Go to Nghe An

CEO Mai Quoc Binh - Different to reach new heights

Le Xuan - Technique: Hong Toai • October 12, 2025 16:18

From a rocky countryside, from the haunting worries about food and clothing, businessman Mai Quoc Binh has strived to become the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Paper World, SkyB Group, Sachi Queen, and also the Co-founder of 11 startups in the fields of consumer goods, agriculture, retail... How to turn a small capital of 30 million VND into a million-dollar enterprise? That is the inspirational story of Mai Quoc Binh in his journey of self-learning and rising up in the city named after Uncle Ho.

Le Xuan -Technique:Hong Toai• October 12, 2025

Born in Anh Son, in a family where poverty was always haunting, in 2007, student Mai Quoc Binh graduated from the College of Economics, his only asset was a Martin bicycle. A new business idea suddenly came to him when he happened to go to the supermarket: why do consumers have to carry paper goods home, instead of having a specialized service to deliver them to their doorstep? Quick and daring, in just a short time after that, Mai Quoc Binh started to establish The Gioi Giay Company. Named The Gioi Giay, the young man had the aspiration to bring Vietnamese paper to the world, and bring the best types of paper in the world to Vietnamese people to use. But that was also a mistake, because when he thought he had everything, he had nothing. What customers needed, the business could not meet, and the items the unit had, customers did not need. The capital at that time was only 30 million VND, which was collected by relatives from the sale of pigs, cows, agricultural products... In just over a month, that 30 million VND was gone, at that time, he was completely penniless.

Continue or stop? A debt of 30 million VND, for a person who has failed, becomes a huge number. How to get the next capital, restart the stalled business cycle? To solve this problem, he had to bet all of his family's existing assets, mortgage the land in Anh Son, to start a new business.

With 30 million VND, he liquidated all his inventory, and the only product he chose to sell this time was... toilet paper. The nickname Toilet Paper Bottle came from that day. A large batch of goods at a good price, combined with product promotion from the company's official website, and a team of enthusiastic and persistent sales staff, he had a relatively smooth start to his next step.

Right from the start, Mai Quoc Binh worked up to 18 hours a day. Until 2016, every morning when he went to the office, holding a stack of orders, with 2 phones and 3 SIM cards, he worked diligently until late at night. He believes that if a person lives without a mission, life will be extremely boring, tasteless, and his whole life will just fade away and then fade into oblivion. A business is born without a mission, then that business will never grow, only stopping at the state of making a living day by day. That is why, when choosing to do business in a product or a field, first of all, Mai Quoc Binh asked himself 5 questions: Is business beneficial to the environment? Will it bring benefits to the country, contribute to changing the world's view of a Vietnamese product? Will business bring profits to his team? What are the benefits to partners and customers? Answering those questions means that Mai Quoc Binh is researching and experimenting in a completely different direction, creating a superior competitive advantage for himself. With that motto, he has researched and created new products to meet the “pain” of customers.

Now, multi-purpose tissue boxes are available everywhere, in hospitals, in offices, very convenient and hygienic with the feature of no dust, not soluble in water. This idea came to Mr. Mai Quoc Binh by chance, when he went to wash his face in a restroom of the unit. Instead of looking for a towel, all he saw was a hand dryer. Seeing that inadequacy, a new, bold idea came to him.

Mai Quoc Binh has launched the Roto multi-purpose hand towel product, which can be used to wipe the face. The product is available in most office, factory, and enterprise restrooms in Vietnam. Not stopping there, with the mission of serving the people more deeply, he has sought out additional hospital channels. He found that doctors use towels before and after examinations to wipe. Using disposable cloth towels costs up to 2,000 - 3,000 VND/time, and washing them for reuse does not meet hospital standards. He has successfully advised doctors to use paper towels instead of cloth towels, helping to save a large amount of money while still ensuring medical safety.

To solve the problem of cutting costs for customers, Mr. Mai Quoc Binh learned that in some developed countries, large toilet paper rolls are used in public restrooms. This product helps save paper, reduce waste, no need to worry about losing paper, bringing a clean and luxurious space to the restroom. In 2011, Mai Quoc Binh launched An Khang large toilet paper roll. This is the first large toilet paper roll brand in Vietnam, helping thousands of customers, organizations and businesses save 20-30% of monthly paper usage costs compared to regular toilet paper products. The product is favored and frequently used by agencies and organizations.

On the first day of establishment, The Paper World was one of the pioneers in the field of selling on the website system. Although the company's website was not really eye-catching, it had a lot of energy. Every day, when coming home from work, Mai Quoc Binh set himself the goal of writing and posting 3 articles. Customers searched more and his company sold more. To help the company have more capital, he spent almost all of his time working but did not dare to receive a salary, living a minimalist lifestyle, saving money for the company to operate and grow. Just like that, in 10 years, from an initial capital of only 30 million, The Paper World was valued by experts at nearly 30 million USD.

