Welcome to Shanghai

Sunday's 4 hour flight from Ho Chi Minh City was a breeze compared to the 15 hours to get to Hong Kong earlier in the week. When we got off the plane the immediate difference between China and Vietnam was the weather, no more humidity.

The city was an about an hour drive from the airport. It's hard to believe seeing the city for the first time that China is still an emerging nation. It was much like driving into NYC, lots of high rises, lots of highways, and lots of traffic.

On the way to the hotel we stopped at the Pudong area for some photos. There are some amazing new buildings in Shanghai including the TV Tower and the World Financial Center, otherwise known as the Bottle Opener.

After getting settled at the hotel we took a short walk down Nanjing Road, the expensive shopping area of Shanghai. It was all high end brands. We stopped in one of the malls for a quick bite and were surprised by how empty it was. It didn't seem like the residents of Shanghai actually shop there. We actually found out during a visit today to the US Consulate that all of the very high end retail companies are mainly here for show not to make any money.

We had our first group dinner, a traditional family style Chinese meal. To me it didn't seem that much different than American style Chinese food. As much as I like Asian food I think I will be ready for good old American food by the end of the week.

A few of us ventured out to the Xintiandi area or the French concession after dinner. This is a shopping, dining, and bar area in the city. Our guide Candy had warned us not to take red cabs but we found out the hard way why red cabs are taboo. Cab drivers in Shanghai don't speak any English so you need to give them a card with the Chinese characters of where you want to go. We realized very quickly that he didn't know where to go even though we were going to a popular part of the city. He had to stop and ask directions. We got there eventually but we won't be taking any more red cabs.

So far I really like Shanghai, in a different way than I liked Vietnam. It's really hard to compare Vietnam and China since they are completely different cities in different stages of development. Although I liked the Vietnamese people I never felt completely safe in Ho Chi Minh City, in Shanghai I feel like I am in New York. You need to be careful but the streets aren't overwhelmed with people and runaway motorbikes. It's a very impressive city and it will be interesting to see how it compares to Beijing later in the week.

Our business visits start on Monday.

Last Day and Best Day in Vietnam

I was finally able to get back on and avert China's block on Blogger through my vpn. I'm working on catching up on my posts.

Saturday was our last day in Ho Chi Minh City and in my opinion was our best day here. We spent most of the day with the Dong Thap University students, who for the last year have been working on a microcredit project in the Dong Thap Province. Microcredit is an interesting concept whereby small loans, typically less than 100 USD, are granted to people in villages, usually so they can start or grow small businesses. The majority of borrowers are women and they are members of a group of lenders with a team leader that manages the lending and payback process. Borrowers have to demonstrate their ability to save, in addition to a monthly payment on the loan, interest needs to be paid, as well as a percentage that is reserved for personal saving. This concept was started by Professor Muhammad Yunus. Below is a link to the Grameen Bank founded by Professor Yunus.

Microcredit link

This particular project was started by a group of social work students at Dong Thap University in partnership with Rider University and the AAE. Ruby from the AAE traveled to Ho Chi Minh City today with the students so they could update us on their project and we could give them suggestions as they move to expand the project to additional villages. Because they are social work student their objective in the project was to improve the lives of the people in the 3 lending groups. They achieved that goal and more with this pilot project. Where they all acknowledge that they need to improve is on the business aspect of the project. As MBA students everyone in our group started poking holes in the business weaknesses of the project but even with those they only had 3 out of 39 borrowers that did not pay back their loans. One group was so successful that their savings is now their borrowing money.

We also saw a couple of case studies from the students about the businesses that they women created. One woman raised and sold baby ducks, one sold pastries off the back of her bike, and one opened a small shop. It is amazing how such a small amount of money for such a small business can make such a difference in people’s lives. We saw photos of where some of the people live and they were the equivalent of shacks on the water. Although there was a bit of a language barrier with some of the students, most only learned English in the last few years, you could see their pride in their work and the difference they made. Another great example of the overall pride of the Vietnamese people. I feel proud that we were able to assist, even in a very small way, with this worthwhile project.

