A Vietnam-based fund has appointed a former vice chancellor of Germany as the chairman of the advisory board of its technology investment arm.

VinaCapital announced on Friday that Dr. Philipp Rösler, of Vietnamese origin, will work as the chair of the advisory board of VinaCapital Ventures.    

Dr. Rösler will provide counsel for and help Vietnamese startups connect with investors and bring their products to international markets.

He served as Federal Minister of Economics and Technology and Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2011 to 2013.

VinaCapital CEO and founding partner Don Lam said the former politician has profound experience in a wide range of roles in public governance and the private sector.

“Philipp’s experience and perspective are extraordinarily unique. He has served in both the public and private sectors; as a physician and a legislator; with large established companies and small startups,” the Vietnam News Agency quoted Don as saying.

“In Europe, he was as a bridge between German startups and Silicon Valley, and now he will play this and other roles for startups in Vietnam.”

Dr. Rösler was born in 1973 in Soc Trang Province, southern Vietnam.

He was then adopted by a German soldier’s family at nine months old and grew up in Germany.

He became the first minister of Asian descent in a European country in 2009, when he was elected as Federal Minister of Health, the youngest cabinet minister in Germany.

In 2011, he was voted as Federal Minister of Economics and Technology and Vice Chancellor of Germany.

He was the youngest chairman of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), holding the chairmanship from 2011 to 2013.

Before his political career, he was a cardiothoracic surgeon.

After leaving politics, Dr. Rösler became a member of the managing board and head of the Center for Regional Strategies of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Switzerland in January 2014.

He also served as an advisor to the Founder’s Fund, a U.S.-based technology fund known for its engagement with Space X, Uber, PayPal and Palantir.

Seeded by VinaCapital Group, VinaCapital Ventures is a US$100 million Vietnam-focused venture capital platform dedicated to investing in and building world-class technology companies and incorporating them into a full digital ecosystem, according to its website.

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