Vietnamese businessmen getting more ambitious One billion dollars was once the total annual revenue that all the enterprises in the same industry strived to get. Meanwhile, one billion dollars is the turnover that a single enterprise can make nowadays. Flying high   Vinamilk, the Vietnamese leading dairy producer, has got the license to set up a milk plant in Cambodia, capitalized at $23 million. The project is believed to bring the turnover of $35 million by 2015 and $54 million by 2017. The project is a part of the company’s strategy on expanding its export markets worldwide to double its total turnover to $3 billion by 2017. If so, Vinamilk would list itself among the world’s 50 dairy producers. Vinamilk began joining the “1-billion dollar club” in 2010 when it got the turnover of over $1 billion. In 2012, it got $1.3 billion and in 2013, it got $1.5 billion. Analysts believe that the targeted turnover of $3 billion by 2017 is within reach. It put two more big factories into operation in 2013, increased the investment capital of the project in New Zealand, and began making its presence in the US. Vietnamese businessmen have every reason to become more ambitious, especially when their fellow-countryman Pham Nhat Vuong, with the total asset of $1.5 billion, has been added into the Forbes’ list of the world’s billionaires, ranking the 974th among the 1,426 billionaires. The Vietnamese 44-year-old dollar billionaire, together with his wife Pham Thu Huong, now hold 50 percent of stakes of Vingroup, which is considered the biggest and successful real estate group. Starting up in Ukraine as an instant noodle manufacturer, Vuong has become a billionaire after making an important decision on returning to Vietnam in 2001 to invest in real estate and tourism sectors. Vuong, a wise strategist, who reportedly owns the big real estate projects located on the golden land areas in Vietnam, continues developing high end projects which always attract the special attention from the investors. The Vietnamese leading technology group FPT, after obtaining the turnover of $1 billion in the two consecutive years of 2011 and 2012, now nurtures the hope of earning $1 billion a year on foreign markets. Dreaming high Other businessmen seem to be more cautious when drawing up their business plans in the context of the economic crisis. However, they also cherish ambitious plans. Hoa Sen Group’s President Le Phuoc Vu has decided that he needs to obtain $1 billion in turnover in 2013-2017. Vu affirmed that the target is within his reach. Despite the big difficulties in 2013, including the weak demand, the oversupply and the smuggled steel from China, Hoa Sen still got the net turnover of VND$560 million. Therefore, it has every reason to believe that it would get the turnover of $670 million in 2013-2014 and $1 billion by 2017, when the global and Vietnam’s economies get better. Meanwhile, Duong Ngoc Minh of Hung Vuong, a seafood company, hopes to obtain one billion dollars sooner than Vu, by 2015. US$1 = VND21,000 Manh Ha, VietNamNet Bridge