There is an interesting article in The Economist this week about Vietnam’s healthcare system’s challenges, and which mentions a private medical clinic at the end. This is very reminiscent of what I used to read about China before 改革开放 (Reform and Opening to the World [Wordsense]), and look how China has prospered in the past 20 years. To demonstrate this first-hand, a regular IME Asia company visit is with one of the Middle Kingdom’s most successful private healthcare ventures, Chindex, in either Beijing or Shanghai.
But success isn’t always created equally, unfortunately. A by-product of China’s ascension to the world’s 2nd largest economy is that it annually provides its workers with regular wage increases (per this Bloomberg article), and in order to move the growth needle, needs to reinvent its economy (per this editorial). Well beyond labor costs, and with the cost of doing business in China generally becoming more expensive, other Asian countries now have an opportunity to steal market share in the process.
Enter Vietnam. In 2014, I had the opportunity to return to Ho Chi Minh on IME Asia, after nearly a decade. I was struck how quickly the economy is improving (Bloomberg), and how multinational companies like Samsung are relocating their factories (WSJ). It’s only a matter of time before Vietnam consistently begins improving its own infrastructure and we see positive advances in its healthcare system, too.
There is a terrific book I just ordered from the University of Hawaii press on Vietnam’s new middle class if you’d like to read more.
Vietnam will definitely be a country to positively watch in the next few years and with great investment opportunities in the process.
(The picture above is from one of our IME company visits to Glass Egg Digital Media and is reprinted with permission).
