Vietnam Does Not Reward the Visitors. It Rewards the Ones Who Stay.

Insights from the Scaling Business Summit 2026, Ho Chi Minh City.

The room went quiet when Dr. Oliver Massmann began speaking. Not because of the introduction. Because of the weight behind the numbers: 35 years in Vietnam, a license from the Ministry of Justice in Hanoi, and a seat at the negotiating table when the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement was signed.

Lars Jankowfsky, Founder at Gradion, opened by noting this was the best-rated session at last year's summit. The sequel earned that billing. Dr. Oliver Massmann, Partner and General Director at Duane Morris Vietnam LLC, did not speak from slides. He spoke from memory.

What followed was not a policy lecture. It was a practitioner's guide to Vietnam from the moment it opened in 1991 to the capital market transformation happening right now.

1. The Toughest Room in Geneva

The EVFTA negotiations nearly collapsed. The central issue was agriculture. Vietnam is a farming economy: 70% of its population lives in the countryside, and market access to Europe for Vietnamese agricultural products was non-negotiable for Hanoi. But agriculture is the most protected sector in the European Union. The two sides came to a standstill.

A personal detail illustrated how close it came to breaking down. Oliver's close friend, a former Minister of Trade, reached his limit. “He was close to giving up, walking out.” Oliver said. “He just said: I cannot bear it anymore. The protection mindset of the EU.”

The breakthrough did not come from a single dramatic move. It came from sustained credibility. Oliver had spent years building relationships on both sides. He understood Vietnam's constraints and Europe's red lines. He stayed in the room until the formula emerged, one that gave Vietnamese agriculture meaningful access while preserving enough EU protection to be politically survivable.

Today, 60% of all coffee consumed in Germany comes from Vietnam. That statistic exists because someone chose to stay in the room.

Lesson 1: The toughest negotiations in Vietnam are not about price or product. They are about face, fear, and finding a formula that lets both sides go home.

2. The $25 Billion Plumbing Fix

Vietnam's emerging market upgrade expected from FTSE Russell in September 2026 is not a story about GDP growth. It is a story about fixing one specific technical bottleneck that has kept institutional capital out for decades: the prefunding requirement.

Historically, a foreign investor wanting to buy $10 million in Vietnamese shares had to have $10 million sitting in a Vietnamese bank account before placing the order. “No institutional investor wants to do that. It is dead capital,” Oliver said. His advice to the Ministry of Finance was clear: replace cash prefunding with a guarantee-and-settlement framework for institutional investors. “We fixed the plumbing so the capital can flow.”

The fear behind the old system traces directly to 2008. Over 5,000 foreign investors fled Vietnam on a single Friday evening, destabilizing the financial system and triggering street demonstrations by two million workers. The government never forgot. Oliver's argument to the Ministry: international standards are the price of international capital. They finally listened.

The consequence is now measurable. Oliver held 48 meetings with 48 US pension funds in the months after the emerging market announcement. Their response was consistent: once the upgrade is confirmed, allocation to Vietnam is not optional, it is mandated. US pension funds manage $30 trillion. “Within the next three to four years, minimum $25 billion, if not $50 billion, just from that.”

Lesson 2: Vietnam's biggest capital unlock in decades came from removing one technical friction point. The founders who understand the plumbing, not just the opportunity are the ones who position early.

3. The Traps That End Foreign Companies

The emerging market upgrade brings capital. It also brings enforcement. The Vietnamese government has moved decisively against legal structures that were common practice for decades but are now explicitly illegal.

Nominee structures were historically used by 40 to 50% of foreign business establishments in Vietnam. A local nominee held ownership on behalf of a foreign founder, often for a small fee and a handshake. That arrangement is now a liability. “The government will punish that and will basically take all assets and make the structure invalid,” Oliver said. “Don't do that anymore. It doesn't pay off.” Legal structures that are enforceable from the start exist and are available. The agencies offering cheap setup services are not disclosing the full risk.

