With A Boost From Bill Gates, Vietnam's Entrepreneurs Put Profits Into Philanthropy

A sure sign of Vietnam's economic development is that the country is now producing notable philanthropists. In April Le Van Kiem, chairman of the Long Thanh Investment & Trading Corp., became the first Vietnamese to join forces with Bill Gates, the philanthropist and Microsoft co f ounder. At a meeting in Singapore the two agreed to set up the Vietnam Health Fund to improve health care in the country. Le pledged $5 million over the next five years, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will match each dollar, as well as all other donations from local philanthropists. The goal: $50 million. In May foundation officials organized a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City with other wealthy individuals to round up support.

Sharing is not a strange idea for ordinary Vietnamese, but big-scale altruism is rare so far, given that serious wealth accumulation started in Vietnam only in the past two decades. Le--who holds interests in real estate development, golf courses and mining--belongs to the first generation of entrepreneurs who started businesses after the Vietnam War. He survived the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis and began giving money to various charities and causes a decade ago. Now nearing age 70, he's considering whether to devote most of his time to philanthropy.

Vietnam's only billionaire, Pham Nhat Vuong, set up a foundation named Kind Heart in 2006, and it has spent more than $50 million so far. Aside from giving money to needy people and contributing to community programs, Kind Heart has provided 15,700 houses for poor families across the country. It also gives buffaloes and cows to farm families; in return, the families turn over to the program the first calf produced, so other families can benefit. So far 15,000 calves have been handed out.

Duong Cong Minh, chairman of the privately held Him Lam Group, is known for building schools across the country, without making a fuss about it. Donors to educational causes get a break on their income taxes, and in May the government approved Vietnam's first private, non-profit university. The school, Fulbright University, will need to raise funds for an endowment and will be counting on the country's growing corps of philanthropists to step up.

With the Health Fund the Gates Foundation will do most of the management and bear all of the administrative costs so that the money raised can go entirely toward programs. The foundation is undertaking a similar effort in Indonesia, with billionaire Tahir as the point person.