An investment opportunity for you. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam . I heard a great story this week from an old friend of mine who went along to a presentation for the Vietnam Enterprise Investments Limited fund. Funnily enough I was an initial investor in this very vehicle waaaaay back in 1995 so the story has had a long gestation period. (Launched at £1 it seemed a very good story at the time, but slumped to 70p during the Asian crisis, only saved from even harsher treatment by the problem the managers had had in finding ways to invest the issue proceeds.) Anyway, the Finance Minister of Vietnam was at this presentation and made a very convincing and articulate speech about vibrant economic growth prospects, the dynamism of the Vietnamese people, the development of the Stock Market and free market enterprise in general. Afterwards the floor was opened up to questions and my friend complimented the Minister on a wonderfully convincing presentation, but asked him if he ever felt saddled by the legacy of his country's name. Would they not find their story easier to sell if they removed the reference to the Socialist Republic?
Quick as a flash came the response. " Thank you for your question. Earlier this week I was in Scotland...Edinburgh...and I visited the fine investment institutions in that beautiful city ( Pause for a moment....I'm not making this up by the way ). Many people I met there, though were not very complimentary about the English, actually it seems to me they do not like England very much at all. And yet you insist in calling your country the United Kingdom. " Well, anyone who can come up with a response like that, off the cuff, needs to be watched closely!
No comments:
Post a Comment