Mobilus — the first Vietnamese-founded company listed on a Japanese stock exchange
The editorial team of the Association Newsletter is pleased to share with our compatriots a message from a Vietnamese boat person — Mr. Hoang The Lan, attorney and founder of Mobilus in Japan.
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Congratulations to Tom Ishii and Kenji Kato on the IPO of Mobilus (*)! I am honored to be a part of the journey. You have done an amazing job. A bright future awaits!
More than monetary returns, I am proud that Mobilus is the first company co-founded by Vietnamese to be listed in Japan.
Nguyễn Minh Đức and I met 20 years ago — one born in Yen Bai, a city best known for its famous uprising against French colonial rule, educated in Hanoi, came to Japan on a scholarship and graduated from its top university; the other born in Saigon, left Vietnam on a stormy night during the wave of “boat people” searching for freedom, grew up in the United States and came to Tokyo as a US-trained attorney. We shared a passion for wine and fun and a love of country. The dream of a better Vietnam was the same, the path there may be different. Despite disparate backgrounds, we focused on common values and shared ideals to build a new company.
Mobilus was started in 2011, after the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan, with no business plan and only the idea to do new things. This is my third IPO exit in Japan but the most special for its symbolic value to the Vietnamese community here. The small accomplishment may be a model for young Vietnamese starting out and chasing dreams. My advice for success is limited; the lessons of failures are plentiful.
After 20 years, the idealism of youth has been grinded down by the harsh realities of life. The fire is now but an ember. No longer dream chasers, perhaps we can be dream builders, helping a younger generation of Vietnamese to achieve better.
In accomplishment, I cannot forget the current suffering of the people in Vietnam, especially Saigon, the city of my birth, due to the coronavirus pandemic, and people like Trần Huỳnh Duy Thức and other prisoners of conscience, they who chose a more courageous path than I — sacrifice rather than business, suffering rather than self-advancement — a path surely less taken and one I once wanted for myself, but fear and greed got the better of me.
Nguyen Thai Hoc, the hero of Yen Bai, was beheaded by the French, but his dream of a better Vietnam lives on with successive generations. I believe a freer Vietnam will bring out the best in its people. Information needs to be free – people should be free!
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(*) Editor’s note: IPO stands for Initial Public Offering — when a company first offers its shares to the public, raising capital broadly by listing its stock on a stock exchange for the first time. After completing an IPO, the company officially becomes a joint-stock company with capital from the public.
More about Mobilus: https://mobilus.co.jp
