Guernsey-based PPF Partners has held talks with the Vietnamese Prime Minister while visiting the country to explore ways of growing its business.
Director Mel Carvill met with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung in Hanoi, the capital and second largest city in Vietnam.
Private equity firm PPF Partners – a joint venture between Generali and the PPF Group – has investments in the region including the market-leading consumer credit business which finances motorcycles, the transport of choice for the Vietnamese, and a major cement factory near the capital.
Mr Carvill said: "More than three million motorcycles are sold in Vietnam each year and this figure is growing year by year. Last year only 3% of these 3 million motorcycles was financed and PPF had a 70% share of this 3% so there is a significant opportunity for us to further grow that business."
A Communist country, Vietnam has a population of almost 90 million and saw growth of 5.3% in GDP last year. It is a developing country that in the last three decades has had to recover from the ravages of war, deal with the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc and operate within the rigidities of a centrally-planned economy.
Under the renovation policy of 1986, the authorities are committed to increase economic liberalisation and the enacting of structural reforms to modernise the economy and produce more competitive, export-driven industries. Vietnam joined the World Trade Organisation in 2007 after more than a decade of negotiations.
"The reception I received was genuinely warm. The Prime Minister spent 30 minutes explaining how pleased he was and interested in what PPF is doing in the country," said Mr Carvill.
"The opportunity to increase our share of the motorcycle finance market is a big driver for us. It is a huge market and we have only just scratched the surface."
PPF Partners specialises in investing in the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe. The firm has invested €1.4bn since launch last year.
Mr Carvill was accompanied in his discussions by both Czech and senior Vietnamese officials.
PPF Partners is a private equity firm based in Guernsey investing in Emerging Europe. PPF Partners is owned and backed by PPF Group, one of the leading financial groups in Central and Eastern Europe, and Assicurazioni Generali, one of the world's leading insurers.
For more information about Guernsey's finance industry please visit www.guernseyfinance.com.
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