I want to be a part of life, of this society and that value is built through what I do. If I don't do it, then life is no longer worth living.
My interview call with Vietravel Chairman Nguyen Quoc Ky happened just as the flight from Hanoi landed at Tan Son Nhat Airport. On the other end of the line, Mr. Ky said he had just attended a conference with the Prime Minister to resolve difficulties for the tourism industry and would be at the company in half an hour.
Exactly half an hour later, I arrived at the Vietravel Company headquarters on Pasteur Street, District 3. Looking a little tired and a little worried, he said: " Hanoi has been cold and freezing these past few days. I'm not used to the cold. Before going to the airport, I heard the weather forecast that tonight Hanoi would have a strong cold spell. However, the cold weather is not as bad as the sadness of the trip not having a good solution as expected."
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Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietravel Tourism Group Joint Stock Company Nguyen Quoc Ky |
He continued: During the recent Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam resolved the epidemic very quickly thanks to the change in the way of fighting the epidemic with the vaccine campaign. From no vaccine, we changed to having a vaccine and helped the whole nation and country overcome the pandemic early. Of course, we still had to pay a price, but that price was worth it because we got out of the epidemic area early and on March 15, 2022, Vietnam officially opened to the international community - earlier than all the countries in the region.
Although our plus point is the early opening policy, Vietnam tourism is slow to return and by December it becomes a minus point, causing Vietnam tourism to go from bright to dark.
At the conference to promote attracting international tourists to Vietnam that took place on the morning of December 21, 2022, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also asked the question: "Why did surrounding countries open up later than Vietnam but they finished first?".
* And the key to this delay is...
- The biggest problem after the 2020-2022 global crisis is that all countries and businesses return to the same starting line, regardless of size. Therefore, whoever prepares well, runs first, and starts quickly will dominate the market. Any country that prepares well, resolves the pandemic early, and has a quick-start policy will take the market. There is no such thing as big winning over small, but fast winning over slow.
However, to restore the economy, we need something new, something new, something new, something new, something new, but the "new" is constrained by the old legal framework, the old legal framework, in other words, it is constrained by the old situation, the old situation, and cannot be done. If we want to fix it, we have to fix the whole system, we have to have many agencies and departments, and it cannot be fixed overnight.
The tug-of-war between the new and old regulations cannot be resolved, so instead of starting early and starting quickly, we keep dragging our feet and end up slowing down. Besides, the Government cannot simultaneously solve difficulties in all sectors, because there are many other industries that must be prioritized first.
* And you call that "out of phase"?
- It must be said that after the crisis, both the Government and businesses want to develop and move forward, no one wants to stop. But if businesses want to move quickly, they must have a legal system, legal framework, policy mechanism, and new legal framework suitable for the new situation, they cannot go beyond the law.
In other words, the Government, state management agencies, and localities, as creators, must go first and create a legal framework that is appropriate to the actual situation. In particular, the Government, state management agencies, and enterprises must go together and understand each other. Because if they go first without understanding and understanding, enterprises will die. Therefore, they must go first and understand to share and encourage enterprises, help them to fully develop their internal strength and capacity, promote their enthusiasm, perseverance, and maintain trust.
But in reality, this construction is still slow. This is a phase difference. I often joke that this phase difference is "one foot higher than the other", it makes us unable to move quickly and not fully exploit the strengths of each side, leading to hindering the quick recovery of enterprises.
* You just said "there must be understanding and sharing"... is this also your feeling about the story that is happening at Vietravel?
- I always say that the interests between the State and enterprises must be in harmony. What is harmony? When an enterprise has fulfilled its tax obligations, complied with the law and fulfilled its obligations, but when there is a risk, the Government must share it with the enterprise.
For example, recently, when Vietravel had 3 customers staying in South Korea. That was an incident, or in other words, a force majeure and risk for the company. But the Department of Tourism proposed to revoke Vietravel's tourism license and force them to pay a maximum fine, and revoke their international tourism license...
I am quite upset about this handling and decision because since the pandemic, Vietravel has taken hundreds of thousands of customers abroad. If only 3 customers escaped while we have done everything strictly, then when there is a risk or incident, the management agency needs to investigate and should not make decisions insensitively, without sharing and understanding the business like that.
