David Nealis, president of Eden Global Capital, sat down with John Lothian News for a video interview at FIA Boca 2022. Eden Global, a private investment firm based in the British Virgin Islands, is currently focused on the Vietnamese market, Nealis said. 

“Vietnam will have about 8% GDP growth this year,” he said. “It reminds me of China 25 years ago.”

Eden Global is also starting to get projects outside Vietnam, in the Southeast Asian region, but right now Vietnam is their main focus. The company is focusing on trading Vietnamese equities and helping Vietnamese firms such as agriculture exporters and construction firms raise capital. One channel for that is going to the IPO markets here in the U.S., Nealis said. “They have great fintech firms there as well, but right now we’re focusing on tangible assets.”

He called the opportunity in Vietnam “super hot.”  “There was a great article in The Wall Street Journal a few months ago on who won the trade war between America and China…now they are saying it’s Vietnam,” he said. 

So much of the supply chain has moved off, he added. “I just helped an EV firm IPO last January. One requirement to be involved in this was that they had to have a supply chain that could exclude China. Everyone’s scrambling and Vietnam seems to be one of the main places for that.” 

India is a big draw these days as well, he said, “but East Asia is my expertise.”