Businessman Nicholas Nguyen Van Nguyen: 30 years of connecting the Viet Nam – Australia health bridge

Businessman Nicholas Nguyen Van Nguyen:
30 years of connecting the Viet Nam – Australia health bridge
“With more than 30 years working in the pharmaceutical industry, at any job, I always think the World is huge, why not contribute to getting rich in my homeland if you have talent and intelligence? And I believe that I and my small business will continue to contribute to the development of Vietnam’s health sector”, said Mr. Nicholas Nguyen Van Nguyen – Australian overseas Vietnamese businessman – General Director of Bridge Healthcare Pharmaceutical Company, and is the founder and CEO of Bridge Healthcare Pharmaceutical Company in Australia.

In 1993, while working for a large pharmaceutical company in Australia, Mr. Nicholas Nguyen was sent to Vietnam to develop the market for the company’s strategic products. Just after a year, he successfully collaborated with the preventive medicine industry of Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi to share his experience about viral hepatitis to the community, ways of preventing and successfully delivering vaccines to people at the grassroots level. As a result, in 1995, he was appointed General Director in Vietnam of the largest pharmaceutical company in the world. After a 5-year tenure, he realized that Vietnam’s pharmaceutical industry was still in the developing stage and needed long-term investment, the update of production technologies and operating methods from the advanced countries in the world to develop in both “Quality” and “Quantity”, thus meeting the inevitable development trend of Vietnam’s health sector.
Therefore, in 2000, when establishing Bridge Healthcare Pharmaceutical Company in Australia, he set out the motto “in parallel with business goals, Bridge Healthcare must also be a medical bridge between Vietnam and Australia” with the desire to connect the domestic pharmaceutical industry to the world. After 20 years of operation, Bridge Healthcare and two member companies of BHC Pharma in Ho Chi Minh City and Alter Pharma in Hanoi have succeeded in this country. Patients believe in the effectiveness of the company’s products; customers recognize the company’s activities, trust in service standards and quality, especially doctors and nurses appreciate the continuous contributions of the company in educational and medical activities.

Contributing to training a generation of young people with good expertise and intellect
When asked about his experiences, Mr. Nicholas Nguyen said that there is no special secret other than the motto: the business always goes along with the market development; therefore, it is necessary to build a bilateral relationship that cooperates and supports each other for common development. Thus, even though it is only a tiny business, the company has built the “Bridge Healthcare Education Foundation” from its profits. Over the years, the Foundation has sponsored scientific associations of the Vietnamese health sector to organize scientific conferences, invited Australian medical experts to Vietnam to update the latest scientific information and exchange treatment experiences; sponsored Vietnamese professors and doctors to attend major scientific meetings in Australia and the US… From 2006 to now, the Foundation has funded talented young doctors to attend professional training courses abroad. These are short-term cardiology courses held annually in Australia and long-term courses for young Cardiologists in Singapore and Malaysia.
Mr. Nicholas Nguyen said that when Vietnamese medical professionals are updated with information and professional knowledge on par with advanced countries globally, the domestic healthcare industry and the pharmaceutical market will catch up with the region and the world. An open, developed market and high quality of professional activities will open opportunities to attract sizeable foreign investment in Vietnam and create an opportunity for small businesses like Bridge Healthcare to be successful.

Making propaganda and attracting other overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs to invest in their homeland
Mr. Nicholas Nguyen said he was very touched to receive the support of Vietnamese partners from the first days of operation. In particular, leading medical experts, professors, and officials have understood the difficulties facing a foreign business that operates according to international business standards. So they have given him a lot of affection and guidance in daily work. Besides, administrative reforms such as tax and customs have also tackled many difficulties for businesses. However, he still hopes this reform will be more thorough so that these agencies can adequately function and support businesses.
During meetings of the Overseas Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association, Mr. Nicholas Nguyen is not afraid to share his understanding of the Vietnamese market with his new colleagues to help them orient their business goals. He said: “With two decades of doing business in Vietnam and getting certain results, I can share my experience with entrepreneurs who intend to invest or are investing in Vietnam so that they understand that the market is increasingly advanced and gradually comes into operation with clearer regulations in business. In fact, before investing in Vietnam, overseas Vietnamese entrepreneurs refer to the business situation of their predecessors and the success of these businesses contributes to their confidence. So the success of an SME like Bridge Healthcare Pty. Ltd. in Vietnam is a typical example of the existence and development of enterprises associated with the stability of Vietnamese society.”
The Vietnamese market has faced many difficulties in the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr. Nicholas Nguyen himself has accepted to be away from his family, to stay in Vietnam to accompany his staff in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to overcome difficulties in human and financial resources to ensure that the pharmaceutical supply would not be cut off to the market, as well as the income source of the company’s employees would not be cut.
Looking back at the problematic old days and preparing for a new journey in 2022, Mr. Nicholas Nguyen summed up: “In a crisis, if a business wants to survive, they need to know how to sacrifice personal interests, reduce profits, accompany employees, share the cost burden with partners and significantly support the community as much as possible.”
The success of Bridge Healthcare Pty. Ltd. in Vietnam is a typical example of the existence and development of businesses and actively contributed to creating the image of Vietnam: dynamics and unceasing innovation…

Source: The World & Vietnam Report - Issue no. 02 (1488), 13–19 January 2021