In a country where instant noodles are popular in a range of recipes and as a simple snack, the instant noodle producing company that dominates up to 70 percent of Vietnam’s market share is Japan’s Acecook Vietnam.

One of Japan’s pioneers in the Vietnamese market, the company is recognised as a success story for Japanese investors in Vietnam.

At the Japan Management Association (JMA) Group Global Seminar in Hanoi last week, Acecook Vietnam Director General Shoichi Namie unveiled a plan to take the company further and develop it into a producer of general foodstuff that will be sold in markets all over the world.

Entering Vietnam in 1993, Acecook made its first move into the country by partnering with the Vietnam Food Industries Joint Stock Company to produce instant noodles under the trademark of Acecook-Vifon.

In 2002, after becoming a 100-percent-Japanese-invested company under the new name Acecook Vietnam, the company built eight factories churning out 150 different types of instant noodles, including Hao Hao, Kim Chi, Lau Thai, So Do, and Tao Quan, and gaining popularity in Vietnam and 40 other markets around the world.

Last year, the company earned revenues of 4.5 trillion VND, of which 10 percent came from exports.

Making quality its trademark, Acecook Vietnam became the first instant noodle producer in Vietnam to meet the International Food Standard (IFS) of European retailers. It has installed ISO 9001 quality management system, ISO 14001 environmental management standards and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).

Apart from Acecook Vietnam, there are other vivid successful Japanese investors in Vietnam , including Canon, Toyota , Honda, Yamaha and Fujitsu.

The Japanese External Trade Organisation (JETRO) said Vietnam remains very attractive to Japanese businesspeople based on its survey conducted annually.

Japan has so far had 9 billion USD in FDI in Vietnam, standing behind the Republic of Korea , Singapore and Taiwan . However, it tops others in terms of capital disbursement with close to 5 billion USD.

(Source: VNA)