How do you feel about having your name placed alongside the world’s most illustrious female leaders?

The award came as a complete surprise. Women’s Tabloid learned about me through the merger of FV with Thomson Medical Group. To be honest, I’ve always focused solely on my work and have always considered myself a member of the FV family. Standing at the awards ceremony in Dubai, looking at the list of winners from the US, France, Europe…, I truly felt the honour of having my efforts at a Vietnamese hospital recognised internationally.

Tran Le Quyen was honoured as “Best Emerging Woman CFO in Healthcare 2025” at the Women’s Tabloid Award 2025 ceremony in Dubai.

You joined FV in 2002. When you started, what direction did you envision?

At that time, there were no established financial frameworks for an international hospital in Vietnam. But from the very beginning, through my training and work in the US, I have identified one thing very clearly: “Managing cash flow and business success are paramount in the job of a chief financial officer”. I view finance as a tool to help hospitals operate better.

In the hospital business, “products” are not goods, but come from doctors, nurses, medical equipment, and are used to serve patients. I was involved in building the system, from medical record software and IT systems related to finance and accounting, to how to record expenses and revenue for each actual hospital activity.

The FV financial system is built from the bottom up, and every figure in the report accurately reflects what is happening in each department. That mindset later shaped FV’s entire financial system.

How difficult were the early years?

For the first four years, the financial situation was very stressful. Private hospitals were a relatively new concept in Vietnam at that time, and it took a very long time for patients to trust them.

FV obtained financing from the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. They set extremely stringent reporting standards regarding transparency, timeliness, and accuracy. Although Vietnam did not yet have clear standards for private hospital finance at that time, FV’s financial system followed international standards from the beginning.

When was the first milestone you took real pride in?

That was the debt restructuring programme in 2007. It might not sound appealing, but for FV at that time, it was vital. The programme helped FV save approximately $13 million out of a total investment of $44 million. That figure significantly reduced the financial burden, allowing the hospital to continue its stable growth.

What is your general assessment of hospital finance?

The hospital sector is arguably the most complex of all sectors. Other industries may produce a similar product, with a nearly fixed cost structure. Hospitals are different. When performing surgery on a patient, each surgical procedure depends on medical supplies, equipment, medications, as well as the skill of the doctor. Each doctor has a different working style, different surgical durations, and different treatment indications.

Even patients are affected: some only need simple intervention, while others have multiple underlying conditions, longer treatment times, and varying costs.

Building a price framework that is both competitive and transparent, while covering actual costs and ensuring returns for investors is a very difficult problem. To solve this problem, the financial system must be extremely detailed and closely aligned with the actual operations of each department.

“When hospital finances are done correctly, they contribute to improving the quality of treatment and even saving more patients’ lives,” Tran Le Quyen, CFO of FV Hospital.

Financial decisions can have a significant impact on the quality of treatment. How does FV solve this problem?

From the very beginning, FV has set a mission to put the patient at the centre. I am very proud to say that we have never allowed finances to interfere with our doctors’ prescriptions.

There are many ways to increase profits, such as increasing testing, shortening hospital stays to rotate hospital beds faster, and choosing cheaper supplies. But FV didn’t do that. All professional decisions rest with the medical boards. The role of finance is to optimise processes and procurement so that doctors have the best conditions to treat patients.

FV is one of the most expensive hospitals in the industry, yet its service prices have remained stable for many years, even when exchange rates are constantly fluctuating. What does the finance department do to reconcile these two factors?

This is a problem that FV’s finance department has to solve every day. We have a detailed reporting system down to each department, and I also directly negotiate with many major suppliers and strategies to secure the best equipment purchase prices and terms. Most importantly, our hospital knows how to balance prices and high-quality treatment processes to attract enough patients to share depreciation so that the hospital can recoup its investment within the planning period or sooner.

For example, at the time we invested over $5 million in the Hy Vong Cancer Centre at the end of 2018, the centre’s revenue was only about $2 million per year. To date, thanks to a strategy of optimising equipment and treatment quality at affordable price, that figure has exceeded $10 million per year.

FV has equipped itself with the Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system, worth over $3 million.

FV has also invested in the state-of-the-art Da Vinci Xi robotic surgical system, a leading technology in Southeast Asia. Robotic surgery offers many benefits but is not cheap; we are working with suppliers to offer attractive prices for patients to experience robotic treatment after the Lunar New Year 2026.

FV’s merger with Thomson Medical Group is considered one of the most high-profile M&A deals in the private healthcare industry. How did you feel when the deal was finalised?

When the deal was finalised, it was truly a “wow” moment. In fact, it is the result of nearly three years of preparation and over 20 years of building the financial system.