Presenting our donation to the Dong Thap University microcredit project

We gave the students some suggestions for improvements they can think about for the project and then we broke off for lunch with some of the students. The student we were paired with didn’t speak much English but we had a good time anyway. We had fun having pizza with her and the pizza actually wasn’t bad.

After some free time we had our last Vietnamese dinner. Another great job by Van, our guide. We were excited to present him with a gift for making our trip so special and we had fun with the Dong Thap students, who were all wearing their Rider t-shirts that were brought for them. Again, although there were language barriers, it was an amazing experience for all of us and a wonderful way to end our time in Vietnam. I will always remember Vietnam for the warmth and enthusiasm that was shown to us by the Vietnamese people. It will be interesting to see if the same is true of the Chinese people.

Up early for our flight to Shanghai in the morning.

Vietnam Business Visits Day 2

On Friday we ventured outside of Ho Chi Minh City to the Binh Duong Province to visit Becamex and learn about the Binh Duong New City and industrial parks that are managed by Becamex. It was about an hour bus ride to the province from Ho Chi Minh City. Becamex is a state owned company and they are involved with the development of a new city complete with businesses, housing, entertainment, and education. They sell the land rites to various businesses and investors in the New City and other Industrial Parks. The state still owns the land but the businesses have basically leased the land and then the own the buildings on that land.


Presentation at Becamex


Becamex presented their plans to us during the morning presentation, what they are endeavoring to do is quite impressive. The plans that they shared looked almost the same as a US planned community. Following the presentation we got back in the bus to see the Industrial Parks and the initial phases of the New City.

There are a number of large businesses including Colgate-Palmolive and Miller Beer that are residents in the industrial park. The other phases are in the beginning stages of development, but what we saw was not quite what the presentation looked like. I think Becamex has an interesting plan for the region and if successful it will certainly help the Vietnamese economy.

Planned housing in the New City

Next stop was a group lunch hosted by Becamex. Several family style courses of local Vietnamese cuisine. By far, the best meal we have had here.



Coconut water at the group lunch



Our Becamex host making fish wraps for us





Our next stop in the My Phuoc Industrial Park was probably one of the most inspiring since we have been here. We visited the Acrylic Idea Factory, a small factory that manufactures acrylic statues and awards. The director of the factory gave us a tour of the facility but before that he talked about his experience at the factory and the success that they have achieved. When he was describing their success with one of their US customers he had tears in his eyes and was so incredibly proud of their achievements. This sense of pride has been consistent with almost all of the Vietnamese people that we have met on this trip. It will be interesting to see if this is true of the Chinese people as well.





Acrylic Idea Factory

Our next stop was the SAP Miller Beer Factory, a much larger manufacturing operation. I was really looking forward to this visit and was a little disappointed. Our host was not nearly as enthusiastic as our previous host and although it was an impressive operation it was unbearably hot and very difficult to hear the description of the operations. Having been on other brewery tours in the past, this one did not really meet expectations. Miller Beer in Vietnam has had their share of challenges since the beers that they sell are way behind their competition, Saigon Beer domestically and Heineken imported. We did finally get to take our full class picture in front of the case of all of the Miller Beer, which was the highlight of this visit.


Rider EMBA Class of 2012

Our final stop in the New City was the newly formed Eastern International University, a key component to the development plans of the New City. The inaugural class will be starting classes this fall in either business, engineering, or nursing. The hope is that the university will help attract people to the area, that they will study there and then live there after they have finished school. This will be key to the economic development of the area. Eventually they hope to have 24,000 students enrolled in the university. It is likely that the enrolling class of 2015 will be about 1000. Some of the facilities are still under construction but what we saw was impressive. 



A long day of visits but another informative day with a glimpse into the future potential for Vietnam. Tomorrow we spend time with the Dong Thap University students who have been working the last year on a microcredit project.

Vietnam Business Visits Day 1

We had a full day of business visits today ranging from the US Consulate, HSBC Bank, and Harvey Nash, a company that has an outsourcing and business processing operation in Vietnam. We started out the day at the US Consulate meeting with Brian Rupert, the Economic Officer at the US Consulate. Brian shared his insights on Vietnam's current economy, the challenges they are facing, and what may hold for the future.

