Monday, 08.20.2018 |

Ho Chi Minh City Motorcycle Marketplace around 1993-1994, the name of Hoa Lam Motorcycle Trading Company with highest market share was spot on. However, right at the so-call “Spotlight” of their branding and business development, suddenly, Hoa Lam suddenly made a big move in their business and shifted into a completely different business field: stepping their foot into Healthcare industry, building new hospitals and creating a high-tech healthcare park which is now named Hoa Lam - Shangri La.

Despite social judgement and crisis, eight years into this the project, Tran Thi Lam, Chairman of Hoa Lam Company mentioned one thing she kept telling herself: "Try your best, do good and good things will come back to you”.

Madam Tran Thi Lam - Chair Woman of Hoa Lam Corporation and Investor of City International Hospital.

In 1982, I got married with 5 kids. It was such a nightmare when having too many kids and sometimes they got sick… It was haunting everyday day in the past. When one of them got sick, especially one after another, as a mother I did everything I could. Often times I got exhausted, that’s why I understand so well and have so much empathy for all the mothers out there and all the their challenges in staying up all nights in the hospital, watching after their own child.

Back then my only wish was having a good doctor who could cure all diseases. Then, my mother and aunt, as age they had to come to the hospital seeking for medical help quite often made me realized that that medical examination and treatment are everyone’s top mandatory requirement at any time in life.

A person who has no education can still live, but an unhealthy person cannot even live well or enjoy life, yet to mention about making any contribution for the society.”

The practical needs of my family and relatives have given me motivation, and I pray every day for my motorcycle trading business in order to lift me up to my “Hospital dream.”

* It’s been heard that another reason was also a bit of self-sufficiency when she saw many Vietnamese with their A-class status going overseas for medical help without being "respectably treated", and Madam Lam herself was also one of the cases?

“As I said, building hospitals is has always been my dream. As for going abroad for medical treatments, I find that there are too many inadequacies such as extremely high cost treatment, unpredictably expensive accommodation, traveling cost for patients and care givers, not to mention the language barrier. Take me as an example, when my parents had to flight out for medical care and it’s difficult for me too.

The most regrettable thing is that each year, Vietnam loses about $ 2 billion in US dollars, which is the amount of money people have to spend outside of the country for treatments, partly because the hospitals in the country are overloaded. So why not develop a high-quality hospital to retain this foreign currency source?”

* But public opinion said that her divestment from the Hoa Lam - Kymco is because Motorcycle Marketplace is frozen?

“The business changing in direction is not my objective decision but it is intentionally what I always wanted to do in life. Back in 1993, once I was sitting overlooking the crossroads at Cao Thang - Nguyen Dinh Chieu, I saw a line of vehicles circulating on the road there are many cyclos, tricycles at that time all at the sudden I came up with the motorbike business idea.

But to start with Japanese bike business at that time was financially unfordable for me at that time and the demand for cyclists, motorbike taxis, cyclo drivers and immigrants is very high, but how can they can affort buying a car? Expensive, so I did not choose the Japanese motobike business.

I first started by getting an old SangYang from Korea, upgraded/remodeled and then resell it. I tried to purchase new bikes and sell new.. The capital of a SangYang bike was only 6 million dong and I sold it for sold 10 million, even if selling it at 8 million dong, I still can make profit. My goal is to trading and selling for people with limited amount money so they can still own a bike without having to pay much.

Within six months, I bought 1,000 bikes at a time. When I saw the demand of the market can grow even morre, I went to Korea to buy used motorbikes, refurbished and then re-sell them in Vietnam.

At that time, all dealers in the West and Central of Vietnam knew that I sell good and less pricey bikes then people kept coming to me for their bikes, from which the number of cars sold increased to 10,000 bikes / month.

Witnessing how my business grows, Daelim Motor Co., Ltd. Out of 40 other businesses, they invited me as an exclusive agent, the reason was that I am serious and prestigious business woman. Thanks to that, later on Kymco asked for a partnership with me. The divestment from the Hoa Lam-Kymco Joint Venture Company was because I got all what I needed to head start in medical industry.

In addition, my business point of view is that "the most beautiful, the most glorious," should only do one thing, and then consider another, rather than doing ten things at the same time with no success.

*  According to madam Lam for 8 years into healthcare industry, she has been going without counting for herself any benefits. So would you at any time ever find yourself "on the wrong direction” when choosing a kind off business which is claimed for fast profits and less tiredness than the motorcycle business?

It is true that in the past eight years, I have poured a lot of sweat and tears, encountered many difficulties, obstacles, and suffered from public opinion/judgement/crisis to get done with thiss project such as completely done with hospital building, Healthcare Park and actually putting them into operations.

In the past eight years alone, I have not earned a profit, and in the near future, there are still many challenges, which may take many years to recover, but I am very satisfied and happy because if I’ve aimed for money, building hospitals would never have been my plan. For all what I’ve been devotedly working all, it’s my dream that I’ve always wish to become true. That’s why I’ve done whatever it takes to make my dream come true.

* With no experience in medical field in such a huge project in high tech healthcare parks including 6 hospitals and 20 other component projects, would you find yourself furiously risky and unpredictably loading yourself with lots of pressure?

