JustCo expands business into Vietnam

JustCo expands business into Vietnam

JustCo, a coworking space developer based in Singapore, has expanded its business into the Vietnamese market. Kong Wan Singa, founder and CEO of JustCo, spoke with VIR's Bich Ngoc about the company's plan in Vietnam.

Kong Wan Singa, founder and CEO of JustCo

What led you to choose Vietnam as a destination for JustCo's investment? Could you share the key factors that make Vietnam an attractive market for your expansion?

Expanding into Vietnam aligns with JustCo's strategic growth in key Asia-Pacific markets. It strengthens our network, allowing members to access flexible workspacesacross the region.

We are confident of Vietnam's long-term growth given the young and talented workforce, urbanisation trend, and tech-driven entrepreneurship. Foreign direct investment inflows remain resilient, with the manufacturing and tech sectors continuing to expand.

We also see a positive market opportunity in underserved premium flex space: Ho Chi Minh City's Grade A flex space market remains undersupplied. JustCo brings a differentiated, premium product, as compared to what local operators provide.

That's a key reason why we're opening our first space in Riverfront Financial Centre, a Grade A building in the heart of the former District 1, the city's central business district and most prestigious corporate hub. It's a prominent address overlooking the Saigon River, surrounded by multinational corporates, financial institutions, and consulates.

How do you assess the current demand for coworking space in Vietnam? In your view, how does Vietnam's market potential compare with neighbouring countries in the region?

Asia-Pacific as a region continues to show great potential for flex spaces. Since 2022, total flex office stock has increased by about 60 per cent, according to CBRE's H1 2025 Asia-Pacific Flexible Office Market report.

And these are still below levels seen in mature cities in the United States and United Kingdom.

Within the Southeast Asian region, we've done very well in Singapore and Thailand and our ambition is to scale into other Southeast Asia markets, including Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

We see a strong shift from traditional long-term leases to scalable, service-led solutions as companies seek to manage costs and improve agility. At the same time, Vietnam's youth workforce shows a clear preference for collaborative, modern, and amenity-rich work environments.

Vietnam shows strong economic growth momentum, thanks to its deep technology talent pool, and the strong presence of global firms in sectors like finance, technology, and manufacturing. These trends mirror those of more mature markets like Singapore and South Korea several years ago, which gives us confidence that Vietnam's flexible workspace sector is still in an early but very promising stage of growth.

Vietnam is already home to several well-known international coworking brands such as WeWork, IWG, and The Executive Centre, alongside strong local players like UpGen, cirCO, Toong, and W Business Centre. Some brands such as WeWork have had to narrow their business in Vietnam recently. What will you do to avoid the same fate?

We have been around for almost 15 years, during which time we emerged from the pandemic stronger and have been cash earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation positive since 2023. The flexible workspace industry requires disciplined execution, capital efficiency, and strong local insight. Our approach is deliberately measured, we focus on sustainable growth rather than rapid expansion.

We have a very selective location strategy, prioritising buildings, landlords, and market demand. This is combined with operational discipline, our own technology and data analytics, and a centralised regional team that optimises design, procurement, and management costs. Increasingly, we have also become asset-light, partnering with landlords to build our management portfolio. Our model has demonstrated resilience across multiple Asia-Pacific markets, and we believe this balanced approach is the right one for Vietnam.

What is JustCo's growth strategy for the Vietnamese market? Are there specific segments, locations, or business models that you plan to prioritise?

Our strategy is to build a strong and sustainable presence in key economic hubs, starting with Ho Chi Minh City. Not only do we have JustCo, we will also be introducing our other brands. The COLLECTIVE provides a luxury experience, and the boring office focuses on the essentials.

Our portfolio of brands allows us to gain a foothold in different building grades and asset classes, from commercial offices to retail and industrial. We take a long-term view of the Vietnamese market. Our ambition is to build scale and network, expanding quickly in tandem with Vietnam's next decade of economic expansion.

VIR