A simple question to most foreign investors about the difficulties of doing business in Vietnam will usually prompt a gush of comment about complex and constantly changing regulations, high taxes and labour costs, bureaucratic duplication and intransigence, and a poorly developed legal framework.
But ask the same question to Lo Kwok-luen, the chairman of Vietnam's newly established Hong Kong Business Association (HKBA), and the response is simply a broad, knowing grin.
'It's not easy, but it's getting a whole lot better,' he said.
'In the early days people came here thinking it would be easy to make big money, but that was not the case because Vietnam was adapting to a whole new economic situation,' Mr Lo added.
'It was a lot more difficult in the past, but now the authorities are very much easier to deal with.
'There's much more flexibility and openness and that's why I will be staying on,' Mr Lo said.