In 2005, when I was assigned by Ho Chi Minh City Board of leaders to implementing the project of building hi-tech healthcare parks, there were so many social discussion around it, even the Health Department of Ho Chi Minh City and its branches were also skeptical about My investment.

Despite all off the Tiredness and stress, I remained calm, without hesitation or feeling reckless. On the contrary, I keep picturing myself being successful living in my dream, as soon as I ‘ve got that picture in mind everything else has gone.

Until my last day, as soon as this project completed to me I’ve lived my life to the fullest. I also made promise to myself that my mother, my aunt and the staff of the Company are people that I would bring first to the hospital.

Of course with such a giant project, this is absolutely something that I could not complete it alone, but it’s a effective collaboration between people, partnerships, and must be divided into periods and periods of time. Fortunately, when I started working on the project, joining in with me were two best major partners, Asean Properties Investment Fund and Ireka Berhad Group for principal investment, and Parkway Health Group for excellent service investment.

Many people ask me why I didn’t invited domestic investors but call for foreign investors. Honestly, as I stated out the project, I wanted to let the local businesses free to co-invest, so I invited many partners but no one wanted to come join me in this project.

And my advantage when working with foreign partners is to calculate finances as well as to have more capital, learn more knowledge about building hospitals.

* Many people think that risk in the medical industry is quite high, many private hospitals have to declare bankruptcy because not having any benefits, or private hospitals are often “being criticized" once a tiny problem occurs. Would you be worried about this?

- Being a part of the medical profession I’m very proud and that’s what I love to do in life love so even though it might become a sorrow but I would not let anyone or anything gets in my way, because if afraid so, then who dare to do. It is important that our team of doctors be enthusiastic, responsible, skillful and willing to treat patient as their loved ones.

In addition, each person has his own way of doing business and their own direction depends much on the leader. So do not just start something because people have succeeded and but run away from things that are difficult to some other people.

I am very thankful to all off the doctors and nurses who have been with me, but they also thank me for giving me the opportunity to be trained, to improve my skills.

People in this area also love me for creating their jobs, able to get hospital treatments when they’re sick. In terms of urban development, ever since the hospital got started, the land value has increased in business growth; more trading & corporations from Japan, USA, France, and Germany...also tourism.

* But the current inadequacies are private hospitals are modeled on high-quality; high cost, how low and middle income people can get into these hospitals, madam?

- The society has many economic status components so the government wants to expand the hospital system to serve more people, so I hope we could somehow get help and support from the government too. With such a big amount of investment; yet the cost has to be a bit on the pricier side.

The paradox is that interest rates on loans for investment of health care in Vietnam are still very high, and I have not received any incentives on interest rates from the city, the local government, but only with encouragingly spiritual support.

I am looking forward to attracting attention from the government, also to details, in particular, there must be places for us to reach out when it comes to problems, not just by encouraging us to do more but when we’re facing issues and crisis, we have nowhere to turn to.

In other countries, offering 2% interest rates, people are able to afford medical care, but their service charges are very high, but Vietnam has to pay high interest rates. If the government offers lower interest rates, patients/visitors/customer will sure be charged with a lower price.

Do not think investors will always gain tons of profit because they have to maintain the quality of services, develop new services, but now health care investment is challengingly earning benefits, must be depreciated for 30 years.

In health care business investment, my main goal is social contribution, not fame, not money. This is something comes from the heart and mind. If you think your investing will be for profitable purposes then I highly recommend not to.

In business investment, what I find myself most happy with is to obey the national laws and achieve it. The time when I was investing in motorbike marketplace that I had contributed in the local government, for four years I had received certificates of merit from the Ministry of Finance on completion obligation to pay taxes.

* The most difficult investment in health care is the lack of good doctors, how do you solve this problem?

- Eight years working in the medical field and putting my heart into it, I realized, doctors are not necessarily lacking but to be exactly saying not synchronized. Therefore, when I gather enough conditions and when it’s time, I will organize intensive training for doctors. There are medical procedures that require precisely accuracy, “A miss is as good as a mile” which leaves such great impact on human life. However, to do this must have the support of all medicals and local departments.

 * Would you be very proud and satisfied when being honored as a successful business woman?

- I’m shy to be titled “successful entrepreneur", it sounds enormously high status, just a good owner is enough for me, I’m happy. What I am most satisfied with is that our children are all grown-ups, becoming very mature, and ethically well- educated.

Very often I tell my children: "We started out very poor, and their mother made a career as it is today because of her virtuous and frugal life. In the morning, put morality on the top, appreciate everything, never waste anything, and always think of unfortunate people.

The other important thing I often teach them is not to be too concerned about public opinions, if you find that this is the right thing to do, do not worry, do not listen whatever people judging about you, go ahead and do it. Besides, keep generosity and empathy to create and maintain good relations with friends and employees.

 * Looks like you’re preparing for yourself your next generation successors?

- The most important thing I want to do to all of my children is educating them, training them and teaching them as much as I can to be people rather than trying to build properties and passing financial values pass generations. I just want to pass and share the experience of living and working for children, and then they can be independently and passionately create their own career paths and work it up to their own achievements.

 * Thank you so much for your time being here with us and all of your honest sharing.