The second trap is accountability. Vietnam's legal advisory market is not uniformly sophisticated. If something goes wrong, holding a local firm responsible is difficult. Oliver's specific solution: require international standard professional liability insurance from any advisor before engagement. A Vietnamese firm presenting a $50,000 insurance policy on a $10 million transaction is not adequate protection. “That is a dead end.”

Lesson 3: The legal environment in Vietnam is changing fast. Cheap structures are liabilities. The only advisors worth hiring are the ones you can hold accountable at international standard.

4. The Next Gold Rush: Grid Stability and Green Finance

Asked where to place chips in the next five years, Oliver did not hesitate: green finance and renewable energy infrastructure, specifically the technology that manages grid stability and the financial platforms connecting green bonds to projects.

The growth of Vietnamese solar power is striking in its speed. In 2017, Vietnam had zero commercial solar capacity. Today it has 18 gigawatts, equivalent to three nuclear plants built in seven to eight years. Direct Power Purchase Agreements are now legally enabled. Vietnam has committed to net zero by 2050. And the government needs $140 billion to upgrade the transmission grid by 2030. “They don't have it,” Oliver said.

“I would not just build a wind farm or a solar farm. I would build the technology that manages grid stability. I would build the financial platform that connects green bonds to these projects.” CO2 trading launched in Vietnam in January 2026. The regulatory framework for green energy is now, in Oliver's words, “the most dynamic area of Vietnamese law.”

“If you have the technology to make Vietnam cleaner, the government and the law is finally on your side.”

Lesson 4: The electricity generation race in Vietnam is over. The next race is grid stability, green finance infrastructure, and the platforms connecting capital to clean energy. That race is just beginning.

5. The 35-Year Playbook

Oliver arrived in Vietnam on June 6, 1991. At that point, 50% of Vietnam's current population had not yet been born. The country was still learning English from Russian. He has outlasted trade embargoes, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the 2008 global crash, and multiple shifts in government policy.

His licensing from the Ministry of Justice, an achievement no foreigner has replicated in Thailand, Indonesia, or the Philippines came from one consistent approach: learn the language, understand the culture, stay. A wealthy Vietnamese businessman recently told him that translation earbuds worn by foreign visitors are, in his view, “not real. It is ridiculous.” The Vietnamese want to know that you understand how they think. That cannot be outsourced to hardware.

His single most practical recommendation for new entrants: read the 36 Strategies. Rooted in Chinese strategic philosophy and deeply embedded in Vietnamese business culture, it can be read in a couple of hours. “If you learn it and try to really understand it, you are in.” A Vietnamese mentor handed him the book in 1991. He has used it in every significant negotiation since.

His clearest observation about time: “Anyone who tells me they have been here 20-plus years is a person of influence and success. You cannot be in this country for 20 years doing proper business without being substantially successful. Just by growing with Vietnam, you become incredibly wealthy.”

In 2006, 60% of Vietnamese lived under $1 a day. Today, 90% are middle class. The country did not just develop. It transformed within a single generation.

Lesson 5: Vietnam rewards the ones who stay. Language, cultural fluency, and long-term commitment are not soft skills here, they are the actual competitive advantage.

The CEO Execution Playbook: What to Do Tomorrow

1. 1. Read the 36 Strategies. Two hours online. Before your next negotiation with a Vietnamese partner, understand the strategic frameworks they are thinking in. This is the shortcut Oliver has used for 35 years.
2. 2. Audit your legal structure now. If you have nominee arrangements in Vietnam, get international standard legal advice on transition before enforcement begins. The window is closing.
3. 3. Require professional liability insurance from every advisor. Before signing any advisory engagement in Vietnam, confirm they carry international standard coverage. If they cannot provide it, find someone who can.
4. 4. Map the green finance opportunity against your capabilities. Identify where your technology or financial expertise intersects with grid stability, green bond infrastructure, or DPPA deal flow. The regulatory framework is ready. The capital is coming.
5. 5. Measure your Vietnam commitment in years, not visits. Plan for a minimum five-year presence before expecting full trust and deal flow from the local ecosystem. Under five years, you are still being assessed.

→ Watch the full conversation on YouTube