Should Vietnamese students studying abroad return home to start a business?

Wherever there are many difficulties, there are also many opportunities for talented and dedicated people who want to contribute to change the country.

Vietnamese students

International students - an important human resource of the country

This is the assessment of many leading economic experts in a program for former international students held in Hanoi on the evening of November 29.

Currently, Vietnam has a large number of international students. These students have access to advanced education systems in the world and they are an important human resource in state administration, business as well as scientific research...

Pham Chi Lan, a famous Vietnamese economist, also shared a similar view. Ms. Lan told VOV reporters that if we can attract international students to return home, it will help improve foreign investment in Vietnam.

The advantage of those who study abroad is that they are trained in the relevant skills in the countries where they study. The second advantage is that they have knowledge of the language and culture abroad, and they understand what foreign investors need. The third advantage is that they themselves are Vietnamese people full of patriotism, with the desire for the country to develop further. "Overseas students have the conditions to connect domestic needs with the needs of investors, thereby making it possible for the two sides to understand each other more conveniently," Ms. Pham Chi Lan analyzed.

Economist Pham Chi Lan.

Ms. Lan added that in reality, successful investors in Vietnam all employ a high proportion of capable international students, and these international students themselves hold positions of high responsibility.

Unilever in Vietnam is an example. The vice presidents in the group's apparatus are Vietnamese, such as Ms. Tran Vu Hoai, Ms. Dao Tuyet Mai and many others who are working in important positions in business, human resources, and community. Unilever is successful in Vietnam because they have good, responsible human resources. These people are able to connect the group with a network of small and medium-sized companies in Vietnam, Ms. Lan said.

As someone who has studied in Switzerland, Mr. Chu Hong Minh, founder of the Vietnam Hospitality Tourism Network (Hospitality.vn) told VOV reporters that Vietnamese international students are often extroverted, open-minded, willing to connect, cooperate and dare to think big.

On the other hand, international students also have favorable conditions when they can study the language right in the host country. Moreover, international students can learn many advanced models abroad, from which they can apply and bring back to Vietnam with appropriate adjustments, Mr. Minh commented.

The road back home to start a business is still full of hardships.

When returning home, international students all have the desire to contribute. But many times when they return home, they are "drenched with cold water" when faced with the conflicts of the working environment in Vietnam. This has completely destroyed the motivation of young people, shared economist Pham Chi Lan.

Expert Pham Chi Lan said that the popular saying “first is descendants, second is relationships, third is money” has limited the ability of international students to find jobs. The most important issue is how to improve the working environment, especially the working environment in the state. Improving the working environment here is not only about improving salaries and benefits but first of all, creating favorable working conditions for international students to reduce the brain drain.

Former international student Chu Hong Minh believes that the first difficulty is that the expectations of international students are too high and not close to reality. For example, international students returning home all want to be in a management position with a starting salary of about 1000 USD, but with the same treatment policy as in Vietnam, this is not possible. Second, the knowledge that international students learn in Europe or the US has a big gap with the Vietnamese environment. When international students want to apply a certain model to Vietnam, they need a few years of experience.

Former international student Chu Hong Minh, founder of Vietnam Hospitality Tourism Network.

International students returning home all want to contribute a lot to Vietnam, but how to contribute and what conditions are created for their contributions are all unanswered concerns.

There are still many talented international students who are hesitant to return home because they know that the path to starting a business in Vietnam will have many difficulties to face.

Want to start a business in Vietnam, must know how to be "romantic"

Mr. Doan Huu Duc, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Consulting Group, a former student in the US, shared: “Without romance, how can you do business in the business environment in Vietnam? Because the business safety coefficient in Vietnam is very low, so just be optimistic and look forward. I had to put down the red book for the third time to be able to ‘live’ like today”.

“I don’t have much creativity, I just imitate. I see something that is not available in Vietnam and I follow it. My advice is that you must always stay optimistic and not be afraid of failure,” said Mr. Duc.

Mr. Pham Minh Tuan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TOPICA Technology and Education Group, a former student in the US 10 years ago, also admitted that he was quite “stubborn” when starting a business. In the first 5 years, Mr. Tuan failed 3-4 times in the fields of providing bank cards, bidding for digital TV channels, and social network business, etc.

But for Mr. Pham Minh Tuan, if he is not “stubborn”, he will not be able to do anything. Therefore, he was determined to stand up and continue, determined not to “die” in order to “survive” and in the past 5 years, Mr. Tuan’s efforts have achieved many satisfactory results.

Mr. Tuan also gave a very interesting figure in the field of e-commerce: the founders of the 20 most successful Internet companies in Vietnam are usually 29 years old, and it takes them 3 times to start a business before they can succeed.

Economist Pham Chi Lan said that although Vietnam's current environment has many difficulties, there are also many opportunities for talented people, especially those with a heart and a desire to contribute to creating change for the country.

“Instead of sitting in one place complaining and criticizing, you have to take action. Entrepreneurs should not accept to follow the predetermined path but have the spirit of contributing to create change. Each person contributing a little can create great changes,” said Ms. Lan.

Mr. Vo Tri Thanh, Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, sincerely shared: “What I learned is that first, if we want to do anything, we must clearly understand the nature of the problem and of things. Second, if we have decided to stay, we must dare to live with this country, with this regime and with all the bad things here. We live in it, but we are still us, still individuals, so it won't be long before you can succeed.”

According to VOV