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Former German politician Philipp Rösler dreams of having Vietnamese global brands

Luu Van Dat Wednesday | 12/02/2020 11:43

Former German politician Philipp Rösler is seen while visiting Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dat

Vietnam which has a dynamic startup community still does not have a global brand, but someday it will have, said former German Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler.

Former German Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler has a dream.

His dream is to have at least one global brand from the country where he was born. It has emerged as a manufacturing hub of several globally-known brands including Apple, Samsung,…

Dr. Philipp Rösler, who is also chairman of VinaCapital Ventures’ Advisory Board, founded the consulting firm Consessor AG to advise and support companies in the German-speaking area in their expansion strategy into Southeast Asia, chiefly Vietnam – his birthplace.

During a recent meeting with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi, his business delegation announced a $350-million investment into tourism, digital startups and healthcare equipment production.

“The investors are fascinated by the startup environment and dynamics in Vietnam,” said the former German Vice Chancellor while revealing an investor has decided to establish a $100 million venture fund dedicated exclusively to Vietnam’s digital startups.

Former German Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler (white mask) is seen while meeting PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R). Photo: VGP
Former German Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler (white mask) is seen while meeting PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R). Photo: VGP

Bringing foreign investors to Vietnam is not enough. The businessman wants to do something bigger for the country. “There is so far no global Vietnamese brand,” though the country is producing with excellent quality, making outstanding products.

“My dream is to have a Vietnamese global brand,” he told Vietnam Business Review while visiting the Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City a few days after the meeting with Vietnamese Premier Phuc.

Apple earphones will come soon from Vietnam and the US tech giant has also asked Foxconn to move some iPad and MacBook assembly to the country. Vietnamese is producing for guys in Silicon Valley.

The Southeast Asian country with an emerging economy has a strong, dynamic startup community. People are very disciplined, hardworking, and creative.

“There are so many young people who are really inspiring in the country where my root is.”

With the conditions and the Government support for the startup community, Vietnam can leapfrog into the next level of economy by using startup entrepreneurs, said Dr. Philipp Rösler.

The country does not need huge infrastructure other than broadband, a table and a computer. It does not also need many railways, power plants, but a great idea, great people, knowledge, he advised.

Former German Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler is seen at a startup event in Vietnam. Photo: Vinacapital
Former German Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler is seen at a startup event in Vietnam. Photo: VinaCapital

With the resources, Vietnam will definitely have firms with global brands like Apple, Google or Amazon. “It doesn't matter it is Vinfast or a tourism project, or my favourite Loc Troi Group,” he said, adding he wants to bring more investors from Europe to Vietnam.

Vietnam, which has an outstanding growth before COVID, is performing well during the pandemic. Furthermore, the free trade agreement signed between Vietnam and the European Union will give another strong push for trade and investment.

He suggested Vietnam to plan a global outreach if the country wants to have a global brand. VNG, formerly known as VinaGame, one of Vietnam’s unicorns, was cited as an example. The gaming firm could not be seen as unicorn somewhere, but at the New York Stock Exchange, it could be, he said.

He is sure that the day Vietnam to have a global brand will come soon. The chance is greater when Vietnam economy has been under digitalization like other economies in the world. The world is under computerization, and this is a great opportunity for all emerging countries to focus on merging the classical industry on one hand and a digital industry on the other hand.

Dr. Philipp Rösler is seen while visiting Charman of Loc Troi Group Huynh Van Thon. Photo: Vinacapital
Dr. Philipp Rösler is seen while visiting Charman of Loc Troi Group Huynh Van Thon. Photo: Loc Troi Group

Silicon Valley bridge

The chairman of VinaCapital Ventures’ Advisory Board was responsible for the startup community in Germany. He created a bridge between Berlin and Silicon Valley in the United State. It's called German Accelerator.

In order to help local startup community, he made several trips to Silicon Valley and Vietnam. He was was fascinated when he came to Vietnam.

“I got in touch with all the different Vietnamese startups. I realized immediately one major thing - the Vietnamese are as creative as dynamic as vibrant as entrepreneurial as the guys in the Silicon Valley, but most of the venture money is going to the Silicon Valley.”

Meanwhile, the Silicon Valley also has a strong community of expatriate Vietnamese, who work at NASA as engineers, or startups or at Uber... They hosted the Vietnamese night in the Google campus. Some of the delegation had been born in Vietnam and they moved out for 10 years, and now they're coming back, he said.

“You have so many Vietnamese outside and they are so interested in Vietnam. And you have so many supporters outside. They have even a platform with 3,500 Vietnamese experts out there,” he said.

After the meeting with the Vietnamese community at Silicon Valley, Philipp Rösler had an idea to create a bridge like the one he made between Berlin and Silicon Valley since he received a strong support from Vietnamese Consul General in San Francisco and Vietnamese community in Silicon Valley.

“And it was stopped due to the COVID crisis.”

During the recent trip to Vietnam, one of things delighting the former German vice chancellor was the country’s youngest deputy Minister of Science and Technology.

“He is super young. I think he is the youngest vice minister you have in Vietnam. The good news is because he has all the understanding of technology, the need for cloud solutions and infrastructure.”

With young mind, Vietnam will not repeat the mistake of EU, which did not have a cloud solution and is dependent on on Amazon or Microsoft with their clouds. The EU has decided to create their own cloud recently. It's quite late, he said.

He suggested the Vietnamese government to start to create right infrastructure, broadband cloud solutions to support startups, adding Vietnam should be grateful that the government is supporting this next generation of entrepreneurs, and the investors are also interested in because they feel that Vietnam is supporting the startup.

During the meeting with PM Phuc, he discussed one of major issues for Vietnam's economy, which is energy supply. “The Vietnamese economy is that fast growing to consumption is growing as fast as the entire economy. But therefore, you need stronger supply.”

Former German politician Philipp Rösler is seen while visiting Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dat
Former German politician Philipp Rösler is seen while visiting Deutsches Haus Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Dat

Dr. Philipp Rösler became Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Economics and Technology in 2011. He is also the leader of the Free Democratic Party. The 47-year-old was the second youngest member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet, left German politics and settled down in Switzerland in 2014 after losing an election in 2013.

“I became proud of my Vietnamese roots.”

He told his friend that Vietnam is fascinating and amazing. He encourages people to visit Vietnam rather than seeing it on newspaper or internet. And it’s why he is so keen on bringing business delegation to Vietnam.

Dr. Philipp Rösler described his chance to come back the country where he was born as a “destiny”.

“I received a lot from my society in Germany, but also from Vietnam. I would love to give to help the next generation, the younger people in Vietnam, ” said the first Vietnamese Vice Chancellor of Germany.

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