McDonald's plans to open its first restaurant in Vietnam, the fast food company said Tuesday, making it the latest U.S. brand to move into the communist country that was once at war with the United States.

McDonald's says it has awarded a franchise for a location in Ho Chi Minh City that should open early next year.

The franchise was awarded to Henry Nguyen, a Vietnamese businessman who was born in Vietnam but came to the United States as a child with his family. He attended Harvard University as an undergraduate and received a medical and business degree from Northwestern University.

Nguyen then worked as an associate at Goldman Sachs in its technology group before deciding to return to Vietnam. He is the managing general partner of IDG Ventures Vietnam, the first technology venture capital firm in the country, and is the son-in-law of Vietnam's prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung.

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