The Land of the Dragon roars success
Vietnam is assuming an increasingly growing importance as an ASEAN/Asian commercial and investment hub - and Frasers Law Company (Frasers) was the first law firm to receive a foreign law company license in Vietnam. We spoke to Paolo Marco Restituto from his office in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Land of the Dragon roars success
Vietnam is assuming an increasingly growing importance as an ASEAN/Asian commercial and investment hub - and Frasers Law Company (Frasers) was the first law firm to receive a foreign law company license in Vietnam. We spoke to Paolo Marco Restituto from his office in Ho Chi Minh City.
Paolo Marco Restituto, Senior Business Development Manager, Frasers Law Company (Vietnam)
paolo.restituto@frasersvn.com
Q. Many of our readers will be unfamiliar with the ASEAN market, and Vietnam in particular. Can you give us a brief introduction to Frasers and the work you do in the country?
Frasers Law Company (Frasers) was the first law firm to receive a foreign law company license in Vietnam. The firm has been operating since the 1990s and has been witness to the country’s growth and its status now as a rising superstar in Asia. I feel the firm has helped in this growth by enabling international projects and investments - and it will continue to do so in the same capacity given the broader economic trajectory of the country and the region generally.
Seeing the role Vietnam will continue to play in the growth of the region and globally, the firm continues to invest in talent - both in its legal practitioners and professional staff - to be able to connect with and serve a growing market looking to invest in the country. Working closely with a powerhouse team of partners and senior legal team members, I support the firm with branding, outreach opportunities, client engagement tactics, and marketing communications—all developed and executed to an international standard.
If I can summarize the firm’s vision it’s that of combining local understanding with international perspectives, developing the firm as an institution well-positioned for growth to support the increasingly complex legal needs of businesses investing in Vietnam.
Q. And where is the region when it comes to professional services marketing and business development (BD)?
Just as firms in the region are starting to hire more internationally experienced and trained lawyers, they are also starting to build up internationally experienced business development and marketing teams. We have a growing community of BD and marketing professionals here in Ho Chi Minh City, but the community at least for the ASEAN region has room for growth in terms of size and interconnectivity.
Q. Vietnam is fast and increasingly assuming an important role as a commercial and investment hub in the ASEAN region. What have been the driving factors behind that? And what further potential is there for growth?
Robust, growing exports, for one. Especially after the hard lessons learned about supply chain diversification, more multinational corporations are seeing Vietnam as an attractive manufacturing hub. With the relatively lower costs of skilled labour and utilities, advantageous geography, and political stability, you get the ideal foreign investment destination.
A good example is the electronics industry. We were already seeing the rise of Vietnam’s electronics export even before the pandemic. The interest in expanding manufacturing capacities remains bullish - we can only expect further growth as household names continue to produce more of their product lines and product components in the country.
There is also the fact of Vietnam being a considerable market. With a population of almost a hundred million with a growing middle class, it has become an undeniable trade partner for major developed economies.
Q. The firm enjoys impressive rankings and accolades within the Asia Pacific Legal 500, doesn’t it?
We do! It’s interesting to learn just how many directory submissions there are in-market. We’re consistently recognized as a top-tier firm in various leading directories, but what impresses me most in this market is just how paramount actual client feedback remains as the real measure of market standing. Client feedback goes around, and clients are savvier about which directories are credible. They just know which ones are truly number one in band, rank, or tier.
Q. You’ve been in the role for just a little over a year, having spent the previous decade at a global law firm in the Philippines. Why the move? And are the markets very different?
Yes, I’ve worked with a multinational firm for a decade, and all those years were spent in various capacities with a global business development team. Frasers provides me with a unique opportunity to use those learnings in a more applied environment - and the degrees of separation between marketing strategy to execution - are much more streamlined.
I distinctly remember in my interview how Frasers was looking for international business development professionals which I thought spoke volumes about its vision and what market it sees itself targeting and serving as a firm in Vietnam. I remember telling myself then this would be the ideal opportunity to apply and grow that decade-long learning from global BD by adding that in-market experience.
Taking an in-market role, I especially appreciate just how important client feedback is - firms live or die by their last transaction or advice. This is especially true when working with firms from other jurisdictions or international firms with no office in Vietnam. The connections and relationships we establish are founded on quality and stellar feedback. If there’s one thing that continues to amaze me, it’s just how international my audience and market have remained, and perhaps even grown.
“I think the professional services market in Vietnam and the region in general will only to continue to grow and evolve. As the global economy continues to shift towards Asia, the legal marketer’s challenge is to also develop the message that not only introduces the firm’s capabilities but also the regions and its unique qualities and characteristics.”
“I think the professional services market in Vietnam and the region in general will only to continue to grow and evolve. As the global economy continues to shift towards Asia, the legal marketer’s challenge is to also develop the message that not only introduces the firm’s capabilities but also the regions and its unique qualities and characteristics.”
Q. What are the specific challenges facing the professional services marketing and BD practitioner in the ASEAN region?
You mentioned earlier many readers will be unfamiliar with the ASEAN market. I think that also holds for many of the international companies who are interested in investing in the region. It’s not uncommon for companies to get a bad experience because of poorly drafted advice, simply because they didn’t know any better about which firm works best in a specific area. That doesn’t help anyone in terms of promoting the region.
I think that’s where our marketing skills come in. We want to truly promote and position ourselves as a reliable advisor, so we really apply our “global” hats when it comes to what tactics, messaging, and content works for the people we want to reach.
From a practical perspective, of course, there’s resourcing challenge. Unless a firm is part of a wider international operation, the marketing and BD team tends to be lean in a region. Each team member needs to be proficient with wearing multiple hats - pitching, social media, finance, copywriter, and so on. You need the mental agility to switch at the drop of a hat.
Q. How is your department structured within the firm?
I have a fearless BD executive. And that’s it! We’re the entire department. But as I have always believed - and keep telling my colleagues - legal BD and marketing is also a function of the practitioners we work with. Our team is fortunate to have a BD-savvy senior legal team that is truly active and engaged in driving the BD and marketing objectives of the firm.
Q. The theme of this issue is research and the subject of the recent PSMG conference was data and data analytics. Can you share anything with our readers on how you approach these business drivers?
As they say, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. There is a myriad of metrics you can consider from a law firm BD and marketing perspective, but with finite team resources what metrics should those be? My focus right now is establishing the fundamentals when it comes to measuring and tracking revenue and profitability.
I’ve come to appreciate small to mid-size firms tend to be headcount sensitive. Capacity forecasts for firms in this size range leave very little margin for sudden changes or adjustments, both for the lawyers and even the professional staff. It’s easy to look at utilization and think that a high figure is a good thing. Sure, we’re at 90%, but are we getting the best possible profitability out of that 90% on which we spend our time?
Q. What’s next for Frasers? And for the professional services market in Vietnam?
More business! And I think the professional services market in Vietnam and the region in general will only to continue to grow and evolve. As the global economy continues to shift towards Asia, the legal marketer’s challenge is to also develop the message that not only introduces the firm’s capabilities but also the region and its unique qualities and characteristics.