If your company is looking for a piece of the action in Vietnam this year, this episode is for you. In this instalment of You Don't Know Vietnam, Ian talks to Jerome Buzenet, a business lawyer with 20 years of experience in Vietnam.

As Partner at DFDL Vietnam, Jerome helps businesses enter and navigate the Vietnamese market, shedding light on the complexity and fast-paced nature of Vietnam's business landscape.

Today, Ian and Jerome discuss key milestones that have shaped Jerome's understanding of doing business in Vietnam, including the influx of investment bankers in the early 2000s and the first private equity investment in the country. They explore the challenges faced by international businesses in Vietnam, such as differences in respecting intellectual property and dealing with bureaucracy. The conversation also touches on the unique role of Vietnamese women in the workforce, the importance of embracing Vietnamese culture and work practices, and the significance of trust and building long-lasting relationships.

Topics discussed:

🇻🇳 The complexity and fast-paced nature of Vietnam's business landscape
🇻🇳 Key milestones shaping understanding of doing business in Vietnam
🇻🇳 Challenges faced by international businesses in Vietnam
🇻🇳 The role of Vietnamese women in the workforce
🇻🇳 Embracing Vietnamese culture and work practices
🇻🇳 Building trust and long-lasting relationships

If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops.

This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam.

A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn.

If anyone knows about Vietnam's foodies it's Dao Chi Anh, the Director of Corporate Brand & Marketing at Golden Gate Restaurant Group. In her role, Chi Anh is across a massive 500 restaurants from 50 brands, from hotpot concepts such as Manwah to BBQ joints like Go Gi, plus steak houses, western restaurants and Vietnamese outlets, too. Today, Chi Anh tells me about her 14-year F&B journey in Vietnam, from a food blogger and entrepreneur and her recent return to the world of corporate. She explores the trends in Vietnam's F&B scene right now, how restaurant brands are adapting, and what makes Vietnam's foodies unique. She also unpacks what really happened at The Kafe (her pioneering restaurant group that fell apart almost as quickly as it shot to fame) and shares key learnings for global brands coming to Vietnam to do business.

If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops.

This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam.

A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn.

Angélique Masse Nguyen and Duong Phan founded NOI, an agency that helps brands understand and communicate better with Vietnamese women. In this episode, they explain how Vietnamese women hold most of the purchasing power in Vietnam but still feel underrepresented in Vietnam's advertising and media landscape. They give insight about women's spending behaviours and share tips on how brands and marketers can authentically connect to the head of the family firm. They explore what brands are doing right, what they are doing wrong, and discuss the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs here.

If you enjoy this conversation or think someone in your network could find value in it, please share it and hit follow to get notified when the next episode drops.

This podcast is brought to you by We Create Content, the content marketing agency that builds audiences for global brands in Vietnam.

A special thanks to DJ Jase at The Beats Saigon for the soundtrack, and to YOU for listening.

You can follow our host, Ian Paynton, on LinkedIn.