Vingroup's EV taxi service leads Vietnam, expands to Philippines

HANOI -- Green and Smart Mobility (GSM), the electric vehicle taxi brand under Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has risen to the top of the domestic market just two years after launch and has started to expand overseas.
GSM began offering the "Green GSM" taxi service in metro Manila on Tuesday with a 2,500-vehicle fleet. The launch appears to have gotten off to a hot start, as the company's app was downloaded over 100,000 times within a few hours, GSM CEO Nguyen Van Thanh said.

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Asahi Shimbun

10 hours ago

• Asahi Shimbun

Hotels work to retain foreign staff to tackle labor shortage

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The Mainichi

6 days ago

• The Mainichi

Machine translator breaks barriers, improves mood at Kyoto Pref. plant with foreign workers

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On a Vietnamese employee's smartphone were Vietnamese messages sent to Japanese and Thai colleagues using a work group chat function on their smartphones. The messages, automatically translated into Japanese and Thai, respectively, appeared on the recipients' smartphone screens, facilitating smooth communication. Out of 110 employees at the company, 60 are Vietnamese or Thai. Many of them are technical intern trainees or specified skilled workers whose period of stay in Japan is allowed up to five years in total. Founded in 1955, Kobayashi Seisakusho has been handling the processing of various equipment, including automobile parts, through "high-mix, low-volume production." Initially, the workforce was predominantly Japanese, but as the business expanded, there was a shortage of employees. Despite recruitment efforts through the Hello Work public employment service and newspaper inserts, Japanese applicants dwindled. 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When instructions, consultations or other messages are input in the native language of the smartphone owner, the others receive them translated into their native language, such as from Japanese to Vietnamese, Thai to Japanese, and Vietnamese to Thai. When the general affairs department shares information with all employees in Japanese, Vietnamese and Thai workers can understand it in their native languages. The system has led to employees actively communicating and reporting to each other, changing the workplace atmosphere. A 28-year-old Vietnamese worker in his fourth year at the company who is responsible for metal cutting among other tasks smiled and commented in simple Japanese, "I can now communicate with everyone. I understand instructions and reports, and I'm making progress with my tasks." His 29-year-old co-worker from Thailand said in his native language, "It's very convenient. If there is a problem or something I don't understand, I can contact others immediately. I can now ask questions I couldn't before." Although they work in different departments, the two have become friends who communicate and consult with each other via smartphones. Kobayashi said, "The various voices and thoughts of employees have become 'visible.' The workplace atmosphere has changed, leading to improved employee skills." He also explained that by overcoming the language barrier, the company's productivity has increased, and sales have grown. In Kyoto Prefecture, the manufacturing industry has the highest number of foreign workers, at about 9,400 as of the end of October 2024, accounting for 27% of the total. Kobayashi Seisakusho's initiative could become a model case for small- and medium-sized businesses accepting foreign workers. (Japanese original by Satoshi Kubo, Kyoto Bureau)

Nikkei Asia

13-06-2025

• Nikkei Asia

Vingroup's EV taxi service leads Vietnam, expands to Philippines

HANOI -- Green and Smart Mobility (GSM), the electric vehicle taxi brand under Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, has risen to the top of the domestic market just two years after launch and has started to expand overseas. GSM began offering the "Green GSM" taxi service in metro Manila on Tuesday with a 2,500-vehicle fleet. The launch appears to have gotten off to a hot start, as the company's app was downloaded over 100,000 times within a few hours, GSM CEO Nguyen Van Thanh said.