Vietnam’s remarkable transformation from an economically embargoed country to one of the world’s top agricultural exporters took great audacity from its pioneer businesspeople and diplomats.

At the 2016 Summer Fancy Food Show, held in late June in New York, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company, or Vinamilk, introduced American importers to its condensed milk and cream products under the brand name Driftwood.

The show was successful, with its two dairy products hitting the shelves of supermarkets in Arizona and California not long after, creating a milestone in the state-owned company’s global vision.

Now Vietnam’s largest dairy company with a reported yearly revenue of over VND40 trillion (US$1.76 billion), 13 percent of which comes from its exports, Vinamilk’s journey as an exporter started nearly 20 years ago in the Middle East.

Act of kindness

In 1997, two containers of Vinamilk’s products were sent to Iraq by the Vietnamese government as relief following the end of the Gulf War between Baghdad and a U.S.-led coalition during 1990 and 1991.

Impressed by the quality of its shipments, a delegation of Iraqi officials arrived in Vietnam later that year to discuss trade deals with Vinamilk, offering to import as many as 300 metric tons of milk from the dairy company.

“I agreed without a second thought,” Vinamilk CEO Mai Kieu Lien recalled. “I would have done it even if it had been a loss-making deal, as this truly was Vinamilk’s chance of reaching a global market.”

One year later, 27 Vietnamese entrepreneurs and trade officials led by then-Deputy Minister of Trade Le Huy Con traveled to the Middle East country in search of further export deals.

While the delegation was transiting in Dubai, a four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets by U.S. and UK forces known as Operation Desert Fox began, leaving the Vietnamese with a dilemma: to return to Vietnam or risk death by entering a war zone in order to pursue trade negotiations.

The latter option eventually prevailed, and the delegation continued into Iraq, taking refuge inside the Embassy of Vietnam in Baghdad before visiting Iraq’s Ministry of Trade the night after, proceeding with negotiations while bombs showered the Iraqi capital.

The discussions that went deep into the night resulted in deals worth $700 million for multiple Vietnamese companies, with Vinamilk securing itself a $100 million plus export contract.

“It was a major turning point [for Vinamilk],” Lien said, adding that the contract became the foundation for the company’s remarkable growth in the years after.

The Embassy of Vietnam in Iraq in the early 1990s. Photo: Nguyen Quang Khai

Bloody business

In an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper in late 2016, Nguyen Quang Khai, the former Vietnamese Ambassador to Iraq, recalled a horrendous experience during his second tenure there.

In September 2003, just after the outbreak of the Iraq War, Khai was tasked with escorting a delegation of Vietnamese entrepreneurs to negotiate deals with potential Iraqi partners.

Tragedy struck while the Vietnamese convoy was crossing a desert, with two officials killed along with a leader of a tea making firm.

Khai had to take care of the fallen men and at the same time ensure that his delegation arrived on time for the negotiations.

“Sacrifices were made [for Vietnam] to open up a new market,” the former ambassador said.

The sacrifices have not been for nothing, Khai added, with the rest of the Vietnamese delegation securing deals to export over 30,000 metric tons of tea worth nearly $20 million to the Middle East country.

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