* Identifying the key points and the deviation, surely the conference also has a solution?
- There is no solution yet. The sad thing is that until today, until this moment, many leaders of management agencies still do not realize it. At the conference this morning, many local leaders and management agencies still spoke in the old style, making many delegates, especially the business community, quite disappointed. This is the story of understanding that needs to be resolved.
* That was also your sadness after the conference?
- Actually, I was not happy before that. When I saw tourism developing slowly, very slowly, I was very impatient. In my capacity and as a representative of Vietravel - a travel company among the leading companies in the industry, I actively participated in the group to find solutions and proposed ways to do it.
We have petitioned the Government to hold a meeting today and are hopeful that this meeting will resolve many bottlenecks, but there has not been any conclusion or specific solution. The final solution is still the same as before. It is still the same statement as "we have opened the door, we have to review, review this, that, and the other".
The problem now is not to review and review but to clarify why it is stuck. For example, the problem of visas is stuck, so we need to clarify how to do it. Specifically, according to the current immigration law, it only allows 15 days, not 30 days, while surrounding countries allow visas up to 90 days.
Or access to credit packages. Currently, it is very difficult for tourism businesses to access credit. Although tourism is identified as a key economic sector and the Government has a credit package of up to 380,000 billion VND, it is said that it will be used up in 6-7 weeks, but tourism businesses do not know how to access it.
So it must be pointed out how much of this package is for tourism, who it is for, and how businesses should approach it. In short, there must be very specific regulations, and how many days of research must be submitted to the Government for decision, but this is not mentioned.
* Looking back at 2022 with many shades of gray for tourism and air transport - the two fields you are operating, what are your thoughts and recommendations for support policies for these two industries?
- Of course, during the pandemic, many industries were affected, but tourism and aviation were the two industries that were most severely damaged. When the Government issued the regulation "Staying at home is patriotism", it was as if these two industries had no customers and could not move at all.
Therefore, the tourism and aviation industries and I myself also hope that the Government will have special institutions for these two industries. Recently, domestic tourism has grown rapidly because there are no barriers, airlines do not fly abroad, focusing all resources on domestic flights, so it contributes greatly to the development of domestic tourism.
On the contrary, with international flights, airlines cannot fly because there are no passengers, so they are heavily affected. Not to mention that the price of fuel is very high, all labor and expenses are in foreign currency, and foreign currency and exchange rates are constantly increasing. Up to this moment, no airline dares to say that I am profitable. All are operating below cost, below cost price and are losing money. The bigger they are, the more they lose.
However, there is no specific policy to tailor for aviation. Meanwhile, investment resources for aviation are also the country's resources and the assets of enterprises are also the country's assets.
* With many challenges and difficulties, especially having to struggle with the Vietravel and Vietravel Airlines machine, have you ever felt overwhelmed, felt like you had experienced enough business and wanted to give up?
- Honestly, sometimes I feel overloaded and always wonder: "When will I get out of this difficulty?". Sometimes I feel discouraged. Many people meet me and ask: "Aren't you crazy?". I smile and say: "You have to balance yourself to work."
The business world has gone through many years since working in a union, becoming a businessman, becoming a state manager, then returning to being an entrepreneur... through many environments, struggling a lot, it also helped me understand: "Whatever you do, always be calm".
As a leader of a company, behind me is the trust of many people who are placing in me, so I have to do it, have to overcome my own limits and abilities to create a new limit. I have to force myself to solve it even though I know for sure that there will be many challenges ahead. It is not false pride or pride because of "ego" but because of honor, responsibility, because of the trust that people are placing in me.
* With the remaining difficulties, what solutions and plans do you have for 2023?
- It is forecasted that in 2023, the situation will still be very difficult. Domestic tourism has begun to expand, after the pandemic, people traveled a lot, like the compression of a spring that bounced back very strongly, but now it has sprung up, stretched out, and customers have begun to decrease. Besides, consumption in society has also been frugal, and high costs have led to high tourism prices. That is a huge challenge that needs to be calculated to have a complete, fundamental and really good solution.
But at present, I still do not have a fundamental solution, a good one, but only a temporary patchwork solution. Without a fundamental solution, businesses will always be floundering, always in a state of high risk. However, to have a fundamental solution, we must not only be subjective but also have policies from the State.
