Vinamilk
At one point, we went out to a company called Vinamilk, the major Vietnamese producer of milk products (obviously). The daughter of the chairwoman of the company went to UVA - McIntire- as an undergraduate, so we got special treatment. It was an interesting interview, as the Chairwoman clearly understood English, but chose to speak through a translator. The interview was very stilted and stiff; however, it helped us to understand the way that business is conducted among the older groups in Asia. More of the younger population are trained in American business techniques, so they tend to be more open.
It was also strange, because broad questions would always be answered narrowly, and not often in the way that you wanted. Susie asked the Chairwoman to discuss their particular marketing scheme and the Chairwoman responded, "We do marketing".
The Factories
On another day, we met up with a British and a German expatriate who have a business here. They were working with Pier 1 Imports in finding factories to make different furniture for Pier 1. (Note: the term expatriate is used loosely to refer to any national working outside their country of origin, not necessarily someone who has given up their citizenship; it's very confusing).
They took us to two factories, that we got to tour. Inside one, the temperature was 37 Celsius and 65% humidity. I managed to pull off a sweat, but a few others (Charlie and Justin) were faucets.
It was a really interesting talk with some of the Pier 1 and the factory-hunters. The factories attracted a lot of work, and the people often worked for about $4 a day. Some of the more skilled work involving weaving could get as much as $8 or $12. That might not seem a lot to you, but it is enough here to earn something to send back to the family and send back home.
They talked a lot about not employing child labor, but I had to correct them in that regard. Child labor was not abolished in the United States by law. Instead, families became wealthier and were able to send their children to school, so that they were no longer needed in the factories. In fact, the first child labor laws in the United States pushed children into the seedier factories. Finally, one of the guys had to admit to me that, while going through a factory in Indonesia, he approached a 12 year old girl working there in order to fire her. Her mother threw herself in front of him and told him that her child was going to work because she needed to earn something for her family, for her education, and because if she were on the street she would become a child prostitute and victim to the opium trade that runs throughout SE Asia. In the West, we can often afford to be ignorant of the impact of minimum wage and child labor laws, but out here, they tend to have to be a little more realistic about economic realities.
The cool thing is that competition for low wage labour has increased so much that factories are having to compete in terms of better value propositions. They will include better air conditioning, more time off, and slowly but surely, even higher wages. This is how capitalism works. As labor is able to save, a pool of savings increases such that higher end machinery gets built, and even more production can take place. As more wealth is produced in the economy the return to labour increases and the purchasing power of each individual consumer rises. Most of these countries in SE Asia still have horribly backward labour laws (and horrible corruption and state intervention), but they are improving, which is good to see.
Later, we went on a river cruise where mostly fish was served (yuck). We got to have good conversation and I teased Luyi (a Chinese girl from Shanghai in our program) about being a member of the Communist Party of China.
P&G Factory Visit
Yesterday, we went to Proctor and Gamble here in Vietnam. We gained a number of insights about how P&G positions itself in Indochina, and were able to watch part of the packaging of Downy fabric softener (often called a fabric enhancer out here). It was suppose to be a longer tour, but I think they were nervous since some of us didn't have the proper shoes.
I am responsible for learning everything about Downy, and that has come along really well. I originally thought Downy was only sold in Singapore, but found out that it is here in Vietnam. I found out that I could find it in the local market, and managed to go out and buy some of the sachets.
For those of you who don't know already, selling to poor people is a bit different than you normally experience. Since the poor cannot afford to make big purchases, companies have packaged things into single use containers that they can easily transport and get around. Downy is one of those that comes in a little sachet. In fact, it typically takes three washes in order to clean a load of laundry by hand (yeah, by hand, that's how they do it). However, Downy has created "Downy Single Rinse", which does it all in one load. This has cut the time doing laundry and freed up so many women from the chore of laundry. Few people want to admit this, but the most feminist invention ever was probably the laundry machine. Downy single rinse sachets probably come in there pretty close.
