This is Vietnam Report's independent research report, which is based on scientific and objective principles. Credibility of the companies is evaluated based on the research on impact of financial factors, corporate image on the media and industry expert's assessment, namely: (1) Financial capacity shown on the latest financial statement (total assets, total revenue, profit after tax, efficiency of capital use, etc.); (2) Media credibility is assessed by Media Coding - coding of the company's articles on influential media channels; (3) survey on the industry's expert; Survey on the level of satisfaction with real estate products / services, the reliability of the contractors and the construction materials companies of people living in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition, enterprises survey on the operation status, number of projects, progress of project implementation, etc. in 2017 - 2018 also used as additional factors to determine the position of enterprises in the industry.

List 2:

Among the current Vietnamese contractors, the names as Coteccons and Hoa Binh Corp are linked to the image of an experienced, prestigious and responsible contractor. These are also the enterprises that have been surveyed by leading experts.

Top 10 Most Reputable Building Material Companies 2018

Hoa Phat Steel or Viglacera are among the oldest and largest companies in the building materials industry, which are linked with the formation of hundreds of products and works across the country. These are also the top-of-mind brands of more than 50% of customers surveyed.

With the rapid growth and expanding scale of the Internet, communication has become a new "spearhead" in many companies' strategies, helping businesses build credibility and image effectively. Media coding of content on influential newspapers and media channels such as Vietnam Economic Times, Investment Newspaper, Saigon Economic Times, Cafef, etc. and some specialized papers on real estate, materials construction (Cafeland, batdongsan.com.vn, vatlieuxaydung.org.vn, etc.) in the period from Jan, 2017 to Jan, 2018 by Vietnam Report shows that many enterprises in the industry focused more on communication, with articles covering the top 10 most commonly mentioned topics, ranging from Product Quality, Projects; Finance / Business results; Stock; Image/ PR; Investment; Business Strategy / M&A; Customer / Customer Relations; Research and development (R & D); Market Position; Price.

In the future, the prestige of a business will increasingly play an important role in creating its self-confidence and building trust among the public when Vietnam is truly integrated with the achievements of Industrial Revolution 4.0.

Together with the ranking of Top 10 most prestigious, Vietnam Report also conducts survey of real estate, construction and building materials industry in 2018-2019. Basically, survey results show that businesses are optimistic about investment and business in the coming time.

In 2017, the picture of the real estate market became more active than ever with positive changes in all segments. In just Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, there were 64,263 transactions successfully completed this year, the average market absorption rate reached 79%. In addition, a number of new products as condotel, officetel, hometel "explosively" developed, contributing to the strong attraction of the market. By the end of November 2017, total inventories decreased by 17% compared to 2016, reaching about 25,700 billion VND.

It is necessary to include the good business results in the previous period.as one of the cornerstones supported the market in 2017. Particularly, according to the statistics of Vietnam Report, the average revenue and profit after tax in 2016 of real estate, construction, building materials grew "impressively". In particular, the average revenue of real estate investors in 2016 reached 1,205 billion VND, nearly doubling that of 2015; after-tax profit in 2016 reached 116 billion, up 1.5 times compared to last year.

There are some highlights in the big picture of real estate market in 2017: Firstly, the condotel, officetel, hometel market developed very vibrantly, bringing many opportunities and challenges for creation of a new type of products. Secondly, the low-cost and medium-price apartment segment in the two big cities - Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City developed significantly. This movement is a solution for middle-income citizens to "own a house"; however, on looking from urban management's point of view, it causes construction density overload problem and increases pressure on infrastructure. Thirdly, the market witnessed a significant recovery of projects that had been postponed during 2011 - 2013. Lastly, not-exactly-new but strongly boosted in 2017 was the market in three special economic zones. In addition to commenting on the Law on Special Economic Administrative Units and the introduction of favorable policies and mechanisms, the real estate market in three special economic zones, especially Phu Quoc, comprehensively changed in last year.

