Fast track return to homeland and wealth
FOR Vietnamese investment broker, Loc Win, the lifting of the US embargo against his homeland is a happy resolution, with investment in infrastructure and distribution pin-pointed as promising medium-term investments.
''With Vietnam, there really are no short-term investments other than property and hotels, along with tourism,'' he said.
''My advice, is to plan for the long term. With Vietnam, you really have to learn the process of give and take. You have to be willing to share, to consider the other side in your venture. You have to develop trust and this takes time.'' He is bullish about investment in Vietnam, especially now the embargo is over.
''The end of the embargo will be good for business,'' he says. ''In the past, there was a lot of interest from American investors, but they respected the embargo and remained observers. ''The change won't necessarily mean a big difference, but it cannot hurt.'' Vietnam missed out on the Asian boom, but could make up ground quickly, according to Mr Loc.
''In the long-term, say five to seven years, the returns should be superior to those from the rest of Asia.'' Mr Loc, who heads the Vietech Investment Company in Hong Kong, left Dong Hoi in North Vietnam as a teenager in 1967. He went to boarding school in Switzerland, then took his degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the Swiss Federal Instituteof Technology in Zurich. He later obtained an MBA from America's Northwestern University.
He has worked for banks and investment companies in Hong Kong, Japan, Britain and the US. But his heart remained set on his homeland. Mr Loc made his first visit back to Vietnam in 1989, not long after the country started on its outward-looking path. He wasn't alone.
''There were a lot of other overseas Vietnamese going back at the end of the 1980s,'' he says. However, economic opportunities were scant and development slow. Mr Loc continued to put his client's money into more lucrative investments elsewhere in Asia.But still watched and waited for Vietnam.
Last year, Mr Loc made his move. He relocated to Hong Kong, where he established Vietech Investment Company. Since then his firm has committed funds to many different projects in Vietnam, although he declined to name them at this stage.
''I'm Vietnamese, so I may be prejudiced,'' he says, ''but I believe my country is on the verge of a takeoff, and I want to be part of it. I want to contribute to as well as profit from it.'' Mr Loc says that after decades of war and isolation, the Vietnamese are eager to catch up with the rest of Asia.
''They have had so much exposure to the West and really feel left behind. Things should change quickly.'' Yet, he counsels caution with regard to Vietnam. ''You have to have patience,'' he says, ''but the rewards will be there.''
