Mrs. Tu Huong: Head of the most prestigious business family in Vietnam

Ms. Tran Thi Huong (Tu Huong) is the head of one of the notorious business families and is one of the few people at a rare age who is still working hard in business and has brought the Miss Universe pageant to Vietnam.

The owner of many "empires"

Ms. Tran Thi Huong. Photo: Internet

Ms. Tran Thi Huong (Tu Huong), born in 1936, is a first-generation businesswoman in Vietnam. She is from Binh Dinh. She heads the real estate empire Hoan Cau and Nam A Bank (NamABank) with assets that could be worth hundreds of millions of USD.

Mrs. Tu Huong is a businesswoman with extraordinary working capacity. During the decade of her “rare” age, Mrs. Tran Thi Huong still worked and this was also the time when she brought the Miss Universe pageant to Vietnam and invited Lady Gaga to perform. Along with the Miss Universe event was the birth of the famous Diamond Bay resort in Nha Trang.

For nearly a decade in her seventies, Ms. Tu Huong has been working hard in business and creating the “Hoan Cau” network across the country. Her children, sons and daughters, and sons-in-law are all leaders in the business network she built.

Ms. Tu Huong is the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and the founder of Hoan Cau Group. This is a multi-industry business group established in 1993, with more than 30 member companies nationwide, with a solid position in the domestic and international markets.

Hoan Cau Group operates in the fields of: real estate, hotel tourism, banking and finance, advertising media, education with many famous projects such as: Cantavil Hoan Cau luxury apartment complex, Crown Convention Theater, Diamond Bay Golf & Villas, Diamond Bay Resort & Spa, Diamond Bay Condotel Resort...

Nam A Commercial Joint Stock Bank (NamABank) is currently undergoing restructuring. The bank continues to miss deadlines for listing its shares and updating its operational information very slowly.

However, according to the latest information, Ms. Tu Huong is still a senior advisor of NamABank. Key positions in the bank belong to family members and those who have close relationships with this businesswoman.

In a management report for the last 6 months of 2015, the largest internal individual shareholder of NamABank is Mr. Nguyen Quoc My, the son of businesswoman Tu Huong. Mr. My is the vice chairman of the Board of Directors of NamA Bank and holds nearly 4.3% of NamABank shares.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, the eldest son of Ms. Tu Huong and daughter Nguyen Thi Xuan Loan, also held the position of Chairman of NamABank. Mr. Toan previously held 5% of NamABank's shares. Dragon Pacific Company Limited - a business of Mr. Toan's family - holds nearly 14.2% of NamA Bank's shares.

Million dollar deals

Runner-up Duong Truong Thien Ly is the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Tu Huong.

In recent years, NamABank has undergone many changes due to the restructuring process. The senior leadership of this bank has also changed continuously. In 2015 alone, this bank changed the two most important positions: CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors. However, one thing that has not changed is the power of Ms. Tu Huong's family at this bank.

In early 2013, runner-up Duong Truong Thien Ly, daughter-in-law of Ms. Tu Huong (wife of Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan) also unexpectedly became a shareholder holding 4.92% of NamABank shares. However, more than a year later, runner-up Duong Truong Thien Ly no longer owns shares of NamABank, but Ms. Tu Huong's family is still the controlling shareholder group.

Although she is the owner of two leading empires in the fields of finance and real estate, Ms. Tu Huong is not a descendant of a business family. Ms. Tu Huong once shared in an interview with the press that she grew up in poverty, only finished 5th grade, worked as a maid, learned sewing, and sold goods...

Her business instincts began to take root and become part of her life in the 80s, trading seafood, agarwood, wood, etc. In the early 90s, she became an entrepreneur and prospered in the wood industry.

Ms. Tu Huong's business career took off with a series of decisions to invest in building beverage factories... and then sell them to large corporations around the world at a time when Vietnam's economy opened up to integrate with the world in the early 90s and foreign investors were very afraid of cumbersome administrative procedures and only wanted to buy domestic enterprises.

This old businesswoman has become very famous in the market with a series of huge money-making businesses such as a series of investments in building factories and then selling them such as Khanh Hoa Beer (sold to San Miguel), Saigon Cola Factory (sold to Coca Cola), Lipovitan Energy Drink Factory. Each deal she made a profit of several million dollars thanks to her grasp of trends and current events.

Hoan Cau Group was established later (1993) focusing on real estate and construction materials. It also marked Ms. Tu Huong's strong attack on the real estate sector.

The most obvious example of Ms. Huong's family's strength is in the Hoan Cau Group, with its investment of thousands of billions in the Diamond Bay resort and the categories serving the Miss Universe 2008 pageant, held for the first time in Vietnam.

In 2010, Hoan Cau Group signed a cooperation agreement with Deawoo Group (Korea) to establish DAEWON - HOAN CAU Housing Development Joint Venture Company Limited, to build the Cantavil Hoan Cau luxury apartment project.

Hoan Cau also invested in Diamond Bay City International Resort Complex, Hoan Cau Trade Center and Hotel - 20 Tran Phu - Nha Trang. In addition, Hoan Cau Group also implemented 10 other projects in Nha Trang with a land fund of up to 1,600 hectares.

In 2013, Hoan Cau Group became the owner of Quang Trung Quy Nhon University and co-owner of Da Lat Palace Golf Club, Da Lat Palace Hotel, Du Parc Palace. At the same time, Hoan Cau Ninh Hoa Company Limited, Hoan Cau Ninh Long Company Limited, and Hoan Cau Da Lat Company Limited were established.

According to Vietnamnet