Originally posted at the Boston University Executive MBA 2010 Capstone Trip blog.
Our first full day of site visits in Ho Chi Minh City didn't take us far from downtown Saigon and the area of our hotel, but the incessant heat and humidity here made our buses seem a little less extravagant.
Our first stop was at Family Medical Practice of Ho Chi Minh City, the sister organization to the FMP we had visited a few days before in Hanoi. Compared to Hanoi, the HCMC office was larger, busier, and like Hanoi it was seemingly as modern and well-kept as any equal-sized American medical office. We had an opportunity to meet with several medical staff and tour the facility extensively.
The biggest difference between our time at FMP in Hanoi and HCMC was that we had an opportunity for Q&A with Dr. Rafi Kot, the Israeli expatriate who first came to Vietnam with a German NGO in the 1980s and went on to found FMP. Dr. Kot spoke passionately and at length about the challenges, rewards, and future of FMP and similar high-end, highly targeted medical service offerings in a country where so much of the infrastructure (physical and human) for better medicine simply doesn't exist today. He reminded many in our class of Michael Brosowski, the founder of Blue Dragon in Hanoi, in that it was clear that Dr. Kot's clarity of vision and will were key factors in building FMP in Vietnam, and that without them it would be a very different organization (if it existed at all).
From FMP, it was on to a lunchtime panel with Dragon Capital at a restaurant not far from our hotel. Dragon Capital is the largest foreign portfolio investment firm in Vietnam today and had provided some guidance to my own EMBA team while we were developing our Capstone plan over the spring. Established in 1994, today Dragon Capital has assets under management of over $1.2 billion US dollars. For our panel, Dragon brought four senior members of their team. Dragon kicked-off the event with a presentation about Dragon's investments and strategy in Vietnam today, as well as many of the things they must contend with in order to be successful in such an immature capital market. For example, they regularly worry about volatility in multiple internal currency markets, including the Vietnamese Dong, the US dollar, and gold – more on this later. They also worry about interest rates that can change wildly at government whim and cited a recent jump from 8% to 16% as a good example.
After their presentation, Dragon had an opportunity to hear from EMBA, as they graciously agreed to hear brief pitches of each EMBA team's Capstone plan and provide instant feedback. Needless to say, this was a huge opportunity for each team to have their idea reviewed by people with far, far more experience in the markets of Vietnam today, and Dragon obliged with some sharp, thoughtful, on-topic feedback.
From lunch, it was back to the hotel and time for another panel. This time, it was one focused on the tourism industry in Vietnam, and was graciously hosted by John Gardner, General Manager of the Caravelle Hotel (where we are staying in Saigon). John joined the panel itself, as did multiple players in developing and promoting tourism in Vietnam. In the audience were not only students of EMBA and faculty but also local press, government, and other parties interested in how the tourism industry in Vietnam is adapting to a growing market today and where it might be headed.
The next 90 minutes generated many conversations among participants, as the panel answered questions about the greatest need in Vietnam's tourism market today (better customer service!), the inability/unwillingness of the Vietnamese government to help promote tourism, Vietnam's growing tourist trade but unusually low return rates, and other topics. It was clear by the end that a wealth of opportunities are waiting for willing entrepreneurs.
Afterwards, I chose to end the day – along with 10 other classmates – at a nice restaurant across town called (get ready for it) New York Steakhouse. (Believe it or not, after a week of Vietnamese food, having the opportunity to eat steak and mashed potatoes seems like a good idea). The meal was delicious and the company good, but it ended – like many group meals here have – with lots of messing around with currency. While Vietnam has its own currency (the Vietnamese Dong, or VND) the US dollar (USD) is widely used and accepted and sometimes even preferred here, provided the US bills are crisp and you're not a stickler for exact change. For really big transactions – homes, property, etc. – the Vietnamese prefer to trade in gold pieces purchased from jewelers. Our meal didn't require gold, thankfully, but even trying to sort out the bill when individuals were trying to pay with VND or USD required about 15 minutes.
Even after we'd spent 15 minutes sorting it out, we still needed help from the restaurant to confirm we'd done our currency conversions properly.
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