Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) is a well-known enterprise in the stock market, not because of its large operation scale, but of the fame of its owner, Doan Nguyen Duc.

Duc is a pioneer in many business fields, from woodwork, hydropower, and real estate to rubber farming, cow breeding and agriculture. The influential businessman is also known for his statements.

HAGL is a corporation operating in many business fields, headquartered in Pleiku City in Gia Lai province. It began listing shares (HAG) at the HCM City Stock Exchange (HOSE) in 2008.

Duc was once one of the richest stock billionaires in 2008-2009 with stock asset value of trillions of dong. But later, he faced difficulties when the stock market became gloomy in 2011-2014. He then decided to give up business in the real estate sector and shifted to rubber farming.

At that time, he said: "I have to grow rubber, even if I have to sell my home" and predicted that he could earn profit of $450 million each year, starting from 2014.

HAGL injected a huge amount of tens of trillions of dong into the field, owning hundreds of thousands of hectares of land, both in Vietnam and overseas. 

However, as rubber prices plunged from $5,000 per ton to $1,650 in 2016, HAGL incurred a huge debt.

Duc never followed higher education, but still made a success in business, so he believes that "you don’t need to have a college degree to do great things".  He doesn’t require a higher education degree for his workers.

Duc caught the public attention when stating "I work hard not because of money".. He affirmed that he has money which is enough for three generations to spend. And he doesn’t have demand for enjoying life.

“I work just because of passion, and for other reasons, which, honestly speaking, I cannot give exact definitions about,” he said.

He once made waves in the community of citizens when stating “I don’t know any ‘long-legged (sexy) girls. I don’t have time and I don’t have the hobby of admiring girls”. However, he said, “I am not sure if I would change my mind when I get older."

The president of HAGL always appears in street clothes. He doesn’t wear suits, because he feels uncomfortable. He wants a simple style and is not fussy about clothes.

Duc was among the businessmen who has used a private airplane. However, in his eyes, vehicles and airplanes are just ‘working tools’.

In early 2020, Boss Duc caught public attention when launching the coffee brand ‘Ong Bau’ (Promoter). He reassured the public that he only sells ‘clean coffee’, and if someone finds problems in his coffee, he has the right to "name Boss Duc and curse".

In 2015, the businessman affirmed that HAGL will sit in Gia Lai province to sell dairy products to the entire Southeast Asia. HAGL then stepped up milk cow farming in Gia Lai, using agricultural byproducts such as sugar cane and maize, and high technology, which made production costs very competitive.

However, after two years of earning big money from cow farming, in 2018, HAGL shifted to grow fruit and reduce the herd of cows.

Recently, after selling the sugar refinery division and giving up rubber farming, he has focused on fruit (mostly  bananas) and pig farming, Duc is confident: “If I rank  second in this field, there will be no one in first position."

On average, HAGL exports 300 containers of bananas to China each week, while ‘BaPi clean pigs that eat bananas’ are sold throughout the country.

Shocking statements in football

Duc is praised as the person who has contributed greatly to the development of Vietnam’s football.

He is well known as the pioneer in training young footballers and deserves credit for inviting South Korean Coach Park Hang-seo to work as the Chief Coach of the Vietnam National Squad. With the presence of the coach, Vietnam has gained great achievements in the field in recent years.

Duc is also the person who brought Kiatisak, dubbed as Thailand’s Zico, to HAGL Football Club.

However, Duc has made a decisions that have raised controversy.

In early 2023, Duc stated that HAGL will not participate in V-League 2023 after VPF (Vietnam Professional Football JSC) said it would not allow HAGL to join hands with new sponsors. Meanwhile, HAGL claims financial difficulties without sponsors.

However, to date, no official decision has been made.

He also stirred up the public with criticisms targeting VPF leaders.

Manh Ha