Team size: 15

What are the most significant cases and transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Currently, I am responsible for all legal matters of the following three companies. WinCommerce General Commercial Services, the company was honoured as Produce Retailer of the year 2023 at the Asia Fruit Awards with a workforce of 23,000 employees and approximately 3,600 locations spread across 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam. The total revenue of WinCommerce in 2022 was VND30tr. WinEco Agricultural Investment Development and Production, whose main business activities are in the field of clean agriculture and high-tech agriculture. Also, The Supra Corporation, whose main business activities are in the field of warehousing and logistics.

In addition, I am the line manager of the legal department for DrWin, whose primary business operations involve trading pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Furthermore, I am also the line manager for CX Infra, whose main business operation is construction contracting. Accordingly, I am responsible for advising and reviewing all important projects, strategic transactions, and contracts signed by these companies.

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

I joined WinCommerce in early 2022 at a time when the legal team had been without a head of legal since the beginning of 2021. Upon joining the team, I conducted a reassessment of the capacity of team members. Subsequently, I restructured the organisational structure of the legal department and reassigned work lines for the team’s legal consulting activities, contributing to increased performance.

On a professional level, I reviewed the company’s legal basis issues and proceeded to develop a set of standard contracts applicable to all the company’s business activities. This initiative brought all the company’s business operations into the necessary compliance framework, ensuring maximum legal compliance and minimising financial risks associated with the company’s transactions. In 2022, a total of approximately 70 templates for standard contracts were newly created and revised across all areas of the company.

In addition, I have established internal processes and regulations that include detailed guidelines, timelines, and a RACI matrix. This proactive and comprehensive approach aims to effectively manage legal risks that may arise from the companies’ activities. It has facilitated swift and informed business decision-making, minimised financial losses, and ensured regulatory compliance with laws.

All those actions helped the company strengthen the legal foundation for its business. They also reduced the risks to the company’s legal rights and interests that could be affected by these transactions. Moreover, they minimised potential losses and risks that may arise due to legal management factors.

How do you see the general counsel role evolving in Vietnam over the next five-ten years?

I believe the general counsel plays an important role in an enterprise because they are involved in key decisions and projects while being fully engaged with the company’s activities. In my view, the general counsel is not only responsible for managing the department and controlling costs but also for directing all the company’s legal affairs and activities, ensuring that internal activities and the entire operation comply with the law. Additionally, they possess a deep understanding of business operations, a strong business mindset, and consistently support business departments in making quick and effective decisions. Furthermore, they help design business solutions on a regulatory basis to support business departments in realising their strategies in the most feasible and legally compliant manner.

Therefore, the general counsel’s role extends beyond providing legal advice and acting as a trusted partner to the board; they are now relied upon for commercial advice on business strategies. It is anticipated that we will witness the role of the general counsel continually evolving and developing over the next five to ten years. The highly regulated landscape, combined with the general counsel’s interaction with compliance and risk, underscores the importance of corporate governance. Enterprise executive boards will grant more influence and decision-making capability to the general counsel as the role becomes more strategically significant within boards.

What are some of the main trends impacting your industry in Vietnam?

In my opinion, the key sectors to monitor in the Vietnamese landscape include industrial, particularly the outlook for foreign investment in Vietnam, as well as logistics, manufacturing, FinTech, banking, retail, and renewable energy. Vietnam is also making moves to align itself with international standards regarding e-commerce and e-payment services. Market commentators note related areas of interest, such as the taxation of the digital economy, data protection concerns, and new regulations aimed at strengthening Vietnam’s IP system. All these sectors will have an impact on legislative, judicial, and legal executive work in Vietnam.

Considering the current development of the legal sector along with the trends impacting Vietnamese businesses, I believe the top trends that may impact the legal industry and legal counsel are increasing legal technology, an increased volume and complexity of information in business, Board and business expectations, and emphasis on improved efficiency and productivity of counsel.

All legal departments within businesses should be well-prepared for these trends and have plans in place to build an effective and dynamic system for performing their tasks in order to efficiently adapt to society’s continued modernisation.