FV confidently chose to auction off the property to multiple investors simultaneously. Thanks to our detailed financial system spanning 60 departments, we can provide all the information investors need. They saw not just the assets, but a well-functioning, transparent, and scalable operating system. I am very proud that Thomson has such high regard for FV’s financial system.

After more than 20 years working in healthcare finance, how would you define your role?

The CFO is a partner with the company in building a sustainable financial foundation. That requires high EQ, a willingness to accept challenges, and a spirit of continuous learning, including the application of AI.

If the finances are done correctly, this will not only help hospitals grow, but also directly contribute to improving the quality of treatment and even saving more lives.

Tran Le Quyen joined FV in 2002 as a financial analyst. Since 2010, she has held the position of CFO at the hospital. After eight years back in the US with her family, she returned to FV to take on this position from 2017 to the present. She made a significant contribution to the successful M&A deal of $382 million in Vietnam’s healthcare industry with Thomson Medical Group in 2023. She is one of four female leaders from Vietnam have been honoured by Women’s Tabloid Magazine with the Women’s Tabloid Award 2026, alongside CEO Mai Kieu Lien (Vinamilk), CEO Le Hoang Diep Thao (TNI Corporation), and COO Ruby Hoang (Cho Tot).

Thomson Medical Group announces FV Hospital as member On January 17, the Singaporean Thomson Medical Group announced that FV Hospital has become a member after an acquisition deal worth VND9 trillion (around $380 million).

FV Hospital and O2 Healthcare Group set up first regional Thoracic Surgery Centre FV Hospital, a member of Thomson Medical Group, signed a memorandum of cooperation on August 15 with Singapore’s O2 Healthcare Group, a member of OUE Healthcare Limited, to set up the first regional Thoracic Surgery Centre in Vietnam.

FV Hospital’s integrated care model proves comprehensive and effective The intensive care unit (ICU) is often seen as the frontline in the battle for patients’ lives, where the collaboration between multiple specialities determines success. At FV Hospital, a multidisciplinary, comprehensive care model has demonstrated remarkable effectiveness in treating critically ill patients.

Bui Trung Nghia, vice chairman of VCCI

On February 5, in Hanoi, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), in coordination with South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, held the Vietnam-South Africa Business Networking Meeting, with the participation of representatives from diplomatic missions, trade promotion organisations and business communities from both countries.

The event took place against the backdrop of Vietnam and South Africa upgrading their bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership in 2025, providing a favourable political and legal foundation to promote cooperation in trade, investment and broader economic relations.

In his opening remarks, Bui Trung Nghia, vice chairman of VCCI, welcomed the South African business delegation led by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition on its visit to Vietnam in the early months of 2026.

“Africa and the Middle East have been identified as markets with significant potential, alongside traditional markets such as the US and China,” Nghia said.

“Vietnam is focusing on diversifying export markets and strengthening enterprise capacity to participate more deeply in global supply chains. In this context, Africa is a highly promising market that is attracting growing interest from the Vietnamese business community,” he added.

Vietnam and South Africa share a long-standing friendly relationship, underpinned by an increasingly comprehensive legal framework. The elevation of bilateral relations to a strategic partnership last year is seen as a major step forward, creating fresh momentum for cooperation across a wide range of sectors.

South Africa is currently Vietnam’s largest trading partner in Africa. In 2025, total bilateral trade reached around $1.3 billion, down approximately 24 per cent on-year due to global economic headwinds. Vietnam’s main exports to South Africa include mobile phones and components, textiles and garments, footwear, rice, coffee and seafood, while imports from South Africa comprise coal and solid fuels, fruit, wine, beef and minerals.

Both sides are working towards a more balanced bilateral trade turnover of $4-5 billion within the next two to three years by expanding product categories, strengthening business linkages and better leveraging the complementary nature of the two economies. Vietnam is also encouraging members of the Southern African Customs Union to consider negotiations on a trade deal.

“These figures demonstrate that cooperation potential between the two countries remains substantial, particularly given the complementarity between the two economies. VCCI expects that businesses from both countries will make better use of cooperation opportunities in the time ahead,” Nghia said.

Building on the MoU signed between VCCI and the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2024, the two sides have committed to enhancing information exchange, partner matching and the organisation of trade promotion activities, exhibitions, business forums and market survey missions.

Sectors identified as having strong potential for cooperation include energy and mining, agriculture and food processing, industry and logistics, as well as technology and innovation.

With a network of more than 200 industry associations and nearly 200,000 member enterprises, VCCI stated its readiness to act as a bridge, working closely with South African authorities to further boost practical and effective economic and trade cooperation between the business communities of the two countries.

