McDonald's has announced plans to open its very first location in Vietnam next year. The first licensee will be Harvard University graduate Henry Nguyen, the managing general partner of IDG Ventures Vietnam, which proudly wears the crown of the first tech venture capital fund in the country. Nguyen is also the son-in-law of Vietnam's prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung.
For Nguyen, this opportunity is a landmark moment, as he used to work at McDonald's while he was a student in the U.S. For McDonald's, it was the appropirate decision, one made following a "rigorous selection process that began years ago."
While McDonald's is late to the party in Vietnam—KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut have already planted flags—Western chains are popular among Vietnam's younger demographic, so it figures to perform well. According to the New York Times, McDonald's has golden arches in over 100 countries worldwide, 38 of which are in Asia.
[via New York Daily News and New York Times]