From Brian's perspective Vietnam has a growing economy but challenges such as inflation, currently at 19.8% and the fact that the Vietnamese economy is 50% held in cash (US dollars) and gold. The Vietnamese government's prioirity is to try and implement policies to control inflation. On a positive note Vietnam is very strong in trade, particularly with the US and they are currently the #2 rice and coffee exporter.

Vietnam is also a very young country with about 65% of the population under 35 years old. According to Brian the young Vietnamese are optimitistic about the future as they have seen vast improvements over the last few years. However, Vietnam is at a crossroads and has some serious issues with the current banking system, healthcare system, university system that need repairing if they are going to be able to sustain economic growth.

Interestingly, we heard some similar messages from Huynh Buu Quang from HSBC bank in Vietnam. HSBC has a long history with Vietnam and is currently the leading bank in Vietnam. From Quang's perspective Vietnam is also poised for economic growth but where Brian and Quang differ not surprisingly, is in their optimisism for the future. As a Vietnamese citizen Quang's is much more positive, while Brian, as a US-citizen living and working in Vietnam, he is cautiously optimisitic. It was an interesting contrast on a similar topic and I think Vietnam, even with their challenges will continue to be a country to watch and could be a challenge to China in the offshoring market.

We had quick stop for lunch between visits at the Vincom Center (very large, very expensive shopping mall). A few of us chose to check out American fast food in the food court. Carl's Jr. was actually pretty good, still fast food, but better than I expected.

Our last stop yesterday was at Harvey Nash, an international company that has established a large outsourcing and business process operation in Vietnam with offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Overall, it was a pretty impressive group. We toured several of their offices in e-town about 40 minutes outside the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. Although I am not as familiar with the services they offer, IT/software development and business process I could very much relate to their philosophy for working with customers. They believe strongly in forming a partnership with the client, working to create the team that is best going to meet that client's need, and then follow through with excellent execution. After hearing of some of their long-term relationships with clients and the shear number of clients they have, they have built a good business model centered around the customer.

I was also struck by the pride the Vietnamese people have for their work. Every person we spoke with at Harvey Nash was extremely proud of the work they are doing and their success as a company. Another indication that the Vietnamese people as a whole are very proud of who they are. Overall, everyone we have met so far has been very friendly and warm to us. We were even greated with cheers by the 2 groups of class trips that we encountered on our first day.

So, a full day again but filled with insights about the future of Vietnam from an economic perspective, including a visit to a business that is clearly succeeding in their economy and poised for further growth.

Not many picures from today, we weren't allowed cameras at the US Consulate, but on the way home from Harvey Nash we were stuck in rush hour traffic and saw seas of motor bikes and someone hauling a refridgerator on a motor bike. So I leave you with that picture for today. The pics are a little fuzzy since they were taken from a moving bus.

History, Medicine, and Music

Overall a great first full day in Ho Chi Minh City where we visited a couple of tourist sites, experienced Vietnamese history, toured a traditional Vietnamese medicine museum, and listened to local, traditional music at the end of the day.

Our first stop this morning was at the Central Post Office and Notre Dame Cathedral.



Notre Dame Cathedral



Central Post Office

Only quick stops at both of these sites for some picture taking and some early souvenir buying in the Post Office. Although after quick trips to 2 of the markets I think I prefer the less aggressive tactics at the Post Office. We also saw the cutest group of Vietnames children on a class trip, they were all so friendly and excited to see Americans.



Class trip to the Central Post Office



Our class trip to the Post Office









Next stop was the Vietnam History Museum chronically more than 4000 years of Vietnamese History. Whenever I travel outside of the US I am always reminded of how young of a nation that we are. Even more interesting is that with all of their history both Vietnam and China are still in many ways emerging nations.

Outside the Vietnames History Museum, no photos allowed inside

Our next stop was the Reunification Hall where Van, our guide and Chris Runckel, who has a long history of work with the US and Vietnam discussed the events from the time when the French first occupied Vietnam, the Vietman War, the reunification of North and South Vietnam, and the reentrance of the US into Vietnam. It was an interesting overview of events. I was really impressed with Van's knowledge. He is obviously quite proud of his country and upbringing in Vietnam yet he presented the information in a very unbiased way which we may not have gotten from someone else.



