Lynn Su / photos by Lin Min-hsuan / tr. by Phil Newell

The streets of Ho Chi Minh City are always packed with people and vehicles, while boats dance along the Saigon River. The animated scene hints at Vietnam’s economic vitality.

Leaving behind many years of war, in 1986 Vietnam’s government launched a program of reform and opening and instantly became a new paradise for foreign capital investment.

Thirty years on, Vietnam’s economy has taken off. Growing with it has been Taiwanese investment, with 80,000 Taiwanese businesspeople, 4,000 Taiwanese firms, and a total of NT$400 billion in investment, making Taiwan into one of the leading sources of inward investment into Vietnam.

In rapidly developing Vietnam, there is always an endless stream of traffic on the roads.

Showing foresight

“Before my son was even born I was making shoes.” We have arrived at the Hotel Le Dinh, a subsidiary of the Eternal Prowess Vietnam group, in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City. Group chairman David Yuan takes time out of his busy schedule to talk about his experience in Vietnam.

“Staying here was not originally part of the plan,” says Yuan. Founded in Tainan in 1975, his firm started by making rubber sole components for footwear, with clients including global brands like Puma and Adidas. Because of Taiwan’s scarcity of land and rising wages, he decided to look abroad for opportunities.

The 1990s were an era of massive overseas investment by Taiwanese firms. Yuan also visited China, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and other places. He says that a confluence of factors—including Vietnam’s population of 100 million, average age of only 30-plus, expansive land area, and cheap labor, as well as its cultural similarity with Taiwan—made it his choice.

Long-term residence in Vietnam has become a “beautiful accident” for many Taiwanese businesspeople. Chien Chih Ming, chairman of Ho Team Construction Corporation and head of the Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam, came to the country in 2007. He says: “Back then I never expected to stay so long.” His business instincts have enabled him to find a stage there to bring his skills fully into play.

Chien tells his story from the beginning. After graduating from the Department of Architecture at National Cheng Kung University, he worked on big construction projects with the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) including Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and the Mailiao refinery, and went to Vietnam to do work for FPG.

Architecture is an unusual profession in that less-­developed places offer more potential for career progression. Chien, who once went to Shanghai to explore opportunities there, in fact found the space to bring his talents into play in Vietnam. He set up a practice there just as southward investment by Taiwanese firms was heating up, and did a series of projects for Taiwanese companies including FPG, Kenda, Singtex, and Shing Mark.

Having been in Vietnam for 16 years now, his firm has handled more than 180 projects and has 200 employees and 3,000 construction workers. With demand growing in northern Vietnam in recent years, he set up a branch office in Hai Phong City. It must be said that as Vietnam’s prosperity has grown, competition has intensified. Nonetheless, “today we have consolidated our position,” says Chien confidently.

The spacious Shing Mark Hospital has the feel of a high-end hotel.

Corporate social responsibility

In recent years Vietnam has become a hotspot for Taiwanese investment. “In the past when I ran into business friends at the airport they would always say, ‘How did you end up in Vietnam?’ Now I say to them, ‘You’ve finally come here!’” David Yuan says with humor.

Vietnam is not only the second largest recipient of Taiwanese inward investment, it is also a major economic partner for Taiwan. In fact, if we include investments made by Taiwanese firms using funds sourced from outside Taiwan, Taiwanese enterprises have invested more than NT$600 billion in the country, making Taiwan second only to Korea. Firms from different countries focus on different areas of development: Korean businesses specialize in building high-rises and Japanese firms handle major public infrastructure projects, while most Taiwanese investment has come from small and medium-sized enterprises. The earliest industries to arrive were textiles, wooden furniture, shoes, and bicycles, while in recent years the electronics and high-tech industries have set up factories there. They support countless workers and their families. “This is why Taiwanese companies have the heaviest social responsibility,” states Yuan, whose firm has 10,000 employees.

Speaking of corporate social responsibility, perhaps the best example is University Medical Shing Mark Hospital, which was built instead of an originally planned five-star hotel.

