Egis’ representative office in Vietnam was officially established on 14th Dec 2000, managed by Mr. Benko István László. Today, there are 47 employees in our Egis office located in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, the biggest and busiest city in Vietnam. In addition to that, we also have a smaller office in Hanoi, the capital as well.

Though Egis Vietnam have kept growing, developing during the past two decades, one thing, their ambition, remained the same: our colleagues have worked hard to "Provide high-quality pharmaceutical products with reasonable prices for Vietnamese people". And how successfully they have managed to deliver this is proven by the fact that Egis is one of the country’s Top 50 foreign companies. Egis products stand for safety and quality: an economical choice for healthcare professionals and patients alike in the treatment of cardiovascular issues (e.g.: Dopegyt, Nitromint, Kaldyum, Cardilopin) and diseases related to the central nervous system (e.g.:, Grandaxin, Aripegis) or the respiratory system (e.g.: Halixol, Erolin).

“In 2012, as there was a managerial change in our Vietnam office, a new chapter began focusing on restructuring our daily operation: thanks to this elaborate process, and the great efforts made, our daily mechanisms, both on an organizational and financial level, greatly improved.” – said Miklós. “I was previously connected to Vietnam as our headquarters’ Regional Operations Manager of the country, and during our Egis2020 strategy, Vietnam managed to double its turnover from EUR 4 million to 9 million. This was a great result, of course, however, our growth presented new challenges as well: we had to realize that we needed to adjust our business model.”

Vietnam’s cultural background makes it an enticing destination for tourists for sure. I wonder what these differences might mean in terms of conducting business, leading a team, managing a life as a foreigner over there.

“To be honest, I didn’t have any difficulties with the team: we had already known each other since, as I mentioned, I used to be their regional operations manager. The previous general manager was also Hungarian, which made my transition a lot easier. Everyone was used to communicating in English in the office – which is great as I don’t think I would ever be able to master the Vietnamese language! But you’re right, I did have to adjust to the new environment: there have been plenty of lovely traditions I got to be acquainted with, and my colleagues have always been open to our customs. For example, most of them don’t celebrate Christmas, yet our office is decorated the same way it would be at home. Everyone has been very friendly with me since the get-go, I have never felt like a complete outsider, even if we have a slightly different approach to certain things.”

What about the pharmaceutical background of the country?

“Prescription-only medicines are very much present in the country: these products come with serious regulations and these are the only ones to receive state subsidies. That is why a lot of companies base their strategies on them, just like we do for the most part. However, Vietnam is a country where natural products, teas and herbs are in great demand too.”

Regarding their connection with the headquarters, Miklós added: “We receive a lot of support from the headquarters, whether we talk about our daily operation, our corporate culture and environment, or our financial and HR processes – there is a definitely strong connection to the mother ship. I am proud to say that my colleagues are very loyal and devoted to this company: a couple of months ago, for example, some of our employees went hiking together during their vacation. They showed me a few pictures of the place they visited, and everyone in the photo was wearing their Egis t-shirt. It was so great to see that!”

The pandemic obviously affects every corner of the planet. How is the situation over there?

“The situation is somewhat different here: as a country with more than 96 million inhabitants, and a medical system that could quickly become overwhelmed, they realized it right away that their only chance to fight the pandemic was to take drastic steps and prevent the rapid spread of the virus. We’ve had very strict rules that people didn’t hesitate to take seriously: whether it was wearing a mask or having a curfew, everyone was determined to do their best to stop the virus from spreading. For example, there are a lot apartment houses with hundreds of flats here. When they had a single confirmed case in such places, everyone in the building was quarantined for 14 days – whether you had direct contact with that person or not. Of course, we had to work from home for a while too and we needed to shut down our sales force from face to face visits for about a month. But thanks to the seemingly extreme precautions, we haven’t had a positive case in months, and despite wearing a mask, we could, more or less, return to our normal daily routine.”