Recently, I have run into an interesting article from Nikkei Asian Review mentioning Viet Kieu – a proper noun to indicate overseas Vietnamese of approximately 4.5 million people worldwide. Even though the article just highlights Vietnamese-Americans, the returnees actually come from nearly 109 countries and all contribute to the influx of talent back to Vietnam over the past 10 years.

Apart from personal and family-related reasons, Viet Kieu chooses to return as they see new opportunities in their ancestral country. They can either pursue their own start-up dreams in this expanding market or become contact points for foreign companies seeking to do business in the heart of the Asia-Pacific region. As far as I am concerned, the movement aids significantly to the open-door economic policies currently practised in their hometown. They bring back with them the entrepreneurial mindset, advanced educational background and required technical, managerial skills to level up Vietnamese firms to regional and global standards. In fact, one exemplar of this influx, Mr. Son Doan is currently helping ASW Global as the Creative Manager, training our Vietnamese teams to handle challenging projects.

It is true that only time will tell if Viet Kieu will play vital roles in the growing economy of Vietnam but so far, this has been a welcoming and positive trend. While their ancestral country provides opportunities to these ambitious returnees, they have in turn signalled a shortcut for Vietnam to attract more foreign companies and clients amid the increasingly competitive world.