We go with Chien Chi Ming to Shing Mark Hospital, built by Ho Team. The building, with its dignified curved façade, is located on a main street, and inside there is an atrium sufficiently high and open to see all the clinic rooms and wards at a glance. The majestic layout and intuitive floor plan give one a feeling similar to a major hotel.

Waiting to greet us is Victor Chao, chairman and founder of Shing Mark, Asia’s biggest manufacturer of wooden furniture. Following this spry entrepreneur as he strides vigorously through the vast hospital, you would never guess that he is over 70 years old.

Chao sums up the building as “one-third hospital, one-third hotel, one-third factory.” The generous layout features real wood furniture made by Shing Mark, giving it the air of a luxury hotel. Its clear and intuitive internal traffic flow is based on factory design. With 2,200 beds, 50 operating rooms, and 42 elevators, it has the facilities of a first-class medical center, and there are few large hospitals like it in Vietnam.

The atmosphere at this exam for nursing personnel is lively, demonstrating the vitality of Vietnam.

A new model for medical care

Victor Chao, who got his start with wooden furniture and who has worked for many years with major hospitality brands including InterContinental, Park Hyatt, and Disney, describes the initial motivation behind building the hospital. Originally planning to cross over into the hotel business, while applying for a license he was told by the local government that rather than a hotel for the rich, the local people had even greater need of a hospital.

It is not easy to obtain a license to open a hospital in Vietnam, and in fact both National Taiwan University and Chang Gung have tried and failed to get one. But Chao, with his deep roots in Vietnam, was able to get the land and license for a hospital thanks to the support of the local government. The hospital required an enormous capital investment of US$300 million, which Chao provided from his own funds. He has never made profit a priority there, saying: “I take from the local area, so I give back to the local area.” Gazing at the magnificent hospital exterior, he avers with satisfaction: “In the end, I think I didn’t disappoint them.”

The hospital first opened just as Covid-19 was spreading. We interviewed Peter Chang, former deputy chief administrator of the hospital, who was at his post at Shing Mark at the height of the pandemic and personally experienced this turbulent period.

Chang, a scholar of public health who during the SARS outbreak in Taiwan in 2003 communicated with the World Health Organization in his status as an advisor to the Department of Health, realized his dream of working overseas by taking up the job at Shing Mark in March of 2021.

After largely successful control in 2020, the pandemic exploded in Vietnam in May of 2021, causing alarm and indecision. The lives of people diagnosed with Covid-19 hung by a thread, and medical equipment, medications, and vaccines were all difficult to obtain. Taiwanese businesspeople united in mutual support and contributed whatever they could in terms of money and energy. As a major bastion of local healthcare, Shing Mark was given priority for pharmaceuticals like Remdesivir and vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer, saving countless lives.

Talking about Covid-19, which has affected many more people than SARS did, Peter Chang reveals the dedication and kindness of the medical professionals involved. He later wrote a book about them in diary form, entitled Medical Stories from Vietnam. He notes: “I was really deeply touched at the time, so I decided to write it all down.”

Chang, who is now in charge of international healthcare at Chang Bing Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, still travels frequently to Vietnam mediating links between Taiwan and overseas. He says frankly that healthcare professionals from Taiwan are top-notch, so the industry should expand beyond its comfort zone and make international connections in order to enhance its competitiveness.

Transnational collaboration raises the standard of medical care in Vietnam and also provides impetus for advances in Taiwan’s healthcare. The establishment of Shing Mark Hospital has created a new model for the expansion of healthcare overseas. “It not only permits individual technical exchanges, it also facilitates the comprehensive and systematic transfer of professional knowledge,” concludes Chang.

To be sure, the strongest links between Taiwan and Vietnam are still economic. Taiwanese have come to Vietnam for business, and with agility and perseverance, have set down deep roots in the country. Nonetheless, the strength of economic ties has prompted linkages in other areas. All that is needed to make interactions between Taiwan and Vietnam even deeper and warmer is to continue to build the emotional connections between our two peoples.

For more pictures, please click 《From Manufacturing to Healthcare: Taiwanese Investment in Vietnam》

>> More articles from Taiwan Panorama