2017 is the third consecutive year that Petrolimex exceeded the set targets. But beyond the impressive figures of revenue, output, and profit, what I clearly felt at the meeting Petrolimex held to review 2017 activities and define tasks for 2018 is the resonance on the basis of bringing into full play the systematicness – a typical strength of the Group.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said he was impressed with Petrolimex’s performance

Being a reporter makes me a frequent participant at conferences. And the busiest time of the year is the period from the end of solar year to the beginning of lunar year, with lots of enterprises’ “meetings to review the year’s activities”. Recently, I found no break time in numerous meetings (though break time is noted in programme), as break is the ideal time for participants to leave the event.

Thus, I was surprised when Chairman of Petrolimex Board of Management Bui Ngoc Bao who co-chaired the meeting allowed participants to take a break as scheduled. What surprised me more was that after a ten-minute break, all seats were fully filled. Bang, a PR specialist at Petrolimex told me that the pioneeringness and systematicness can be seen at any conference/meeting of Petrolimex, which is always present, either visible or invisible as an abundant source of energy at each member company.

The systematicness of Petrolimex is demonstrated first and foremost in its structure: Petrolimex Gas Corporation JSC (PGC) is the leading corporation in gas retail in Vietnam; Petrolimex Petrochemical Corporation (PLC) also takes the lead in the lubricant, asphalt and chemical market; Petrolimex Joint Stock Insurance Company (Pjico) is the leading insurer in the area of non-life insurance; and Petrolimex Tanker Corporation owns the largest fleet of oil tankers in Vietnam, and so forth. It is to say that, these member companies have reached the level of full socialisation, fully reached out to the market, and successfully competed with other enterprises operating in the same field, but overall speaking, they are closely associated with the traditional field of petroleum, enabling them to support, complement each other and utilise relative advantages, creating a resonance in each unit in development.

Chairman of Petrolimex Board of Management Bui Ngoc Bao (right) and Petrolimex Director General Pham Duc Thang co-chair the conference

That is the reason why the year 2017 was seen as a year with lots of difficulties. The Group faced with certain challenges such as the structure of tariffs in the basic price was not sufficient to set basic price; and increased costs in the conversion into bio-fuel E5 RON92, Euro 5 diesel, etc…, meanwhile in major markets, Petrolimex Hanoi witnessed large-scale households manufacturing glasses and construction materials replace fuel oil (FO) with other fuels; Petrolimex Saigon reported that some corporations no longer use fuel oil (FO), etc. Nevertheless, financial indicators reported from each unit or the whole Group are showing signs of encouraging growth.

The systematicness of PLX is also presented through the pioneeringness. The Parent Company has applied IoT (Internet of Things), IoS (Internet of Services) – fundamental characteristics of the fourth industrial revolution which Petrolimex is pursuing; electronic bill payment launched on January 1, 2018; ERP (corporate management software), EGAS (petrol station management software), eOffice, Email, and automation system to manage commodities at depots, and petrol stations. Of note, Petrolimex already set a vision 20 years ago for the construction of a retail network in all provinces and cities, along highways, major traffic routes; and a vision for new products and services. The Government’s Decision 49 stipulates that fuel sold nationwide must meet Euro 5 standards by 2022, but Petrolimex already started the trading of Euro 5 diesel as of January 1, 2018, ensuring that the level of exhaust discharged into the environment is much lower that that from the widely-used Euro 2, Euro 3 fuels.

Meanwhile, member companies have also pioneered in certain activities, for instance, the modernisation of Nha Be Oil Terminal which prioritises the automation of the management of commodities, and fuel export-import; the digitalisation of almost every phase in Pjico; the establishment of a set of automation systems, including: Automation system for shipping commodities by sea; Automation system for transportation of commodities by land; Automatic gauging system; Automatic reporting system; Pump station automation system; Micro Motion automation system (flow meter) in Petrolimex Quang Ninh, and so forth.

The meeting is fully seated from the beginning to the end when Chairman of Petrolimex Board of Management Bui Ngoc Bao delivers a closing remark

As they do business seriously, each member company receives the assistance and resonance from each other and throughout the whole system, so all member companies of PLX feel delighted when Ministry of Industry and Trade determined to tackle trade fraud and trafficking to create a “clean market” as one representative from Petrolimex Saigon said.

Is it right that being happy with the good and justice is one of characteristics of pioneers who know how to create resonance from promoting their systematicness in business in a field that they have to cope with non-stop developments in the world market every day?