VietNamNet Bridge – Nurturing the idea of bringing McDonald's to Vietnam for 10 years, Nguyen Bao Hoang opened his own company, kept contact with the partner and scheduled to open the first store in the first quarter of next year in HCM City.

From Illinois (USA), the world's largest fast food group - McDonald's - last week announced that it would enter the fast food market of Vietnam through franchising to Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoang or Henry Nguyen.

The rumor about the coming of McDonald's to Vietnam has been spread for almost a year. However, it is a surprise that Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoang was selected as the partner because Hoang is an overseas Vietnamese who has been known as the CEO of the $100 million IDG Venture, which invests in technology companies such as Tencent, Baidu, Sina (China) or VNG , VC Corp, Peacesoft (Vietnam) ...

Ms. Duong Thu Huong, IDG Ventures Public Relations & Operations Director confirmed that the partnership with McDonald's is "a private affair" of Nguyen Bao Hoang, which is unrelated to IDG Ventures.

Hoang told local newspapers that he has nurtured the dream to bring McDonald's to Vietnam for a decade. "Since I was a boy, I have always been a fan of McDonald's, which is where I used to work at the age of adolescence. Since I returned to Vietnam more than 10 years ago, I have always dreamed that someday I can bring McDonald's to my homeland," he said.

In 2012, Good Day Hospitality Company operating in the field of tourism and catering services was founded by Hoang. Many people questioned why a new company like Good Day Hospitality was selected by McDonald’s as its partner in Vietnam?

Mr. Liam Jeory - Vice President for External Relations of McDonald's Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa - said the licensing or franchising of McDonald’s is common worldwide. The selected entrepreneur must prove his ability to raise capital, to cooperate to form a top-performing team and to develop the business of McDonald's.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoang.

"From so many candidates, we select the best candidate. In Vietnam, there are many qualified candidates, but ultimately Mr. Nguyen Bao Hoang is the winner because he demonstrated his business achievement," he added.

In addition, Jeory said that Hoang used to work for McDonald's for a time and has kept in touch with McDonald’s until now, showing the determination to bring this brand to Vietnam.

Good Day Hospitality representative declined to disclose the amount of money that it has to pay to bring McDonald's to Vietnam. But according to experts' calculations based on documents on franchising, franchisee must spend about $1-1.9 million to be allowed to open McDonald's restaurants. KFC is also required franchise fees of about $1.1 to $1.7 million.

However, the franchise license is just the first step to enter the field of fast-food service. Nguyen Bao Hoang and Good Day Hospitality will have to do a lot of work to open the first restaurant.

As commented by brand expert Vo Van Quang, it is late for McDonald's to enter Vietnam at this time. Therefore, Hoang will have to have a strategy to compete in a "fierce" market with the competitors like KFC, Lotteria, Pizza Hut, Jolibee ..., which have operated in Vietnam a few years or ten years.

Mr. Phan Le Khoi - Deputy General Director of IB Group is more optimistic when saying that there is still an opportunity for new investors. "To really satisfy consumer demand, the current number of fast food stores is not enough. In the world, you can see a lot of these shops in the city, but in big cities of Vietnam, you have to pass a few blocks to see a fast foot store. So you can see that the capacity of the fast food market does not reach the saturation level,” he said.

According to a survey by Nielsen Vietnam, with a population of approximately 90 million people and the people under 35 accounting for 65 percent, Vietnam is a potential market for businesses serving fast food, because the customers of fast food are people from 20 to 35.

The review of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2012 also showed that the fast food market is becoming the industry with high growth and stability in the consumer foods industry today. This is a fertile land attracting the attention and investment of many leading brands in the world, Vinaresearch report said.

McDonald's media representative has revealed that its partner in Vietnam plans to open its first store in HCM City in the first quarter of 2014.

According to the BrandZ ranking, in 2013 McDonald's brand is still the most expensive fast food brand in the world with $90.2 billion, but it reduced 5 percent compared to 2012. The group has 34,500 stores in more than 100 countries worldwide. Of these, more than 80 percent of the restaurants are owned and operated by independent firms locally through franchising.

Hoang, the latest partner selected by McDonald's to open restaurants in Vietnam, was born in 1974, graduated from Harvard University and holds a master degree of Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, Illinois. Before becoming the CEO of IDG Ventures, he worked in the technology group at Goldman Sachs.

Na Son