How Japan rose from the ashes or World War II to become an economically developed nation is a question on the minds of many Vietnamese. They’re also curious about what Japanese investors see in Vietnam. VietNamNet Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Anh Tuan sought the answers in an interview with Momii.

Yes, this is my first trip to Vietnam. Of course, I had tried to collect as much information about Vietnam as I could before going to your country. Vietnamese people and the country that I can see today are exactly what I had imagined before.

Vietnamese people are believed to be clever and eager to knowledge, and Vietnam is believed to be the right address for co-operations.

Do you think that you will be successful with USOL (the Nihon Unysis’ investment project) in Vietnam?

I have met many Vietnamese people and what I can see was the dynamism and seriousness in works. In fact, we had considered many candidates for our plan to set up offices and branches, and we finally decided to choose Vietnam.

Vietnam proves to be the best destination. I want to stress now that we will go ahead with our project more quickly than initially planned. It is highly probable that we will set up a workshop here, which will play the important role similar like the software plant in Japan.

What do you think are Vietnam’s greatest strengths?

Human resources. I found out that Vietnamese and Japanese people have many similarities. Japanese are eager to learn and thirsty for prospering their country.

And I also can see this in the eyes of Vietnamese people.

Yes, it is. I’ve realised that the country is peaceful and the environment in Vietnam is safe. Vietnamese people are mild but enthusiastic, which helps generate wonderful harmonisation. Political stability is considered one of the most important factors that attracts the investors.

Communist Party of Vietnam works well in leading the country

Do you mean you are considering expanding your investment in Vietnam?

Yes, I am. USOL will not be the only project. We may expand our business into other fields. We always have our reliable partners in local countries, where we make investments, and we are seeking to cooperate with your leading companies.

How much time did it take you to decide to make investments in Vietnam?

All of us hear about the good situation in Vietnam. You have just reached an important agreement with the US, paving the way for your admission to the WTO. I believe that it does not take much time for Japanese investors to decide to make investments in Vietnam.

I myself personally feel happy because Nihon Unisys is present in Vietnam today, not tomorrow. I mean we are more swift-footed than many other international colleagues, and I’m proud of this.

Do you think that the Communist Party of Vietnam has been doing well in leading the country in developing the national economy?

Of course. I personally do not absolutely agree with what the Government of Vietnam has been doing so far. However, I firmly believe that situation will be improved when Vietnam becomes an official member of the WTO.

I think the Communist Party of Vietnam will make adjustments in its policies, if necessary, to help Vietnam successfully integrate into the world, and it will do this for the benefit of the Vietnamese people. I believe that the Party will well accomplish its mission to build Vietnam into a prosperous country.

Learn to express your own ideas

As a Harvard graduate, you may know the saying that it is Harvard’s responsibility to provide the leaders who can generate differentiations to the world. Which differentiations have you created since you graduated?

Harvard is actually a good school. It has brought the students from all around the world together, while creating most favourable conditions for them to learn and discuss to find out the most suitable solutions for them.

The first thing I learnt at Harvard was that it was necessary to express your own point of view openly. You have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a question, and you should say why you choose this solution. This is a typical style of American people, which I find very interesting. It is quite different in Japan, where people always sit at the corner of the room to watch everything around them quietly. In the US, you just have two choices, yes or no.

It is clear that Japanese culture is far different from Western civilisation. You graduated from Harvard Business School and now you lead Japanese Mitsui Group. How can you reconcile Western civilisation and the Japanese character?

Thanks for your very interesting question. Honestly speaking, when I first arrived in the US in 1984, I did not know anything about the country and American people. In Japan, people just sit still and look at the people around them, while in the US, people like expressing their own ideas and protecting their ideas.

Step by step, I tried to learn to express my opinion. However, I must say that Japanese people have their own traditions and behaviours. Finally, I decided to choose the neutralised solution: I will make conclusions only after open and direct discussions.

The world is changing so rapidly. How can Japanese businesses adapt?

I think it is very important to make decisions quickly. Of course, you have to be cautious with your decisions. However, in modern times, you have to discuss solutions, analyse the situations and make decisions in a very short time.

However, the oriental traditions that Japan maintains are still appreciated by many experts. Do you think that Japan, with its oriental thoughts, and the US, with its Western civilisation, will be the rivals in the future?

Japan has outstanding people, especially the youth, who always wish to build a prosperous country. I think this is the most important factor that can help lay the foundation for Japan nowadays.

Japan buys technologies from Western countries, and develops its own technologies well, for example, electronics or automobile technology. In the future, Japan will become the leading country in the world in auto production.

As for Vietnam, you have qualified human resources that can easily access western technologies. Vietnamese people are very clever, and I think that in the future, Vietnam will become the ‘second Japan’. I mean Vietnam will gain the development level that Japan once had.

From a VietNamNet’s reader: Westerners have said that Japan and Japanese people are very enigmatic. Meanwhile, you certainly have to have understood Westerners and the world well to get such a wonderful success. Can’t Westerners understand Japanese people, or don’t you want them to understand you?

It is a very interesting question. Of course I want all people in the world to understand about Japan and Japanese people. However, the problem lies in the fact that we have to express our views directly and exchange views with each others. That is why I want Vietnamese and Japanese people to exchange views more to get a better understanding. I think it is very important.

Source: VietNamNet 07/6/2006