Reunification Hall







Van, our guide





After a very informative morning we moved on to another important place, lunch at Pho 2000. Since we only grabbed a quick bite last night this was going to be our first experience with the local food. Pho 2000 is famous for President Clinton's visit back in the early 2000s. It did not disappoint. I decided to go with the seafood Pho as opposed to the traditional beef noodle soup.

Seafood Pho

We took a brief trip into one of the markets after lunch and it is nothing like I have ever seen. The vendors are extremely aggressive trying to get you to buy anything from t-shirts, knock-off sunglasses, and locally made products. Not really my favorite way to shop. Another visit to the larger market near our hotel later in the day was just as overwhelming. It will be interesting to see if this is the same when we get to China.

After our quick adventures in Vietnamese retail we headed to a traditional Vietnamese medicine museum where we learned about some of the differences with Chinese traditional medicine and saw the history of traditional medicine in Vietnam. This is one of the newer museums in Vietnam and had some interesting outside views and historical items.



Vietnamese Traditional Medicine Museum





Vietnamese Traditional Medicine Museum



Vietnamese Traditional Medicine Museum







Our last stop of the afternoon was a private show of traditional Vietnamese music. I think everyone would agree that this was one of the highlights of the day. We saw some traditional Vietnamese dances as well as unique Vietnamese instruments. We were even able to join in the fun at the end of the show.

Traditional Vietnamese Music Show



Traditional Vietnames Medicine Show

Overall, it was a busy and interesting first day in Ho Chi Minh City. We ended the day with a great group dinner organized by Van of more local cuisine followed by some drinks at another rooftop bar in the city.  I am definitely still feeling the jet lag a bit. I'm up at 5:00am working on this blog because I can't sleep.

Today we start our company visits so I am sure it will be another full day. Oh, and if you're wondering about the weather, it's hot and humid. First thing in the morning I thought of some of my favorite quotes from Good Morning Vietnam related to the weather here, but I'll reserve those.

First Impressions of Ho Chi Minh City

So it is officially Day 1, we are doing some cultural visits today and sampling the local cuisine for lunch and dinner today. Although we were all pretty wiped from traveling about 20 hours yesterday a few of us ventured out to the Rooftop Garden Bar at the Rex Hotel. It was still so hot and humid last night but it was nice to sit outside after being in planes and airports all day.



View from the Rooftop Garden Bar at the Rex Hotel

 I'm not quite sure what I expected the city to look like but it is definitely interesting. It was dark as we made our way to the hotel so I'm sure today I will get a better perspective. Although there are lots of cars the main transportation is motorbikes and we saw some full families of four, with babies on one bike. The picture below is a just a small sample, more to come.



Small selection of the motor bikes in the city

I'm looking forward to getting a good look at the city in the daytime today. I will post about all of our visits later today. An unexpected treat in our rooms last night when we checked was a sampling of local fruit. Apparently we will be receiving a fruit of the day to try. It was really good and looked almost like a white kiwi fruit inside. Can't wait to see what today's fruit is.




Local Vietnamese Dragonfruit




Greetings from Hong Kong

We made it through the long part of the journey, 15 hours to Hong Kong. Took some pictures of the North Pole as we flew over. Definitely a highlight of the flight, although I did catch up on my movie watching since I couldn't really sleep.

We are enjoying our first meal in The Hong Kong airport. It is much like American Chinese food but definitely better than what we had on the plane.

We had some excitement on the plane, one of our classmates passed out and caused quite a stir in the last 2 hours of the flight. He is fine now but it was scary when it was happening.

Another short flight and then our final destination, Ho Chi Minh City.

View of the North Pole from the plane

Next Stop Ho Chi Minh City

We are leaving tomorrow for our 12-day journey in Vietnam and China. First stop for me, airport hotel near JFK, next stop, after about 18 hours of flying time tomorrow and a trip over the International Date Line, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

We have a full itinerary for the 4 days we are in Vietnam, lots of company visits and some time for sight seeing and some free time too. I plan to post updates and some pictures everyday provided I have Google access in both countries. If not, this will be one long blog when I return to the US.

For now, I am going to try and get some sleep before the long journey ahead.