* As Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association (HUBA) for the 2022-2027 term, do you feel pressured when there are many difficulties ahead? If you have new suggestions to help HUBA improve in the new term, what will you do and what suggestions will you give?
- The force of enterprises and entrepreneurs in Ho Chi Minh City is very strong, it must be said that it is the strongest in the country. The role of HUBA in recent years has also had its ups and downs at certain times and has not yet achieved its proper position, if not to say that it is below its level.
Because first, HUBA has not yet united, gathered, and gathered many strengths of enterprises. Somewhere there is still something rigid, timid, unconfident, and self-limiting. As for the city leaders, they have not yet seen everything, have not yet fully evaluated the capabilities, potential resources, and energy of this organization. Therefore, there is still no policy towards HUBA, promoting its development. That is the regrettable thing that I see.
So we have to demand both sides, HUBA itself must also innovate, change, try to escape from the shadow of a political organization, we are not a political organization but an organization that gathers businesses and entrepreneurs to seek to do business, promote economic development. That is also the reason why VCCI also changed to Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry. Therefore, I also suggest that HUBA should be changed to the Business Federation - a federation, uniting all the strengths together in the best mindset, an extended arm, implementing the instructions of the city's leaders.
Of course, everything has a process, awareness and transformation. My wish is that when joining an organization, you must renew it. If you cannot renew it and contribute to it, then you should not join.
* With that wish and with the new executive board members, do you expect HUBA to be stronger, more united, and have more activities and a stronger voice?
- I am worried that the standing committee is too large, I have never seen a standing committee with so many vice presidents. Actually, having more is good, but in my opinion, the HUBA organizational structure is like a house. You have not built a house yet, but if you give it too many pillars, when you walk on it, it will collide with each other, and its usable area will be narrowed.
I also suggest many issues and concerns such as how HUBA can have many programs, products, and plans to attract people to respond, because the nature of joining the association is to seek benefits for oneself. Maybe, I don't like you, but I like your plan so I follow.
* According to you, what qualities does a leader need to do mass work?
- A leader who wants to have new ideas must be patient enough to listen. Because listening is a way to collect information to turn quantity into quality. A leader must have information from many sources and know how to synthesize it with their intelligence and courage to come up with ideas. In short, they must do the following three things. One is to have ideas. Two is to tell people about the ideas. Three is to know how to organize people to work with them.
* Currently running a business, being the president of the Culinary Association, and now joining HUBA, what do you hope to do for HUBA?
- As I said, HUBA's position could be much bigger than it is now, so I want to join to have the opportunity to contribute to the city's economic development. Once the economy develops, the city develops, and businesses develop, Vietravel itself will benefit. There is also a bit of privacy in that. Vietravel currently has offices in over 40 provinces and cities, but Vietravel's headquarters is located in Ho Chi Minh City.
Personally, although I was born and raised in Hanoi, the place where I lived, grew up and developed was Saigon. Therefore, my participation in an organization or association such as HUBA, for example, means that participating in helping to improve something a little bit is also my way of repaying this kind land. Whether successful or not, it helps me become a person.
* Having experienced many ups and downs, what philosophy of life has remained in you?
- People can have ups and downs, can do anything but must be a good person. Be good to people, good to life, good to yourself. Being human, sometimes there will be ambiguous thoughts, frustration about this and that, why they treat you like that, why and why but think about it, the problem is that you don't have the right to let that control your good self.
* Honestly, when do you plan to retire?
- There is an 86-year-old chairman of a foreign charity fund, but when someone asked him: "Why haven't you retired yet?", he said: "This is my life". And I work because I decide my life. That shows that everyone in life chooses a path to live. Everyone who reaches the age wants to go out and have fun, to relax. And I choose to relax at work.
Always tell yourself, if life has no goals, no purpose, then life becomes meaningless. I want to be a part of life, of this society and that value is built through what I do. If I don't do it, then life has no value anymore. That's why people often say, people live, laugh, walk, talk but they are dead, not buried yet. But there are people who have died but everyone still talks about them, which means they are still alive. They leave value in life.
* Thank you for the interesting conversation.
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