The Vietnamese diaspora has spread across world, except maybe Antarctica.
Over the past 50 years, Vietnamese people have left their motherland to plant new roots in Europe, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Aside from western countries, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of Vietnamese people live across Asian countries and territories such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and the Philippines.
Current estimates put the number of people in the Vietnamese diaspora at about four million.
Not only do Vietnamese people live in these countries, but they have certainly made their mark.
On a recent visit to Vietnam, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said, “I know that Vietnamese people in Israel are good at cuisine and enduring in the military.”
Au Co, considered the mother of Vietnamese civilization, when taking her fifty children to settle in the snow covered mountains of northern Vietnam, could never have imagined just how much her people would grow, develop, and spread.
The diaspora
There is a growing number of Vietnamese who are taking an interest in finding job opportunities in other countries and using their time to travel, do business, and socially integrate into foreign cultures.
Dr. Ly Qui Trung is one of these people.
Dr. Trung is known for building the Pho 24 brand in Ho Chi Minh City. After selling his store chain to a foreign partner, he and his family has settled in Australia, where they continue to maintain their passion for Vietnamese cuisine while their children attend school.
Over the past five years, Trung has built two restaurants—Bon Bistro and Nang (sunlight)—in Sydney, as well as involve himself in many business and social projects in both Australia and Vietnam.
He is also a teacher, an author, and an inspiration to younger generations thanks to his dedication to sharing his business knowledge with younger Vietnamese people.
Recently, he gathered a group of 30-year-old Vietnamese entrepreneurs in Sydney who had moved to Australia to set up businesses.
He also provides consultancy to start-ups in Vietnam, Australia, and some European countries.
Quan Nguyen is another Vietnamese who has planted roots overseas.
Nguyen gave up a civil servant job in Vietnam and to study law in Australia. After five years, Quan had earned both a master’s degree and a doctorate. He works in both the law and business sectors.
Nguyen’s current business is related to his family’s woodworking business. Specifically, he manufactures wooden toys for schools and furniture for houses.
He and his family have expanded their carpentry shop in a suburb of Ho Chi Minh City to export products to Australia. They also sell products to buyers in the U.S. and other countries around the world.
In the future, he hopes to open a law office in Vietnam to provide consultancy on business law and other legal matters.
According to Nguyen, “whether living in our country or other countries, being able to do what I like, contribute to my family and society, and promote global values are my responsibility and give me great happiness.”
Many young people who have started business in Vietnam after studying abroad have managed to maintain close international relations that have helped them expand their networks.
Bui Hai An, an electrical engineering graduate at the National University of Singapore, spent some time working for a few multi-national companies in Singapore before moving back to Ho Chi Minh City to create TGM – a company that specializes in skills training.
He has also established an international joint stock company named Silicon Strait Saigon (SSS) with other young stakeholders from the U.S. and Singapore.
SSS specializes in hi-tech investment and trading, and is considered by many experts to be a creative start-up model.
Hai An was invited to attend a meeting between former U.S. President Obama and young entrepreneurs during a visit to Vietnam although An did not graduate from a university in the U.S..
Following the success of SSS, he co-founded and is managing digital bank Timo.
Moving citizens
Phung, a financial expert who earned an MBA in the U.S. and has worked for many multi-national companies overseas and in Vietnam, has plans to settle in Canada because she wants her children to experience a more modern version of education.
This sentiment has been echoed by many Vietnamese who live abroad.
Phung, however, affirmed that she has no plans to completely break ties with her homeland. She and her husband have no plans to sell their apartment in Vietnam and keep close contact with all of their friends from home.
After settling in Canada, they will seek jobs which can facilitate their travel between the two countries.
Is it easy to live and work globally? That’s a difficult question to answer.
Life in the 2020s has been relatively good thanks to the impacts of technologicalization and globalization.
There is a growing trend of people from all countries moving abroad and maintaining several residences at once.
They are considered experts who can settle for a short or long time in one or many countries while still keeping contact with their motherlands.
The legal systems of many countries have been amended to meet the demand of intercontinental human resources, specifically accepting multi-nationals and relaxing residence regulations to allow foreigners to come to their countries to live, work, and pay taxes.
In developing countries, the ‘brain drain’ conception has been gradually considered as having more ‘brain.’
Residents working abroad have sent home not only remittances but also technologies, experience, and new connections.
At present, many countries are orienting their young people to become global citizens while keeping one eye pointed towards their homelands.
Vietnamese youngsters at home or in other countries are patient and creative and will nurture dreams to make Vietnam and the world as a whole prosperous, fair and sustainable.
The number of Vietnamese people living in other countries as experts and investors will increase as many industrial countries continue to open their doors to these people.
It is obviously not easy to achieve success. Those who move abroad must strive to adapt to the climate, living environment, culture, and laws in other countries.
They must also get used to living in two different houses, two societies, and two countries.
There are many practical ways and activities to support such Vietnamese people, such as offering visa waivers and organizing many meetings and forums to boost cooperation projects in business, research, teaching, and social works.
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