Coming home to invest
Overseas Vietnamese, or Viet Kieu, sent home $2.7 billion last year, more than the country earned from crude oil, garments or seafood exports Nguyen Hong reports on the other contributions Viet Kieu m
yearning for the rural delicacies of their homeland is one of the main manifestations of nostalgia for Viet Kieu.
Luu Minh Thanh, a US Viet Kieu, has capitalised on this longing to develop his business.
“When I was in the US, I often went looking in supermarkets in Viet Kieu communities in California. I saw that they sold cha gio (spring rolls), nuoc mam (fish sauce), even la chuoi (banana leaves), but they all came from Thailand or China,” Thanh said.
After returning to Vietnam, Thanh set about exporting some of these commodities to the US, first setting his sights on the huge expatriate Vietnamese community in Los Angeles. His first shipment was 300 kilos of banana leaves before Tet (the Lunar New Year) for Viet Kieu to make their own banh chung (square sticky rice cakes) and gio cha (pork pie).
The shipment was made through the US-based A&M Seafood Group, which used to buy aqua-produce from Thanh’s company. Soon he began shipping items like steamed sugarcane, rau muong xao toi (leaves of a plant fried with garlic), fruit from the Mekong Delta and Vietnamese nuoc mam. His nuoc mam quickly won over the Asian markets in California because of its flavour and odour.
“I had to prepare it by removing the foul smell other fish sauces usually have,” he said.
Ever since, Thanh has exported one or two containers of these various delicacies, worth $10,000- $20,000, to the US every month.
Thanh recently sent a $50,000 shipment of all the commodities Viet Kieu could need for Tet, including sticky rice cakes, all varieties of candied fruit, and banana leaves.
Towards the homeland
Thanh said he returned home to do business for motives other than profit.
“Delicacies such as nuoc mam and gio cha… are Vietnam’s assets. Why do we let foreign businesses take them?
“I want to get [these assets] back, and prove to Viet Kieu customers and foreign rivals that they are Vietnam’s assets. Vietnamese businesses are able to develop their brands for the world market,” he said.
Now Thanh is reaping the rewards. His prestige is a priceless asset that will allow him to further access global markets.
“Making these simple delicacies does not require high technology. However, they must meet all the requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration on quality, hygiene and packaging,” he said.
Ingredients must be noted on the pack including nutritional values, as well as manufacturing and expiration dates, instructions for use and so on, he said.
Thanh said he had to go to the US every year to research the market and customers’ tastes.
“It is changing constantly. You will lose if you don’t keep up,” he said.
Like Thanh, more and more Viet Kieu are turning their eyes to Vietnam for investment as they become aware of increasing business opportunities.
Nguyen Hoang Hai, another US Viet Kieu, recently announced his company would invest a further $350 million in oil and gas exploitation before 2005.
Director of the IOC Hoan Vu company, he returned to Vietnam a few years ago to invest $85 million in oil and gas in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.
Recent discoveries of offshore oil at the Ca Ong Doi and Ca Ngu Vang fields have made him determined to invest further in Vietnam.
Latest figures show that Viet Kieu have set up 1,274 projects and businesses with a total registered capital of $710 million.
Every year, Viet Kieu visit Vietnam in increasing numbers, particularly during Tet. The Overseas Vietnamese Committee (OVC) estimated that in 2003 at least 300,000 Viet Kieu came home to visit their relatives.
Remittances up
Remittances increase year after year. Figures from the State Bank show that money coming into the country from Viet Kieu amounted to $1.75 billion in 2001, $2.2 billion in 2002, $2.6 billion in 2003, and is projected to exceed $3 billion this year. This does not include money arriving that does not come through banks.
In comparison to export turnover in the leading sectors, Viet Kieu remittance to the country last year was well ahead. Crude oil, Vietnam’s most strategic export item, earned $3.7 billion last year, but after expenses and dividends to foreign partners, actual revenue ranked lower than the amount transferred home from Viet Kieu.
Garments, another priority export item, raked in $3.6 billion in 2003. However, 60 per cent of that was spent on importing fabrics. The seafood industry made $2.2 billion, $400 million behind the remittances.
OVC deputy head Nguyen Chien Thang said open policies by the Vietnamese government had “drawn the attention of Viet Kieu back to the motherland for investment”.
“The government’s permission for Viet Kieu to purchase houses and own land has stimulated more and more to invest in long-term projects here,” he said, adding that Viet Kieu had become an important source of capital for the country’s development.
Acknowledgement
There are now around 2.7 million Vietnamese living abroad, mostly in developed countries. Most are increasingly integrating into their adopted communities, while maintaining close contact with Vietnam and contributing to the friendly and cooperative relations between their countries of residence and Vietnam.
Although most Vietnamese who have adopted a different nationality are employees or small retailers, many have accumulated wealth to invest back in Vietnam, mainly on a small-scale.
Vietnamese professionals abroad, in particular the younger generation, have wide access to advanced science and technologies. An estimated 200 academics return to Vietnam annually for research and training.
Ho Chi Minh City recently praised five Viet Kieu who had made substantial contributions to the development of the city’s education, healthcare, agriculture and society.
Professor Pham Chung, a Vietnamese American, has made great contributions to teaching and compiling books at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics.
Vietnamese German Pham Doan Duong has lobbied the German government to fund numerous training programmes at the Ho Chi Minh City Teachers’ Technical Training College.
French doctor Jean Chung Minh has helped carry out co-operation programmes between the city’s department of health and universities in France.
Agronomist Vuong Huu Hai, vice president of the Arebco Association in France, has participated in charitable activities and annual programmes to grant scholarships for students in the city as well as programmes to produce new plant and animal varieties for the agricultural sector.
Professor Nguyen Van Hien, a Vietnamese Belgian, has initiated teaching cooperation programmes between the Ho Chi Minh City National University and Belgium.
vneconomy.com.vn
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