Investors in Dong Nai: What Do They Say About Vietnam?

 

 

I highly appreciate the skill and the spirit of studiousness of Vietnamese workers. Many workers work very hard. Apart from work, they also attend extra classes like English language or computer use. However, I feel very sad when I see many others only think that they can work seasonally. They apply for posts in my company to earn money for their ambition of studying at a Vietnamese university. Each person has his own way, but I think the continuation of work to gain higher skills is also a good option. We also introduced policies to hold the loyalty of our employees, including pay, outdoor activities and excursions to Vung Tau or Phan Thiet. I chose Vietnam and I regard Vietnam as my second homeland; thus, I gain results in the Vietnamese way. I think Vietnam should open diamond cut training schools and spread the knowledge of diamond cutting. The diamond cut is popular in South Korea, the US, Japan and Europe, but Vietnamese people as well as other Asians only look at the colour, the weight and the shape in selecting diamonds, not the cuts.

 

At present, the investment environment in Vietnam is progressing positively, with public and stable economic policies and the reduced protection of the State on the economy. This creates more business exchanges and sharpens competition among economic sectors. Vietnam’s accession to the WTO encourages enterprises to develop, improve product quality and expand market share. Apart from Tainan Spinning Company, we are also operating the Namtex textile factory, which is effectively developing.

 

The habits of Vietnam are similar to Taiwan. I still remember my first visit to Vietnam in 1995. I arrived at Quoc Tu Giam (Royal College) in Hanoi City, I saw stone steles carved by Chinese characters and I thought that Vietnamese and Taiwanese cultures had identical characteristics and the habits and customs were therefore also similar. Geographically, Vietnam and Taiwan were not far apart. Later, I worked with Vietnamese people and found out that Vietnamese people are very industrious, studious and very creative. And, the Vietnamese people are very friendly.

 

 

Dong Nai has shown gigantic progress in economic fields, as well as in administrative procedures.

 

However, Dong Nai is now lacking a quality service system such as hotels, restaurants and roads. The poor traffic system lags behind the expansion of the economy, causing traffic congestion and affecting goods deliveries. In the near future, the opening of Long Thanh International Airport will require the construction of more expressways and more bridges to support new traffic flows. Dong Nai should also select investment, encourage the production of good quality products and introduce incentive policies for strategic investors.

 

We were present in Dong Nai rather early. Personally, I think the government of Dong Nai is very enthusiastic to receive foreign investors and the province is accomplishing the one-door policy to speed up administrative reform.

 

Vietnam is an attractive destination and we now have a wood processing factory in Dong Nai Province recording stable annual growth of 30 per cent and employing 900 workers. We plan to expand our business to other fields.

 

Dong Nai has a more favourable geographic location than other provinces, as it lies adjacent to seaports, on overland arteries and develops industry rather early. Dong Nai is a place of interest for big foreign investors. However, Dong Nai is rather passive toward foreign investment. In my opinion, the best way to call foreign investment is to let investors know what the province demands are, which field the province welcomes and how the province helps investors obtain licences. The province should build workshops for investors and help them resolve initial difficulties in projects. To settle these issues, enthusiasm is not enough and there should be a strong workforce with high command of foreign languages and skills. Then, difficulties and requests of investors will be quickly settled. Currently, Dong Nai lacks a system of luxury hotels and restaurants. If investors want to sit in luxury restaurants or live in luxury hotels, they have to move to Ho Chi Minh City. This will cause more traffic congestion, time consumption and the loss of income for Dong Nai Province. Therefore, the province should call capital from investors with strong financial capacity to develop the service sector.

Our company manufactures motorcycle and automotive components. Like other new foreign investors in Vietnam, we encountered many difficulties and the biggest hardship is the language. However, we also had advantages because many Chinese-originated Vietnamese live in Vietnam. Thus, we quickly connected and cooperated in the work.

 

We are now employing 285 workers and we advocate employing native people for key positions in the company. Now, all division managers are Vietnamese. Our business result is also very good. Sales in 1997 were merely US$1.29 million, while the figure amounted to US$2.85 million in 2001, US$10.26 million in 2004 and US$13.03 million in 2005. This shows that our business philosophy of putting quality on top is effective, and more and more customers are coming with us. Currently, the company continues developing business in Vietnam because its economy is growing very quickly after WTO entry. In the coming time, the company will export its products to European nations.