Saigon Newport Corporation, which operates Cat Lai port a few clicks south of Ho Chi Minh City, has pushed back on allegations several tons of pepper and coffee were stolen from the port. A representative of the firm argued to Zing News that there was no proof the stock had gone missing at the port and that there were a number of other steps in the supply chain where this might have happened.
The allegations now include 1.68 tons of coffee missing from a shipment to Egypt in January; four shipments of pepper to the Philippines, Korea, Thailand, and Japan from March that were each missing between 1.5 and 4.6 tons; and three pepper shipments to Malaysia and Norway between September last year and March this year that were each missing between 200 kilograms and 3.3 tons of product.
Of particular note, however, is that the representative went on to lament the impacts of said allegations.
“Providing information without verification from the authorities greatly affects the reputation and brand of the business,” they said.
This turn of phrase is noteworthy in that in Vietnam the dissemination of information that is found to be ‘untrue’ (truth in Vietnam can often be arbitrary) can be prosecuted whether it is about a person or a business under Decree 15/2020/ND-CP. This sees a lot of private firms refer negative comments about their business to the police. Vinfast, for example, famously referred a Youtuber back in 2022 for leaving a bad review of one of its cars.
Referring a customer to the police, however, can also create its own problems for the firm–who wants to buy from a company that has customers that complain arrested? In this light, there is ample opportunity for public and media relations development in Vietnam. That said, the media environment is heavily regulated and can be difficult to navigate.