Ahsan Iqbal , Federal Minister Planning & Development , from Vietnam
Walking through the vast assembly lines of VinFast in Vietnam, I felt as though I was witnessing rise of Vietnam’s story being written in real time. Here stood a company that, starting from zero experience and knowledge, dared to dream of challenging the global automotive giants.
Just over two years since delivering its first electric vehicles, VinFast has already outperformed every other automaker in Vietnam to become the nation’s best-selling vehicle brand.
In 2024 alone, VinFast delivered over 67,000 electric vehicles. This extraordinary achievement has made Vietnam one of the rare markets in the world where electric vehicles now outnumber traditional gasoline-powered cars.
For a country where the internal combustion engine had dominated for decades, this is nothing short of a revolution.
But what struck me most was not only the speed of this transformation, but the story of the man behind it — Pham Nhat Vuong. Born into a poor family in a war-torn Vietnam, Vuong’s journey began with little more than his intellect and resilience, when he won scholarship to study in USSR.
In the early 1990s, after graduation as a young mathematician, he arrived in Ukraine with no wealth and no connections. He opened a small noodle bar for students, then built a dried-food business so successful that Nestlé bought it for $150 million.
With this success, Vuong brought his fortune back home and established Vingroup, which grew into Vietnam’s largest conglomerate spanning housing, retail, healthcare, education, AI, and big data.
Yet, he realized that most of these ventures, however successful domestically, had limited global reach. Cars, however, offered a gateway to the world.
So in 2017, without prior experience, a factory, or even a development center, he founded VinFast. Two years later, the first car rolled off the line. Today, VinFast is not only Vietnam’s top brand but also building a factory in the United States, and exploring sites in Europe — an audacious leap into the global market. Vuong has pledged his entire fortune to realize his dream of making Vietnam a global player in sustainable mobility.
As I stood there, I saw more than an automotive factory. I saw the embodiment of vision, courage, and perseverance. I saw proof that nations and individuals, no matter where they start, can achieve greatness when they dare to dream big, invest in innovation, and commit wholeheartedly to their goals.
VinFast’s story is not just rise of Vietnam’s story. It is a universal lesson — that transformation begins when someone dares to imagine a different future and has the courage, dedication & commitment to chase it.
