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Totally agree. Never felt so free to go about my life and business as in Saigon. Watch out with physical businesses however, foreigners can get scammed out of their stake.

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Do you have any personal experience you can share with foreigners getting scammed?

There was a French accountant in his late 20s who came here with 50K EUR of life savings and opened a French restaurant with a local partner. Worked 7 days a week for 6 months, restaurant was losing money, one day he gets kicked out by his partner with the help from some of his gym friends.

That guy is now back in France in a job. He somehow managed to find a girlfriend while starting his restaurant though. He's now engaged to the girl but she's still here.

I had a chance to talk to a Vietnamese-American (born in Vietnam) who has done a lot of business in Vietnam. I ask him about the opportunities for foreigners. His response was "the gov't is more than happy to let a few foreigners make out well to keep the investments coming, but if they want to, they can take everything you have and you'll have no recourse".

Just an anecdote, but he has more experience in Vietnam than I do.

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