The 1st American doing business in VN – Vietnam Pictorial // Back to NEWS

MANY AMERICAN PEOPLE CALL RENOWNED BUSINESS-MAN ANTHONY D. SALZMAN “THE FIRST AMERICAN” BECAUSE HE WAS THE FIRST BUSINESSMAN WHO TOOK ADVANTAGE OF US LEGAL LOOPHOLES TO GO TO VIETNAM TO DO BUSINESS AND HELP FACILITATE THE VIETNAM-US TRADE RELATIONS. OVER 15 YEARS OF LIVING AND WORKING IN VIETNAM, SALZMAN HAS MADE CONTRIBUTION TO THE NORMALIZATION OF THE VIETNAM-US RELATIONSHIP AS WELL AS THE SIGNING OF THE VIETNAM-US BILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENT.

The first American doing business in Vietnam

Story by Vuong Mo

Photos by TrongChinh

AN AMERICAN WHO TAKES ADVANTAGE OF LEGAL LOOPHOLES

The Salzman family is the originator of the Salzman Prize, an award that is given annually to individuals showing excellence in the field of economics. Regardless of this, the family must have been stunned when a 42-year-old member of the family had the idea of going to Vietnam to seek business opportunities.

Anthony D. Salzman graduated from Yale University (the US) and worked as an assistant, a banking investor and a business advisor. In 1992, even though the US still had a trade embargo in place against Vietnam, Salzman asked for permission to open a Caterpiller representative office in Vietnam. Caterpiller is a well-known motor and construction material company in the United States. He left New York together with his wife and their 3-year-old daughter and became a trail blazer in doing business in Vietnam. He travelled throughout the country, meeting untold difficulties to seek customers. Presently, Vietnam is the largest market for Caterpillar products in Asia.

V-TRAC Infrastructure Development Company which was established and chaired by Salzman is now V-TAC Share-holding Company with a charter capital of 14.5 million USD. The Company’s main functions is to repair maintain and lease industrial machines, construction and mining equipment, energy systems for ships and trains, electric power generators and trucks. V-TRAC vehicles include material handles, bulldozers, tractors, crane, etc… which take more than 50% of Vietnam’s market share. Recently, V-TRAc has been awarded a “Golden Dragon” Prize by the Vietnamese Ministry of Trade and Vietnam Economic Times.

A RELIABLE ADVISOR

Being a vanguard in breaking obstacles to enter Vietnam to do business, Salzman, with experience and success, has become a reliable advisor for many American and foreign investors coming to Vietnam. The words “the first” has been closely connected with his name: The first American coming to Vietnam to do business before the US embargo was lifted; the trail-blazer in the new investment areas in Vietnam, such as the securities market; the founder of the Vietnam Business Forum; one of the founders of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi; and the first American to be granted a driving licence in Hanoi. Over 15 years, Salzman has contributed to Vietnam’s economic development and process of normalizing the Vietnam-US relations through the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement.

Many foreigners call Salzman “Mr. Vietnam”. Through 15 years living in Vietnam with his wife and Zana, their daughter, Salzman has integrated with the Vietnamese culture and speaks Vietnamese well. Though having returned to the United State to study, Zana always remembers Vietnam. Answering her friends’ question whether she was afraid of being Vietnamized due to staying for a long time in this country, Zana said that she was afraid of being Americanized. Zana’s childhood was closely connected with the traditional games of Vietnamese children.

Salzman said: “Vietnam is on the way to a boom in infrastructure construction, with billions of VND spent on rebuilding highways,brighes, ports and railways. These projects are vital activities of V-TRAC.” He also said that he always has good opportunities in Vietnam.