Despite the sachets, one of the interesting things here is the literacy of the Vietnamese. They highly value schooling (so parents don't send their children to factories to not get educated). You hear that about a lot of cultures, but it's actually true here. Also, most people are literate, which makes a big difference. Also, Vietnamese tend to be paid monthly and are very value conscious, so even though the sachets are offered to them (I bought 7 for less than 20 cents a sachet, which if you are living on $2 a day becomes reasonable every now and then), they will tend to buy the big buckets of Downy and split it among several families, to save on the gross purchase.
Case in point, when I purchased my sachets, the guy had to reach down into a bucket filled with refill packages of Downy for the big bottles.
I also ended up buying half a kilo of some very nice Black Dragon Pearl Tea. I wasn't very good at negotiating this, but it was really good tea, and I spent less than I ever would have in the States. I'm very excited about getting it back so that I can really drink it.
Today: Susie has more friends
Today, we had a few presentations at around 1:15. Two of the presenters were fabulous, and managed to give even greater insights into Vietnamese culture.
To sum up about a week's worth of intensive learning. Women control a lot of the finances and purchasing power. Men apparently only shop for motorbikes and electronics. Women work in every level of government, service, and sometimes, even things we would only associate with men in the States. The Vietnamese are wonderfully proud of their culture, value education, are highly literature (although lacking in higher education). They think that Chinese brands suck. (Cat, I thought your mother would like to know that since all of China's health scares, most people outside China won't buy Chinese products). Instead, people buy American and Japanese products, and people assume that if Americans and Japanese people buy it, then it must be good. Only foreigners come here to buy knock-offs, the Vietnamese want the real thing. Advertising tends to be very female centric, and even male products have to be sold in a way that doesn't offend female sensibilities. The Vietnamese are also very optimistic, but also very suspicious. They love gold, will often settle transactions in gold (de facto currency in some situations), and love land. Land is expensive because the government owns 85%, and the Vietnamese are too paranoid to part with much of the rest. As you can guess, except for the lack of guns, I love this place.
Anyway, after all of that, Susie got me and some other people together with some of her friends from Vietnam (she had spent 3 months here before). A few days before today, we went out to dinner and met a few of them. Now, we went out to a karaoke hotel. You rent your own room, with friends, order food, and then select the songs you want to sing with a huge group of friends. I love the concept, its great, and I wish we had it here in the States.
Afterwards, we went out to a bar to watch some of the World Cup. I didn't pay much attention but managed to talk to some of the Vietnamese. There's so much more to tell, but I'm still processing. Susie's friend and her friend's boyfriend are both entrepreneurs who quit their well-paying jobs with Western firms to start their own businesses. Turns out, this 24 year old owned a good portion of the bar that we were staying at. He also showed us a local artists collection of art that was created from silicates and precious stones. I saw one done of Anna Karenina, from Leo Tolstoy's book by the same name. It only costs about $450. I asked for some contact information and when I get a job, I'm going to purchase it.
After that, Susie and I headed home. We ran into some friends, got ice cream, and finally, I'm here trying to finish this up pithily enough so that you'll all read it.
The Police
A quick fun story. While we were coming back in a taxi, the taxi driver was stopped by a police officer who was hiding in the dark. The driver had previously been stopped in May, and was forced to hand over all his papers and driver's license. The paperwork is still "processing", so he did not have it with him. Ultimately, he had to pay a 1.5 million Vietnamese Dong bribe in order to be let go (about $70 US dollars). Just to give you an idea, most cab rides around here cost less than a dollar. That's a lot of money from him.
I asked if such corruption were common here in Vietnam (in a somewhat more roundabout manner), and I was told the police do it all the time. I suppose some forms of corruption are the same whether you are in Vietnam or if you're in the USA. Sometimes, it's just a matter of scale.
Anyway, I have personal stories for each of you, and I can't wait to tell you all.
BTW, I've totally made all kinds of anti-communist jokes while here. I'm still Jacob BITCHES!!!
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