Danish-born David Tuan Anh Nguyen is NordCham Vietnam’s new Executive Director (ED). Introducing him also allows getting an update on this chamber of commerce’s focus and activities. Vietnam is today a country offering plenty of business opportunities for established and other Nordic companies keen on finding new foreign markets. At the same time, it’s very competitive, making it essential to have a strong ‘Nordic Voice’.
Appointed to the role in December 2025 (following a stint as Board Member) it quite soon becomes clear that David had had his eyes on the Chamber ever since moving to Vietnam in 2018.
David enjoyed a very Danish upbringing, speaking mainly Danish. “Nowadays I speak Vietnamese because my wife is local. While she speaks good English my parents don’t, so the easiest language to communicate in is actually Vietnamese,” begins David.
“Before I moved to Vietnam, I had the opportunity to have an internship at EuroCham Vietnam (European Chamber of Commerce) and that sparked my interest in working within this type of organisation, but also Vietnam as a country. At that time there was quite a lot of development but not on the level we’re seeing today. But it was an exciting time for Vietnam already then as the country started getting increased attention on the world map.”
“I was fortunate to land my first Vietnam job in 2018, with a Danish company called Orana Vietnam. After that I spent five years working with the Danish-founded marketing agency Spring CC. They work mainly with clients in the Nordics and Europe, as a producer of outsourced graphic, digital and 3D production.”
Then David moved to the Vietnamese media company Vietcetera, managing the ‘Vietnam Innovators Digest’, with a focus on business podcasts and events as a window into the country, also including editorials and own content based on specific trends and opportunities
in the market.
A strong Nordic voice
“Media plays an important role in Vietnam and has a lot of influence when it comes to putting the spotlight on business. For me it was a good opportunity to develop further but also to learn a lot more about the Vietnamese business culture.”
David shares that he saw these jobs as a career path: “They were part of my development and growth I needed to experience, making it a bit easier to transition into a new leadership role, where I today work with both Vietnamese and lots of Nordic partners.”
The experiences plus the Nordic mindset gained in Vietnam made him a great fit for a role with NordCham. Personally, he is particularly interested in sustainable growth, responsible business practices, and people-centric leadership.
Once on board, he set out to amplify a clear and constructive Nordic voice in Vietnam, as part of the strategy laid out for the chamber. “A strong Nordic voice essentially means that in general many from the Nordics are quite humble; they’re not too vocal. But in markets like Vietnam, where there are so much competition and growth you need to be more vocal. So, part of the strategy and role that I have is that we build programmes with advocacy activities – where we can push our members forward, and give them not only speaker time but also visibility in settings they normally don’t want to nominate themselves,” explains the ED.
“Many mid-sized companies invested quite a lot, building amazing businesses here and also within green investments following the Vietnamese government goals for 2050. But, again, they’re not too vocal. So, as a non-profit organisation one of our responsibilities is to help creating platforms and voices for our members to be spotlighted,” he continues.
Nordic/member content focus
The website is another pillar, and which has been significantly modernised, including both look and features.
“To speak a lot more about the Nordics in Vietnam we’re creating a lot of editorial content around Nordic businesses and their values and traditions, so that one can find more information about any member company in one and the same place.”
Under this new chapter the content series ‘Nordic Stories’ highlights the Nordics from three different angles: Nordic Living (stories about culture, values, lifestyle etc.), Nordic Field Notes (sharing reflections and insights from company site visits and interviews) and Nordic Spotlight. The latter consists in long-form articles produced together with members, also as a service to add extra value for members.
“So, whenever anybody – also the Vietnamese government – wants to learn about the Nordics then there’s this hub by NordCham Vietnam.”
The members can also use such storytelling within their own PR and marketing. Coming from a marketing background himself, David encourages the alignment of such efforts with each respective organisation’s vision for innovation and success.
And, undeniably, it helps that the Nordic countries are unified under one chamber in Vietnam: “I’m super grateful that we have come together as one big unit. The model here is also that NordCham is affiliated with EuroCham. So, we do Nordic advocacy in some areas where we know we are specialists and where our members also very strong, while for the broader advocacy we work with EuroCham directly. Within logistics, HR, legal etc. they can bring issues directly to the government’s attention. And then the big part of my focus is how can we improve our Nordic voice, as part of the European voice as well.”
Communalities between Vietnam and the Nordics
As for Nordic Living, for instance local employees in Nordic companies can learn more about the cultures from that region.
“We’ve also tried to find some common Nordic denominators and to some extent link those with Vietnamese traditions and values. That’s not always easy but we showcase that there’s a lot of communalities between Vietnam and the Nordics. People just don’t know. So, this is where we hope to be helpful especially regarding employees in order to better understand the companies’ values.”