Most businesses and experts joined the survey by Vietnam Report identified 2017 as a successful year of real estate in Vietnam and the success was contributed by the following factors: Firstly, economic development was good with high growth rate, low inflation, good budget revenues, stable import - export, etc. were a prerequisite for vibrant market development. Secondly, credit policy was not yet loosen but neither tightened. Reduced interest rates and not yet tightened credit as from Jan 01, 2018 implementation date of Circular 36 (amended): up 250% risk prevention and 40% transfer of short-term capital into long-term capital, which had not been done in 2017. Thirdly, the stock market, which always accompanies real estate market, flourished. Fourthly, real estate financial instruments as condotel, officetel, hometel, timeshare were opened, creating a cash flow for the real estate market. Along with purchasing and selling tools and new products, momentum was created in the market to attract a good cash flow into this segment. The fifth related to one of the characteristics of the economic cycle: Decline in years with ending numbers of 1, 2, 3 is, recovery in years with ending numbers of 4, 5, and usually growing in years with ending numbers of 6, 7. Real estate market is not an exception of this cycle, every 10 years is divided into four phases, the years with ending numbers of 6 and 7 are usually at the peak of growth. The year 2017 benefited from that growth cycle. Sixthly, opening up new areas, special economic zones, created a new impetus, activating the real estate market in these special zones. Thereby being able to attract huge investment capital and develop infrastructure, creating a premise for the real estate market in the special zone and turn it into a "fertile land".

However, with regard to the constraints, the experts also identified a number of factors that also hindered the growth of the market. Firstly, difficulty in disbursing public investment inflows throughout the year. Secondly, the government continued to divest from government-owned enterprises (or SOE). This has two effects: It's clear that the government did not invest in real estate but besides that, the government withdrew its capital from SOEs, which invoked a cash flow waiting to buy from the government's sales, leading to shared resource in the real estate market. Thirdly, there were many different business opportunities that emerged in 2017, so there was competition for capital in the market. Fourth, the government's policy did not keep up with the demand. For example, the policy for condotel and officetel was very perplexed, no action to show whether the government facilitates or limits the development of this segment.

In addition, according to a survey of Vietnam Report, enterprises thought that the current difficulties lied mainly in three core issues: raw materials price (58.1%); regulations, policies, legal documents (58.1%) and the increasing competition in the industry (45.2%).

According to Vietnam Report's survey of enterprises and experts, the stable factors of real estate market 2018 will be basically retained in the medium term. Opportunities and challenges interwinely create market trend.

Three opportunities: Good economic growth rate - Rising domestic enterprises; CPTTP Agreement help "pump" more foreign money into the domestic market; The special economic zone is opening up.

Four Challenges: Regional macroeconomic is stable, especially if there is instability in the South China Sea, there will be negative reaction in the real estate market; The state continues to divest and may divest more, so that the competition for capital will be harsher; Cash flows, especially electronic cash flows, will have a clear impact on the market; The condotel, officetel and hometel segments have potential risks as they are new and there is no clear management policy yet.

Five trends: No.1: Major M&A trend, for all projects being postponed and from unsuccessful investors, will continue to be strong. No.2: The special economic zones continue to rise, become the "promising land" and attract a large amount of real estate investment. No.3: Condotel, officetel and hometel will affect the remaining areas before "coming into the background", and the area can be extended to Hai Phong, Vung Tau, etc. No.4: The problem of low-cost apartments will be solved and many will want to participate, but it is important that they meet the expectations. No.5: The shrinking of traditional market because very strong emerging markets leave not much opportunity for traditional markets as the 3-billion-VND apartments.

Real estate, construction, building materials in the coming period will be associated with 4.0 technology. According to a Vietnam Report survey, besides traditional word-of-mouth marketing, customers gradually approach real estate information over the Internet. More than 50% of respondents said they looked for information on real estate websites, forums, and social networks. The "collision" between Vietnamese enterprises and 4.0 technology will gradually change the production and trading processes of these enterprises. Upon becoming more "versatile" and modern, companies formerly operated in only one area now can enter other areas for greater profitability with support from technology, modern equipment and high quality human resources such as the appearance of D & B model (design and construction) in recent years in Vietnam.

As customers increasingly become demanding, and information disclosure is performed in a more transparent and timely manner, investors and contractors will increasingly pay attention to the sustainability and longevity of the projects and construction. According to experts, in 2017 the quality of output, investors, managers, contractors, technology, construction equipment has been improved as well as goodwill of professionals in the industry can be clearly seen. Under the pressure of increasing competition in both domestic and international markets, inefficient enterprises will gradually be eliminated in the near future. In order to stay in business, developers are required to demonstrate their real capability. Construction contractors also need to continually improve their quality and professionalism in their projects.

From the customer survey of Vietnam Report, prestige of enterprises in the media is one of the top three reasons for customers to choose their real estate, construction and building materials products and services; In which 2 deciding factors are: enterprises continuously research and develop new products for a wide range of customers (70%) and there are positive evaluations on business activities of enterprises (67.5%). From a company's perspective, Quality of work, Financial Capacity and Long-term Vision for Branding are three important objectives to maintain its position and enhance its reputation.