Richest Man in Vietnam Has a Plan to Save the Virus-stricken World

The COVID-19 coronavirus largely leapfrogged Vietnam into the pandemic spotlight – the country has reported just 332 cases and no deaths. From his sprawling headquarters in Hanoi, the richest man in Vietnam, billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, could see a need beyond the border. In April, the richest man in Vietnam surveyed his cradle-to-grave conglomerate and made a decision. He was getting into ventilators.

In the worst cases of COVID-19, the virus attacks the lungs, making it harder to get oxygen into the bloodstream. A ventilator can be the difference between life and death, and there aren’t enough of them. By one estimate, the world’s hospitals could use another 800,000.

The shortage is most acute in the developing world – South Sudan, for example, has just 4 ventilators for a population of 12 million, but the world’s richest country is short, too. After reports that some hard-hit New York City hospitals had jury-rigged ventilators to serve 2 patients at the same time, President Donald Trump compelled automakers and other U.S. companies to start making the devices. Ford Motor Co. and General Electric Co. teamed up to deliver 50,000 ventilators by July 13 in a $336 million government contract.

Vuong believes his company, Vingroup JSC, can do it faster and for less money. Using an open-source design from device maker Medtronic Plc, Vingroup submitted a working ventilator for regulator approval in mid-April. While the company waits for Vietnam’s regulators to give the go-ahead, ventilators are rolling off the assembly line.

Vingroup’s ventilators cost around $7,000 in Vietnam, 30% less than Medtronic’s own model. The company also says it could produce as many as 55,000 a month as soon as the government approves them and plans to export them wherever there’s demand. Vingroup says it’ll donate several thousand to Ukraine and Russia, where Vuong has long-standing business ties.

“For the time being, we will focus on producing lots of ventilators – and doing it really well,” said the 51-year-old Vuong, who shared his plans over the course of a few months in a rare interview at Vingroup’s Hanoi headquarters and in a series of emails. “We want to join hands with the Vietnamese government to solve a part of the pandemic problem.”

While Vingroup runs a handful of hospitals and clinics; being a medical device manufacturer hadn’t been on the agenda. But Vuong, who first got rich selling packaged noodles in the Ukraine, is known for an ambition that dovetails Vietnam’s own. So, when the country pushed domestic manufacturers to make more sophisticated products, Vingroup started making cars and smartphones.