Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tuan, VietSol's CEO and a former VinFast employee, shares his view on opportunities for Vietnamese businesses in the United States, and reveals the journey of a five-year-old startup becoming a partner of global technology groups and establishing a foothold in Silicon Valley. From a 'trusted partner' of IBM and Siemens to its Palo Alto headquarters Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tuan, VietSol's CEO. Notably, this five-year-old company's partner list includes surprising names. In addition to giants like IBM and Siemens, VietSol is now a strategic partner of Vector (Germany's largest automotive software solutions company), Gidada (Spain), and NTT (Germany). "The luck was that during my time at VinFast, I had the opportunity to engage with these firms. The story here is the value that both sides bring to each other. The giants when entering Vietnam need partners who truly grasp their technology to maximize value for customers in Southeast Asia. When trust is built, we begin to expand cooperation to their global entities," he said about the formula of 'partnership' with the giants. ##### Leveraging the 'China Plus' wave and the lesson 'Hit from the toughest market' Speaking on why 'taking the plunge abroad' now, the VietSol CEO argues that the US auto industry supply chain has formed over decades. However, geopolitical and trade tensions between the US and China are opening a small but valuable window of opportunity. When the US bans Chinese products related to connectivity, that creates a gap for Vietnamese firms. Furthermore, the US increases tariffs causing many Chinese companies to move to Vietnam or restructure their legal entities to export. Competing by standards: Instead of competing on price with China, VietSol competes on reputation, quality, and by improving processes to meet the strictest international standards. Currently, VietSol is directly doing R&D for one of the largest American sports equipment groups. On working culture in the United States, Tuan acknowledged the pressure is high: "Americans work very bluntly, results-oriented, and they work very hard. We must keep up in both quality and intensity. If we meet that, customers will come to us." Acknowledging that the road ahead is challenging, the young CEO asserts that VietSol still preserves the DNA of entrepreneurship: "Entrepreneurial spirit is forever." "Even when I worked at VinFast, Pham Nhat Vuong's strategy was: to conquer global markets, start by attacking the hardest market. Whether it succeeds is not decided yet, but that is a decisive strategic mindset. We chose the hard path, persistently building networks, increasing credibility, and surely there will be rewards."