Vietnam continues to consolidate its position as one of Asia-Pacific’s fastest-growing economies, supported by a domestic market of over 100 million people, a competitive labour force, and steadily improving infrastructure. In 2025, an estimated GDP growth of 8.02 per cent was recorded, with the size of the economy reaching around $514 billion and per-person income at $5,026. Realised foreign direct investment amounted to approximately $27.62 billion, up 9 per cent on-year, reflecting continued confidence among international investors.

Import-export turnover reached $930 billion in 2025, an increase of 18.2 per cent on-year. Exports stood at $475 billion, while imports reached $455 billion. To date, Vietnam has signed 17 free trade agreements with major partners worldwide and is actively diversifying export markets while enhancing enterprise capacity to integrate more deeply into global supply chains.

Vietnamese businesses diversify amid global trade shifts Domestic companies are increasing diversification across Southeast Asia while expanding into Latin America and other global markets, unlocking new growth opportunities amid a changing global trade landscape.

Vietnam ready to increase purchases of US goods Vietnam is willing to step up imports from the US, with a focus on machinery, equipment, and high technologies.

How prepared is Vietnam for digital economy development, and what progress has been made so far?

Le Trung Hieu

In 2020, the Prime Minister approved a national digital transformation scheme under Decision No.749/QD-TTg. Its objectives are to develop digital government, the digital economy, and digital society, while fostering Vietnamese digital technology enterprises capable of competing and expanding into global markets.

The initiative prioritises the development of digital technology enterprises, shifting the IT sector away from assembly and outsourcing towards mastery of digital products and Industry 4.0 technologies. It also promotes digital content, creative industries, the sharing economy, e-commerce and smart manufacturing, while accelerating digital transformation within enterprises to strengthen competitiveness at both firm and economy-wide levels.

Given the increasingly important role of the digital economy in the local economy, the 2021 revised Law on Statistics introduced the indicator “share of digital economy value added in GDP” into the National Statistical Indicator System.

The content and publication cycle of this indicator are specified in Decree No.94/2022/ND-CP. Since 2023, the General Statistics Office, now the National Statistics Office, has compiled and published this indicator in accordance with regulations and will continue to do so in the forthcoming period.

What results have been achieved in the five years since implementing Decision No.749?

Compilation results for 2025 show that the digital economy continues to affirm its role as one of the key growth drivers of Vietnam’s economy, closely linked to the national digital transformation process.

The share of digital economy added value in GDP in 2025 is estimated at 14.02 per cent, equivalent to more than $72 billion, up 1.64 times compared to 2020.

The digital economy has expanded in both breadth and depth. Core digital economy sectors account for over 60 per cent of total digital economy value, while the level of digitalisation across industries and sectors has continued to expand, particularly in trade, finance, public administrative services and energy infrastructure.

On average during the 2021-2025 period, the share of digital economy added value in GDP reached approximately 13.2 per cent, with core digital economy sectors contributing 8.13 per cent and the digitalisation of other sectors contributing 5.05 per cent.

These results reflect the initial effectiveness of the National Digital Transformation Strategy, the leading role of digital government, as well as the concerted efforts of all levels, sectors, the business community and citizens in developing the digital economy and digital society.

The core digital economy is seen as the backbone of the wider digital economy. How is this sector developing in Vietnam?

The core digital economy includes sectors such as the manufacturing of electronic products, computers and optical products; software publishing; telecommunications; computer programming; IT consultancy and related activities; data processing, hosting and portal activities.

According to statistics, in 2025, core digital economy sectors contributed approximately 8.4 per cent of GDP, equivalent to $43.3 billion, accounting for more than 60 per cent of total digital economy value.

Digitalised sectors – those using core digital economy products as production and business inputs – accounted for around 5.6 per cent of GDP, equivalent to $28.8 billion.

Some digitalised sectors with high digital economy added value include wholesale and retail trade applying digital technologies (e-commerce), accounting for about 12 per cent of total digital economy added value.

Service sectors applying IT in production, business and management have shown rapid growth, contributing to an increase in the share of digital economy from the services sector in the GDP from 6.5 per cent in 2020 to a little over 7 per cent in 2025.

This demonstrates the clear efforts of the government, ministries, sectors and localities in encouraging IT development and accelerating the digitalisation of economic sectors.

At the local level, how is the digital economy shaping regional growth dynamics in Vietnam?

In 2025, the digital economy became a significant factor, creating marked differences in growth among localities.

Among 34 provinces and centrally governed cities, four recorded a digital economy value-added share in regional GDP exceeding 20 per cent, including Bac Ninh at around 46 per cent, Thai Nguyen at almost 30 per cent, Haiphong at over 22 per cent and Phu Tho at close to 23 per cent.

The country’s two economic growth poles, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, also reported digital economy shares of over 17 per cent and 13 per cent of GDP, respectively.

Localities with a high digital economy share are typically major destinations for foreign direct investment in high-tech industrial manufacturing, resulting in a large proportion of core digital economy sectors in regional GDP.

