Americans flock to do business in Vietnam – Asia’s next economic tiger?

American Jim Okuley is one of many who have recently opened a business in Vietnam not far from where Viet Cong guerrillas once fired rockets.

American Jim Okuley is one of many who have recently opened a business in Vietnam not far from where Viet Cong guerrillas once fired rockets.

Driving in a jeep left over from the war, Okuley cruises down newly paved streets flooded with vehicles filled with young people to whom the war is as remote as it is to most Americans.

These days, the cars are edging out the motorcycles on widening avenues and new bridges across the Saigon River – and, in the delta to the south, across the branches of the Mekong as well.

“About 65 percent of the population is under 30,” says Okuley, echoing government statistics. “The only connection they have with the war is through one of their relatives. These kids, the majority of them, have no interest. Their interest is making money and helping their families.”

Okuley prefers to take advantage of all the country has to offer without dwelling much on its tragic past.

“People in the South were living off sweet potatoes and rice,” he says, harking back to when he was here as an airman more than 40 years ago. “When the government puts up a sign that says, ’35 years of peace and prosperity’ since 1975, people say, ‘Why rock the boat?’ This generation essentially is a pretty happy bunch.”

Okuley has a special reason to be happy. While in the United States, he met his wife, Nicole, whose family had fled the North Vietnamese port city of Haiphong after the communist victory over the French in 1954.

Born in South Vietnam in 1963, the family, including six sisters, fled again, this time in 1968 after the offensive in early February during the Tet holiday. They ended up in Paris but moved 12 years later to Alexandria, Va.

Nicole had a lot to do with setting up the exercise center, called Nutri-Fort, which opened in shining new facilities in December 2008 and is now a magnet for foreigners as well as well-to-do Vietnamese.

Growing number of visitors

In 2000, Vietnam issued 150,000 visas for people in the United States to visit, according to Mark Sidel, a law professor at the University of Iowa. In 2007, the English-language newspaper Viet Nam News cited the official number of expats in Ho Chih Minh City alone at 50,000, and projected that 100,000 expatriates would be living in the southern metropolis by 2008.

For Okuley, the numbers add up to more clients for his center while certain nuisances diminish. “There was a time, they were asking for a handout,” he says. “If you’re doing everything correctly, there’s no need to participate in bribery.”

A travel-guide writer, Tom Harack, stopping by to chat, is amazed by the profusion of golf courses – and construction of luxury hotels. “It’s weird to think there would be two golf courses in Danang,” he says after visiting the central coast city where US Marines once had their headquarters.

“The biggest business in Vietnam is tourism,” says Okuley. “High-end residential stuff is exploding.” He likes to ask visitors their favorite country. “It’s crazy,” he says. “Without exception people include Vietnam as one of their favorite places.”-csmonitor.

Tags: doing business in Vietnam