To achieve that result, Mai Quoc Binh had to go through many hardships. In 2011, all his assets were 300 million VND. At that time, he wanted to produce large rolls of paper, but to buy a machine, the cost was up to 1.5 billion VND, not including the factory and other expenses. With no other choice, he went to meet each director of the paper factories, convincing them to produce for him. After 6 months, someone agreed to join hands with him. With a new machine, large rolls of toilet paper were mass-produced, but not a single roll was sold. Customers had never used such large rolls of paper before, they were unfamiliar with the new product and asked him: "What is this?" In his stalemate, he realized that the starting point of this roll of paper was abroad, so he went to FDI companies. Luckily, they were also looking for this product and introduced many other companies. Just like that, the company's sales gradually increased.

The Paper World holds a large market share in the sales channel for agencies and organizations (KA channel). While things were going well, the Covid-19 pandemic turned everything upside down. Manufacturing enterprises and large companies were almost closed for a long time. The company's sales slipped from 20 billion/month to only 2 billion/month. Not giving up, Mai Quoc Binh once again quickly shifted his business target, from companies and organizations, he boldly sent his employees to sell to households in apartment buildings and urban areas. The product met the right time when, due to the pandemic, people could not go to supermarkets and stores. This right decision helped The Paper World gradually recover and develop more customers.

The pandemic has caused a sudden increase in demand for paper, many companies are taking advantage of the situation by increasing prices and reducing quality to seize the opportunity. However, The Gioi Giay has always been steadfast in its philosophy of not increasing prices, ensuring standard raw materials from Indonesia, not discharging waste... Always prioritizing and ensuring the interests of customers, providing timely supply and having many preferential policies, The Gioi Giay has become the "default choice" supplier of hospitals, organizations and businesses.

In 2020, The Gioi Giay received investment capital from partner Oita Paper Co. Ltd - the 3rd largest paper enterprise in Japan. But Mai Quoc Binh does not think that technology and finance are the strengths of The Gioi Giay. To maintain the leading position, Mai Quoc Binh has set immutable working principles for his team, which are Dedication, Integrity, Trust, Creativity and Development.

Although it is a small company, The Gioi Giay spends a lot of budget on training employees. As a studious person, Mai Quoc Binh leads the team to study together. "No one succeeds alone", so he invites experts for internal training, and at the same time he directly teaches classes and shares experiences with employees. Many employees, when working at The Gioi Giay, have changed their life philosophy and working methods. The company has become a home, where each employee works and connects for a common mission. Unlike other units, The Gioi Giay has many very humane regulations. That is, when a member unfortunately passes away, their relatives will receive a subsidy of 5 million VND and 50% of their monthly salary, until their children are fully grown.

Mai Quoc Binh believes: "If you cannot package your system and keep expanding, you are multiplying the problem." Thanks to this approach, Mr. Mai Quoc Binh has now developed and expanded the company sustainably. Currently, in addition to producing and supplying paper, he also does agriculture and participates in 16 other industries such as: consumer goods retail, business consulting, startup training... effectively.

Along with business development, CEO Mai Quoc Binh always believes that happiness is sharing and bringing value to others. Therefore, The Paper World's business activities are always associated with environmental protection, social responsibility and community building. The company has implemented a program to give free paper to hospitals during the Covid-19 epidemic, with a total value of up to 3 billion VND. He also visited families in difficult circumstances, sharing small gifts filled with human warmth. Mai Quoc Binh has returned to his hometown, built useful works, and further improved life skills for children in mountainous areas such as green libraries and summer swimming pools in Anh Son commune. He hopes to inspire the children that their efforts to study and work will one day bring success, and that achievement is present every day in their study and play life...

Up to now, what CEO Mai Quoc Binh is concerned about is not the pressure of competition or finance, but the risk of falling behind when the market and customer needs are constantly changing, especially in the last 2 years, with the remarkable development of artificial intelligence AI. At The Paper World, he has applied AI to most operating processes to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase competitiveness. If in the early days of starting a business, he took advantage of his time to work, now he always spends a worthy amount of time studying. Over the past 5 years, he has spent 60 - 80 days a year attending courses. He studies directly 5 days a month, not to mention studying online 1 - 3 hours a day. He believes that studying can help improve and upgrade himself, thereby being able to adapt to the changes ahead.

From a poor countryside where hunger and lack of clothing are still haunting, Mai Quoc Binh is now the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Paper World, SkyB Group, Sachi Queen, and also the co-founder of 11 startups in the fields of consumer goods, agriculture, retail... From his efforts to rise up and constantly learn, Mai Quoc Binh is writing a beautiful story of an Nghe An businessman in the city named after Uncle Ho.