HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM – In the expansion of the eGift Service, GIFTEE MALAYSIA SDN. BHD., (hereafter referred to as giftee Malaysia), a Malaysian subsidiary company of giftee, Inc (hereafter referred to as giftee; Head office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo / Representative Director: Mutsumi Ota, Tatsuya Suzuki), is pleased to announce the successful joint venture partnership with Mekong Communications Company Ltd.(hereafter referred to as Mekong Communications; Head office: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam /General Director：Vo Duy Nghia to form “Giftee Mekong Company Ltd.” (hereafter referred to as Giftee Mekong) which shall commence full-scale operation from 1st July 2021. This shall be the 2nd Southeast Asian country after Malaysia as giftee expands its overseas operations in the region.
giftee inc. was established in August 2010 and hails from Japan. The representative directors are Mutsumi Ota and Tatsuya Suzuki. giftee inc. offers four services for consumers and businesses – giftee-C2C gift service, eGift System, giftee for business and Welcome ! STAMP. The eGift business expanded into the ASEAN region with the incorporation of Giftee Malaysia in 2018. Giftee Malaysia provides an end-to-end eGift platform solution, from the issuance to distribution of eGifts.
This time around, Vietnam becomes the 2nd overseas location after Malaysia, with the incorporation of giftee Mekong. giftee Malaysia is being set up to be the center for geographical deployment of eGift Platform Business as part of the company’s growth strategy amidst ongoing efforts to explore expansion opportunities to other locations. Vietnam has maintained strong economic growth among Southeast Asian countries, and even with the COVID-19 pandemic era in 2020 which had a huge impact on the economy, the country still maintained positive growth by recording a GDP growth rate of 2.9% year-on-year in 2020 (according to the Vietnam Statistics Bureau). In addition, the smartphone ownership rate in Vietnam at about 94 %, and the average SNS usage time reaching about 2.2 hours per day (HootSuite “DIGITAL IN 2020 GLOBAL OVERVIEW ”) augurs well for our business environment. With a social background that appeared to be highly savvy on e-gifting, Vietnam is viewed as an extremely attractive market for giftee’s new entry destination. Based on this, Vietnam was decided to be the 2nd overseas location and a new joint venture company was formed with Mekong Communications.
Our partner, Mekong One has an ecosystem of more than ten (10) member companies focused on three main areas: Marcom, Distribution Solutions, and Real Estate Strategic Consulting and Advisory. In particular, Mekong Communications continues to pioneer and lead provide full professional Marcom service for the Vietnam Market. With more than 12 years of experience in being well-informed about the environment and reality as well as the potential advantages of the Vietnam market, Mekong Communications is proud of being an authorized strategic partner of a broad range of giant companies, especially Japanese companies in the Vietnam market.
The main focus of Giftee Mekong, as with, are our two core businesses: Firstly, to distribute “eGifts” – digital vouchers especially within the F&B and retail industry; and secondly, to provide various digital marketing incentive solutions to corporations in Vietnam via “giftee for Business”. Mekong Communications has a wide clientele base in the F&B and retail industry, and is also engaged in a lot of digital marketing services for corporations. We can expect various business synergies such as enabling brands to issue eGifts, or opening markets for eGift providers to enable corporations to incorporate eGifts into the business strategy, and offering various solutions combining digital marketing strategies with eGifts. We look forward to driving the eGift Service in Vietnam by combining the know-how of the eGift Business accumulated within giftee organization in Japan and Malaysia, with the extensive network reach, strong digital marketing presence and knowledge of Mekong Communications in Vietnam.
Nghia Vo, General Director of Mekong Communications- Member of Mekong One says, “Over 12 years of establishment and development, Mekong One is proud to be one of the top Vietnam Agency Corp., pioneers owning an ecosystem with the different principles of philosophy and Vietnamese authenticity. We are confident that with our core competencies, well-informed experience in the Vietnam market, digital infrastructure, and artificial intelligence…The collaboration between Mekong One and Giftee will make a great difference not only in products and services but also contribute to improving the experience for the Vietnam market and Vietnamese users.”
Le Bui Kim Son – Sonny, CEO of Giftee Mekong says, “e-Gifting service has experienced a steady growth for the last few years in Vietnam but it is still far from reaching its maximum potential. Digital transformation is a survival strategy for most companies. We believe that Giftee can contribute significantly to the digital transformation of Vietnam as well as bringing the convenience of e-gifting service to local users.”
We already have contracted with 65+ brands (As of end of July 2021) such as The Coffee Coffee, 7-eleven、Circle K、Phuc Long, etc. distribute the eGifts to companies in Vietnam. Giftee Mekong, as it moves quickly to develop the market, shall make efforts to increase awareness of eGifts and to maximize the distribution volume. We hope to see that even in Vietnam, we could create the culture and custom to send eGifts easily as a means of communicating the day-to-day feelings to each other. Meanwhile, giftee organizations including giftee Malaysia shall continue to seek for new overseas markets extending the expansion plans for the eGift Business, beyond Malaysia and Vietnam.
