Vietnam has ‘still many opportunities’
Vietnam is still attractive enough for foreign investors to enter, despite some people’s concerns over the intensifying competition there among businesses from across the world, according to the founder of the country’s first private equity firm.
Chris Freund, a U.S. national who founded Mekong Capital in 2001 in the Southeast Asian country, told The Korea Times that Vietnam still has many opportunities.
“I find Vietnam to not be very competitive, and the markets are still quite fragmented,” he said.
“So when there is a well-managed company in any sector, it can gain market share in a fragmented sector and grow very fast.”
His view is in contrast to that of some experts who suggest Korean firms seek opportunities in other developing nations and stop being overly dependent on the Vietnamese market.
To back up his claims, the founder cited his company’s previous investments.
“In the past we had an investment in a company called MobileWorld, which had seven retail stores when we first invested in 2007, and today it has more than 3,000 stores,” he said.
“Or we used to have an investment in Masan Consumer, which became the market leader in soy sauce and fish sauce, in what had previously been a very fragmented market.”
Freund also said Vietnam may be one of the easiest countries for foreigners to manage and lead a business.
“In Vietnam, I’ve never found it an obstacle to be a foreigner, and in some ways it may even be a benefit,” said the founder who moved to Vietnam in 1994 and had worked for six years at the Vietnamese and Singaporean offices of Franklin Templeton, a U.S.-headquartered investment management company.
“Vietnamese are very open -minded and happy to form relationships with foreigners, including work-relationships,” he said.
Nevertheless, he advised Korean and other foreign investors not to undervalue the importance of a strong Vietnamese management team, if they run businesses there.
“It’s also very important to invest in developing a strong corporate culture around some core values,” he said, “but I think many foreign investors in Vietnam aren’t yet successful at doing that.”
Given that his company sees enough opportunities in Vietnam and prefers to stay focused on investing in consumer businesses there, Freund said Mekong Capital does not currently plan to expand to other countries.
He also declined to comment on his company’s relationship with Korean businesses, although he answered he will be visiting Seoul on Sept. 9 and 10.