VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of Vietnamese billionaires have been found as the ones who have made investments in the homeland after a long period of doing business in East European countries.

Mr Nguyen Dang Quang (left) and Ho Hung Anh

In Vietnam, Nguyen Dang Quang, born in 1963, and Ho Hung Anh, 1970, have been in no way less known than Pham Nhat Vuong, who has entered Fobes’ list of the world’s billionaires.

They are the owners of the leading consumer goods manufacturing group in Vietnam which has the market capitalization value of up to four billion dollars.

The common thing that Pham Nhat Vuong and the two big guys have is that they all have returned from East European countries where they got rich from making instant noodles: Vuong from Ukraine, while Quang and Hung Anh from Russia.

After returning to the homeland, Vuong has been pouring money into high end real estate projects and tourism, while Quang and Anh continue making consumer goods. Besides, Quang and Anh have also injected money in a bank – Techcombank.

If considering the official assets, Ho Hung Anh has been left far behind by Pham Nhat Vuong. Meanwhile, Quang has not been named in any official list of the rich, because the companies’ shares have not been under Quang’s name.

However, the strong development of Masan Group, and a series of successful merger and acquisition (M&A) deals have made Quang really respectful in the eyes of the business circle. The deals include the acquisition of Vinh Hao mineral water, Bien Hoa Vinacafe and Proconco.

Analysts believe that in fact, the total assets held by Quang are in no way inferior to the Forbes-recognized billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong.

Another “big guy,” who has also returned from East Europe, is Nguyen Canh Son, born in 1967. Like Quang, Son, who is now President of Eurowindow Holding, has not been named in any official lists of billionaires.

After the great success with Eurowindow brand, Son, together with his younger brother, who is Eurowindow’s General Director, have also poured money into the real estate, finance, construction materials and distribution sectors.

Son is now also the President of T&M Trans Group in Moscow in Russia. He has been called a mysterious businessman, who does not appear before the public. However, the strong development of the businesses he set up in Vietnam, including Eurowindow, Meling Plaza, Techcombank and VIB Bank, can show the power of the big businessman.

Less famous than Vuong and Quang, but Trinh Thanh Huy, President and CEO of Binh Thien An, a big real estate firm, still has been well known in the business circle with a series of noisy acquisition deals. The name of the big guy has been associated with the big M&A deals of Vinafco, Beton 6 and Descon.

In fact, Trinh Thanh Huy has been well known for a long time already. He was the person, who together with Nguyen Dang Quang and Ho Hung Anh, built up and developed Masan Group in Russia and then Masan Group in Vietnam, which then competed fiercely with Rollton Group of Dang Khac Vy (who is now a member of the board of directors of VIB) and Technocom Group of Pham Nhat Vuong.

The stiff competition among the Vietnamese businessmen in the East Europe led to sharp falls of the products’ prices, helping Vietnamese businessmen control the regional instant noodle market.

Huan Tu