Boise State grads in Vietnam give midcareer Idaho business people an education

Each year, I’m privileged to go with Boise State’s Executive MBAs on a one week residency to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Why Vietnam? We go in part because it is one of the world’s fastest growing economies. But we go also because of Boise State University’s 25-year involvement in helping people within Vietnam learn how to do business globally.

We delivered our MBA to 84 Vietnamese professors and business people in the 1990s, and many are now leaders in business, education and government. Some alums and their friends have children who now attend BSU.

When we visit Hanoi, we are fortunate to hear from some real trailblazers in their industries. They teach us about doing business in Vietnam “from the inside.”

One is a 1999 graduate, Nguyen Trong Khang, founded MK Group (https://mk.com.vn/) after spending a semester at Boise State. He began his firm by making ID cards and credit cards but has moved into digital security devices and more. Khang is a brilliant strategist who sees opportunities where others do not and has built a global firm that just celebrated 20 years.

Khang invited his 30 partners from around the world to join him. He graciously invites our EMBA group to lunch and a factory tour each year when we visit. His insights on business, changes in Vietnam, how his small firm competes with much larger ones by finding markets others have not, is always worth hearing about for people from outside of Vietnam.

A second trailblazer we are lucky to hear from is Thuan Nguyen, CEO of FiinGroup JSC (http://fiingroup.vn). Think “Bloomberg Vietnam” and you have an inkling of what Thuan’s firm is involved in, ranging from providing business and financial information to market research and credit ratings.

For several years, he has provided us an overview of doing business in Vietnam. After he spoke the first time, he admitted that he was reluctant to come. (“Students” in Vietnam tend to be in their 20s and inexperienced in business. Ours are in their 30s and 40s with decades of experience, so they are more like trade-mission participants). He loved the questions and they loved his responses. One of our participants this year said, “I could have listened to him for another four or five hours.”

Our visits with Khang and Thuan underscore two points for me.

First, Vietnam has a fast-growing and very sophisticated business community. Many, including Khang and Thuan, have studied abroad and built firms that can compete with almost any global firm.

Second, we are fortunate to know these people because of our long relationship with people in Vietnam. Boise State members’ willingness to spend time, get to know people, and show up on a regular basis is something that not many American business people fully appreciate. It allows us to learn from the inside.

Nancy Napier is a Boise State University distinguished professor. nnapier@boisestate.edu

This story was originally published November 11, 2019 at 5:00 AM.