Born in Vietnam, made in New Zealand

Mitchell Pham describes himself as the "black sheep" of his family. His mother, father, sister and brother are all engineers.

It is a tongue in cheek reference, however, as there is no way his parents would frown on his chosen career path. Nevertheless, Mr Pham -- who launched software company Augen as a fresh-faced graduate from Auckland University with four mates in 1993 -- stands out.

He is a risk-taker, an entrepreneur, with a knack for new ideas and the courage to follow through.

It is a courage Mr Pham, 34, picked up when, at the tender age of 12, his parents put him on a boat and launched him into the South China Sea with 67 other Vietnamese refugees.

As supporters of the South Vietnamese government during the Vietnam War, Mr Pham's parents were outcasts under the post-war Communist rule from the North.

They tried twice as a family to escape the country, in 1979 and 1980, and twice failed -- the second time landing the men in a labour camp and the women and children in a minimum security prison.

By 1984, Mr Pham's parents had scraped together enough money for one family member to escape. As the eldest of three children and with the prospect of being drafted into the army -- bound for battles against Cambodia and China -- looming at 14, Mr Pham was chosen.

It was a hairy experience. After three days at sea in a 12.5m fishing vessel, the refugees came close to being rescued by a Swedish holiday liner. But the crew had second thoughts and abandoned the vessel, which was very nearly swamped and crushed in the liner's giant propellers.

Eventually, the refugees were rescued by an oil-rig operation off the coast of Indonesia, and taken to a UN refugee camp. Fifteen months later Mr Pham and his uncle, who was also on the boat, were accepted by the New Zealand Government for immigration under the annual humanitarian quota.

It was a defining moment for Mr Pham, who describes himself as "born in Vietnam; made in New Zealand".

In the mid-80s, Auckland was a fairly homogenous community.

"If you wanted to do anything, you had to integrate," Mr Pham says.

"It's very different now. By 2020, 40 per cent of Auckland will be Asian. When I came over, there was no choice but to integrate."

It's not a decision he regrets, however, nor do his business partners, two of whom are also immigrants, from South Korea and Germany.

"The Augen team were two Kiwis and three Kiwi wannabees," Mr Pham says.

The quintet met in 1990 at Auckland University, where they were studying business information and computer science.

In August 1993, they founded Augen New Zealand, with the initial idea of developing a software package that would deliver the school curriculum online.

The concept stalled, proving too far ahead of the market. The new graduates also lacked the credibility to pull it off.

Undeterred, the group -- comprising Mr Pham, Aucklander Andrew Flint, Peter Vile from Feilding, Robert Kang from Korea and Stephan Koch from Germany -- decided to fall back on their studies and launch into designing operational and marketing software for the corporate world.

By the time exams finished in 1993, Augen had its first customer, a firm called Douglas Pharmaceuticals -- one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical groups in Australasia.

It was a steep learning curve for the group, who had to stick with their part-time university jobs in the first three years of business to stay afloat.

"We were very naive and enthusiastic at the time, and we were determined to build a business," Mr Pham says.

Without the usual considerations like families or mortgages, the business partners' "basic lifestyle requirements" were quite low, he says.

The quintet were also at a similar life stage, a key factor in the longevity of the partnership -- which so far has seen just one member, Mr Flint, leave the company, in 2000.

Augen's customers include corporate heavyweights like ASB Bank, AMP, BT Funds Management, Fletcher Steel, Pacific Retail Group and NZI Insurance.

The company also mentors and is a partner in several software startups, including internet security firm EntriSentri and personal training firm Optimal-Portal.

Augen has 20 staff and is entering a rapid growth period that should see its Australasian turnover grow by 500 per cent in the next five years.

A key part of that growth strategy is expanding Augen's resource base into Asia -- a move that is championed by Mr Pham.

With a severe shortage of local software talent, the group started looking offshore in the late 1990s -- a move that coincided with Mr Pham's first trip home to his family in 14 years.

"Vietnam and China are the two countries in Asia right now that presented the most opportunities for all industries, not just IT," Mr Pham says.

With much of the red tape of communism cast aside, Vietnam is currently expanding at over 7 per cent per annum, second only to China in terms of Asian economic growth.

That, coupled with a focus on education -- Vietnam has a higher literacy rate than the United States -- and its imminent entry into the World Trade Organisation, make it an ideal destination for outsourcing.

Governor-General Dame Silvia Cartwright opened Augen's first office in Ho Chi Minh City last month. The office has four staff, but Mr Pham hopes the Augen workforce will be 200-strong in three to five years' time -- with 20 per cent of that in New Zealand and 80 per cent in Vietnam.

The aim is to preserve the management structure and front end of the business here, while tapping into Vietnam's vast base of new graduates to provide backoffice support for much larger projects, both here and across the Tasman.

"For a long time we've been wanting to expand into Australia, but right now, with New Zealand resources, it's just not possible," Mr Pham says.

"The strength of the New Zealand business is in fronting to the customer, managing projects. As far as our customers are concerned, they are dealing with a New Zealand company. The fact that we have resources in Vietnam is not really felt."

Augen's medium term goal is to use Vietnam's geographical base to launch into more affluent Asian markets like Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

Longer term, Mr Pham sees Vietnam, with its 80 million-plus population, as a potential gold mine.

"Vietnam is hungry for products and services and intellectual properties and everything a western, developed country can offer," Mr Pham says.

"What makes New Zealand one of the better choices is that we are not only a western country, we are one of the most innovative western countries."

Mr Pham says it will be six months before Augen has solid benchmarks for what it can achieve in Asia, but with a strong Asia-Kiwi link, it is on the right track -- in a culture where relationships are paramount.

"To compete in Asia, New Zealand needs more Asian Kiwis, who have a knowledge of both cultures," he says.

- NZPA