The chamber has recently gained more members, currently at around 160, of which 75% are Nordic companies. Other members are non-Nordics, including Vietnamese.
“We also need local partners in this big Vietnamese ecosystem, and that include venture partners etc. It’s important that we are open-minded as a chamber. I do see growth happening especially in non-Nordic members,” comments David, while pointing out that the majority of members should always be Nordic.
Curated, member-focused programmes
Their activities programme is very membership-focused, drawing high engagement. Included is the quarterly ‘Nordic Business Briefings’, where the chamber also develops curated programmes together with members.
“We try to act as quickly as possible when new challenges or opportunities arise and consider those for the briefings, or to share as published information and guidance,” says the ED and adds: “Any company in Vietnam will always face challenges with rules; it’s a highly regulated market. So, here we try to be big proactive from NordCham and obtain insider information, enabling us to potentially influence new decrees.”
Aside being a big knowledge hub, it also engages with official Vietnam, such as recently with Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Industry and Trade (DOIT) to strengthen strategic cooperation.
“This is essentially intended to open doors for the members and embassies to get into the bidding and get assignments, but also facilitating the Vietnamese government to become aware that Nordic investment into the country is not only quite big investment; but also very green,” explains David.
“They were happy to hear about some of the companies that they did not know were Nordic. We mentioned some business cases, and some of the companies that have done good work and invested a lot in Vietnam, especially in the Ho Chi Minh City area. Also, the Nordics is very much in line with the city authority’s sustainable development of the city.”
“Now we’re jointly developing an action plan, with a workshop as the next step to share more about the city’s goals and its hope for business engagement. And we can bring the leaders from different Nordic companies, so they can get the all the crucial data directly from the city. This happens through both intimate meeting formats and bigger events. Our work is to help open doors for our members and embassies to thrive better and navigate better in a complex environment. This also makes an incentive for businesses to become members, but also that we can increasingly work on the advocacy agenda.”
Work the Nordic Way
“We constitute a community that you can talk too. And we bring his community together through our offers for programmes. We have for instance ‘Work the Nordic Way’, where we advocate for the Nordic way of working and leadership; e.g. flat hierarchy, inclusivity etc. It’s through this advocacy platform, with such a young talent pool that Vietnam has, that we have a chance to influence the next generation – coming from a very traditional Vietnamese model to the total opposite in the Nordics. We know we cannot impose it, but we can surely help to influence the working culture.”
The programme is organised as an annual employer branding conference, where employers can advocate for their own company, including intern- and management trainee programmes.
The Green Industries Summit is another key activity in the form of a yearly conference, where industry meets sustainability. The activities around this summit will also increase, informs David.
“It’s quite important for us to keep advocating for a sustainable Vietnam, especially within manufacturing, infrastructure and logistics, where we are the strongest and also with quite a big member base linked to those sectors.”
Shift to Asia
With the Nordic investment concentrated in “future sectors” such as renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and digital and industrial technology, this is also in alignment with Vietnam’s green transition, and needs for energy and infrastructure investment. Add to that the new EU–Vietnam FTA and all things combined looks very bright for the Nordics’ future in the country.
“It’s indeed positive because people’s mindset here are also starting to change. Sweden is a very good example in trying to take lead. But I know that if you are in the Nordics, Vietnam sometimes seems just far away. But among those with presence here I see more and more executives spending time in Vietnam; sometimes even moving here for a few years – to understand the market and discover the opportunities on site. Other executives are also coming several times per year to get the right understanding, because everything is moving so fast in Asia right now. If you don’t have boots on the ground – not only teams but also an executive leader – then they could miss out on some of the opportunities,” thinks David.
“And I do think it’s quite smart for Nordic governments and countries to fit in and enter with long-term investments: ’This is what we do for Vietnam’s future’, to, besides financial investment, also help the government long-term with its different goals. Many also underestimate the talent development and quality capacity building – something that our embassies also work quite a lot on, as well as NordCham, to some extent.”
“For us it’s an ecosystem, rather than one-off bigger investments, where we’re actually building hopefully the future Vietnam with as many Nordic projects, tech people etc. as possible. We do see a lot of potential in Asia, and I believe that the global shift is also coming to Asia right now.”
Overall, David Nguyen will spend significant time in 2026 talking to the members, to really understand them and ensuring the chamber can develop content accordingly that can help for the Spotlight Series and events.
“I always try to understand what challenges and opportunities that they are seeing right now, to find commonalities among the members, which also helps in developing our programme content better, and to be relevant to the them.”
