beyond our expectation thanks to our efforts to maintain trust and service quality,” says Dang Thi Minh Phuong, chairwoman of the company.

Over the past 11 years, the company has carried out more than 500 successful projects for customers from around the world, among them are big names such as Suzuki Vietnam, NEC Tokin Vietnam, Metro Cash & Carry Vietnam, Zamil Steel Vietnam and PepsiCo International Vietnam. “These are global businesses that are used to the fi nest services and we must not make any mistake in providing world-class service for them,” Phuong says.

The company has won their trust thanks to its professionalism, service quality and ability to cater to customer’s individual needs, not to mention the company’s well executed forwarding procedures.

The customer is always right

To date, Minh Phuong has developed an extensive customer relations network in Vietnam as the company takes its time to understand customers’ specifi c demands as well as the ever-changing governmental economic policies and procedural services relating to its business.

Minh Phuong stores all data relating to its customers in order to maintain long-term relationships. This way the company can always anticipate and adapt to a pre-established frame of reference regarding the customer’s preference.

“We always try to improve our services to provide the best solutions for our customers in the spirit of “The customer is always right.” We try to maintain long-term relations with them through regular cooperation and exchange of information. That’s the key to our success today,” Phuong says.

Minh Phuong’s strength lies in supplying solutions in different areas including air and maritime transport, domestic transport by road and waterway, multi-modal transport, customs brokerage, logistics supply chain management, project cargo forwarding, and warehousing and distribution services.

Minh Phuong’s success also relies on its ability to provide package solutions to customers, instead of forwarding services only. According to Phuong, customers have different and particular needs for each project. “Our task is to provide safe, fast and cost-effective solutions to the customers,” she says.

For example, if a customer in Vietnam wants to send a consignment to the U.S, Minh Phuong’s staff must examine the consignment, classify the contents, provide packaging and preservation solutions, as well as fi nd the most reasonable and fastest means of transport at the best price to deliver the consignment to the receiver as pledged.

“We can also deal with special consignments and oversize or overweight cargoes,” Phuong says. Her company is ready to help customers with customs declaration, tax calculation, import- export permits, tax exemption or refund procedures and cargo insurance.

Accommodating expansion

When fi rst established, Minh Phuong had only 18 employees and modest working facilities. It now has more than 150 employees with good qualifi cations and experience in the import-export business. Apart from the head offi ce in HCM City, the company has set up offices in Hanoi, Haiphong and Danang, the main trade gates of Vietnam.

To accommodate its growing business and strengthen its operational capacity, in 2002 Minh Phuong cooperated with Baek-Shim-Ra to establish the Nice Vina Container Transportation Joint Venture Company.

Early this year, the company was granted the business privilege card from the HCM City Customs Department, which allows for expeditious import-export procedures and customs checks. “This was extremely good news for us. It has increased our confi dence and made HCM City customs more favorable towards our operation,” Phuong says.

The company has a large warehousing system in HCM City capable of storing, classifying and packaging large volumes of goods before delivery. It has also developed a network of forwarding partners overseas, especially in major markets like North America, Europe and Asia. This network enables prompt delivery of customers’ goods to receivers and vice versa.