The disparity in the digital economy’s contribution to regional GDP reflects differences in industrial development levels, digital infrastructure, investment attraction capacity, and the extent of digital technology application in socioeconomic development across localities.

Resolution No.57-NQ/TW targets the digital economy contributing at least 30 per cent of GDP by 2030. In your view, is this target achievable?

During the 2021-2025 period, the digital economy emerged as a key pillar of the National Digital Transformation Strategy. E-commerce, digital payments, online services, smart logistics and data-driven business models all recorded strong growth.

In particular, the development of digital government – through electronic identification, national population databases and online public services – has created an important foundation for reducing transaction costs, enhancing transparency and strengthening digital trust.

These factors have directly contributed to the expansion of the digital economy’s scale, demonstrating the mutually reinforcing relationship between digital transformation and economic growth.

The digital economy serves as a central driving force for rapid and sustainable growth by improving labour productivity, renewing growth models, expanding market space, and enhancing service quality and living standards for the population.

The results achieved in 2025 demonstrate the strong commitment and high determination of the government, ministries, sectors, localities, the business community and citizens in developing the digital economy and digital society, in line with the spirit of Resolution 57.

New policy momentum powers Vietnam’s digital economy Vietnam’s digital transformation is entering a decisive new phase, as AI, 5G, and bold institutional reforms converge to propel the country towards one of the fastest-growing digital economies in the region, driven by strong government commitment and rising confidence from leading local tech enterprises.

5G and AI to shape next phase of digital economy The convergence of 5G and AI is expected to shape the future of industries and the next phase of digital economy growth in Vietnam.

Main drivers for Vietnam’s digital economy future As businesses look to Vietnam for innovation and investment opportunities, understanding the forces shaping this evolving landscape has become crucial. Yves Vanderstraeten, vice chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam’s Digital Sector Committee, discussed with VIR’s Minh Anh the motivations propelling the digital economy.

At a conference held on January 22, the Ministry of Health (MoH) gathered feedback on a draft decree regulating cosmetics management, as part of efforts to modernise oversight and align it with current market realities.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Tri Thuc underscored that cosmetics are essential consumer products which, beyond enhancing appearance, directly affect public health, consumer rights, and quality of life.

Photo: MoH

“Current practices pose many challenges to state management of cosmetics, as well as to the compliance with legal regulations by organisations and individuals producing and trading cosmetics,” he said.

Circular No.06/2011/TT-BYT on cosmetic management, issued 14 years ago, is considered outdated. As a result, on December 4, the MoH submitted a draft decree on cosmetic management to the government, incorporating feedback from multiple agencies and organisations on regulatory scope, product notifications, post-inspection, business conditions, and the balance between state oversight and a favourable business environment.

The draft aims to ensure consumer safety, promote voluntary compliance among businesses, and reduce the regulatory burden on management agencies.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Tri Thuc. Photo: MoH

“The improvement of institutional frameworks and legal regulations prioritises protecting the health of the people,” said Thuc.

At the conference, experts and representatives from ministries, agencies, local health departments, and business associations shared scientific evidence and practical experience to inform the draft decree. Key discussions covered global and domestic cosmetic management practices, the draft’s constitutionality and feasibility, product declarations, and the certification of cosmetic manufacturing facilities in line with Good Manufacturing Practice standards.

They also exchanged views on potential issues that could arise if the draft decree on cosmetic management is approved, and proposed measures to address them.

The deputy minister called for further refinement of the draft towards a more modern and transparent framework, with a clear shift from pre-inspection to post-inspection and stronger accountability. He also stressed the need to align with international commitments, particularly the ASEAN Harmonisation Agreement on Cosmetic Management, and to reflect industry practices and development needs in the new phase.

The conference provides an important basis for the Ministry of Health to continue a thorough review of the draft, ensuring it is consistent, coherent, feasible, and aligned with the prime minister’s direction on administrative procedure reform.

French cosmetics retailer Sephora enters Vietnam World-renowned cosmetics retailer Sephora has officially entered the Vietnamese market via an e-commerce channel, rather than through a traditional brick-and-mortar store.

Rohto-Mentholatum Vietnam takes over Naris Cosmetics Rohto-Mentholatum Vietnam has completed the purchase and sale agreement and change of ownership of Naris Cosmetics Vietnam.

Korean cosmetics capturing hearts Vietnam’s cosmetics segment is thriving as South Korean brands leverage the rising influence of its culture to meet the growing demand for high-quality beauty products.

DAV rolls out new plan to combat counterfeit drugs and cosmetics The Ministry of Health has ordered the recall of multiple cosmetics products after recent quality control failures, reaffirming its commitment to safeguarding public health.