Mr. Vu Van Tien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Geleximco Group

Few people realize that Geleximco was originally known as a small-sized firm, created in 1993 with a charter capital of only 3 billion dong and now has a capitalization of VND 14,500 billion, total assets of VND 52,000 billion, and over 10,000 steady employees.

The secret of success

Mr. Vu Van Tien dropped out of military school in the early 1980s to attend Hanoi National Economics University. After graduating from university in 1986, he was assigned to the Agricultural Materials Corporation, Ministry of Agriculture. However, in 1992, just as Vietnam was entering the doi moi period, he chose to leave his post to work for private industry.

Mr. Tien established the first private import-export company in Vietnam in 1993. Geleximco, formerly known as Hanoi General Import-Export Company Limited, arose as a result of this situation.

Geleximco owned 30% of the joint venture, which produced automobile and motorcycle parts for Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Honda Vietnam.  It also assembles Honda motorbikes, with a capacity of 400,000 units per year. Geleximco's Honda motorcycles used to agitate the local market. Mr Tien earned the nickname "Tien Honda" as a result of his business success.

Mr. Tien expanded his fields of business after that opening. Geleximco has evolved tremendously over the years and is currently one of Vietnam's biggest private enterprises, working in four key fields: industrial production, finance and banking, real estate, and trade and services.

Many of Geleximco's real estate projects, such as Geleximco Le Trong Tan Urban Area with an area of 147ha, Gelexia Riverside urban area of more than 3.5ha, Cai Dam urban area (Quang Ninh) 37ha; Dragon Hill International Tourist Area (Hai Phong) 700ha, An Binh Plaza project, Geleximco Southern Star... have piqued the market's interest since their inception.

Geleximco owns and operates a hotel system, including Ha Long Dream, Thai Binh Dream, and Hilltop Valley Golf Club, and is currently constructing five-star hotels and a 27-hole golf course in Hanoi and Hai Phong.

Geleximco is also a founder and co-owner of An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank, An Binh Securities JSC, An Binh Fund Management JSC, An Binh Financial Investment JSC...

Industry is always the strength and priority for investment among Geleximco's sectors of business. That is also Mr. Tien’s passion.

Geleximco has increased its revenue share in the industrial sector, primarily through large projects such as Tuyen Quang's An Hoa Pulp and Paper Factory (US$450 million), Thang Long Cement Factory (US$350 million), and Quang Ninh's Thang Long Thermal Power Plant ($900 million), which is the world's largest private thermal power plant.

Geleximco has agreed to lease land and infrastructure in Thai Binh in order to construct a car assembly factory. Ounce again, Geleximco was well-known in the market, particularly in the automobile sector. Based on what has been done, many economists are hopeful about Geleximco's next move.

"Mr. Tien is one of Vietnam's biggest multi-sector entrepreneurs based on his investment portfolio. This transition is entirely compatible with the objective of constructing a multi-component goods economy in accordance with market and global rules," stated Dr. Le Xuan Nghia, financial expert.

And the desire to start up

Mr. Vu Van Tien's total assets have reached VND 52,000 billion, but he has no plans to stop since he has bigger goals. He earlier stated that he intended to set up a business for the rest of his life in order to contribute to the expansion of the Vietnamese private enterprise community.

From an early age, he envisioned establishing a business community for mutual development in order to become wealthy not only for himself.

Mr. Vu Van Tien is known as the eldest brother in the Red Star business community, not just because he is the first generation of Red Star businesspeople. "Mr. Tien is always on the lookout for senior entrepreneurs to gather in order to inspire the next generation of like-minded entrepreneurs to start a firm and become wealthy in an authentic manner. He also expects businesses to cultivate a business culture in order to win together”, said Nguyen Canh Hong, Head of the Red Star Entrepreneur Club.

Hoa Binh Geleximco – Hilltop Valley Golf Club

Entrepreneur Vu Van Tien also serves on the Private Economy Research and Development Board, which is part of the Prime Minister's Advisory Council for Administrative Procedure Reform and suggests revisions to methods and policies for the private economic sector's development.

According to Dr. Le Xuan Nghia, Mr. Tien tacitly cautioned about the financial system's vulnerabilities in his own stories, or purposely stated a lot to attract attention... “Practical activities such as how you would approach this situation, feeling that there is something good, something uncertain... are things that individuals like me really need and desire to have access to. People like Mr. Tien determine whether or not my policy ideas are practical," Mr. Nghia said.

Mr. Vu Van Tien has focused charity work in addition to his commercial operations. Geleximco has long been involved in community activities throughout the country, from healthcare and education to the creation and rehabilitation of historical monuments and cultural works, as well as frequently assisting and overcoming the effects of natural disasters, assisting the impoverished and unfortunate members of society...

During the Covid-19 outbreak, Geleximco contributed nearly VND 70 billion to the Covid-19 prevention and control effort, in addition to directly assisting in the epidemic's prevention at commercial premises across the country, creating the ideal conditions for ensuring the safety and health of authorities and employees on the job.

Such gestures are obvious in the case of entrepreneur Vu Van Tien; his sharings are viewed as delight and become a demand for himself. His assistants were accustomed to coming to his aid in silence so as not to be identified in the media. This zeal has spread to tens of thousands of Geleximco employees.

“Mr. Tien is a one-of-a-kind businessman. What he said was not for his own advantage, but for the good of the country as a whole", said Dr. Le Xuan Nghia.