Day 11: Today was the final day of my trip at Vietnam. Yesterday, we traveled to two company visits, VSIP and II-VI. VSIP is known as the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park and supports creating a great number of facilities such as factories and other things for companies to set up on. II-VI however is an engineering company which works mostly on optics. We also went to two separate malls and explored around. The culture of the malls was much different than in the US. There were multiple areas to drop off your kid while you went and shopped, it seemed like there was a booming business for them as there were three, with another being built. The place also had an arcade and a bowling alley which was just wild. But back to the company visits.

VSIP is an industrial park with very close ties to the governments of Vietnam and Singapore. This allows the company itself to be very prominent in the community. The help of the governments also allow advertising for VSIP. The government of Vietnam is very up for sending various companies and communities to this park because of its location and distance from the city. The Vietnamese government wants its populous to slowly move away from the urban areas and more rurally. The partnership between the two governments also brings more companies from Singapore over, which allows for integration in the markets between the two countries.

II-VI is an engineering company that deals mostly in optics and lasers. In II-VI Vietnam, lens and other various materials are created. One would think that this process would be done using technology to do all the work, but this is not true. A great amount of the work that is done on these lenses is done with a large number of workers. II-VI of course has to deal with the fact that many skilled workers will leave after the Tet holiday and simply join another company later. II-VI avoids that by offering huge bonuses, as well as enhanced salaries for those who work there best, with great quality and quantity. However there are a number of unskilled workers too. This is one of the big reasons II-VI opened up a branch in Vietnam, because the labor costs are much cheaper compared to other places like the US. There are multiple competitors in this market, how II-VI earns the most profit, has the best numbers and sells the highest quality lenses and glassware on the market.

My trip to Vietnam has been a wild ride, with many different experiences and opportunities for knowledge. I know one day this country will lure me back, just like the “Hello Vietnam” song says. But for now, wish me luck as I travel all the way back to Philly.

Signing off,

Brendan Marani