While in Vietnamese class, learning the pronunciations of the letters and how to say very basic introductions, we were also given Vietnamese names, mine being Hùng. Learning to speak Vietnamese is very challenging as I must also learn how to speak a tonal language, meaning that different pitches determine the meaning of words. Trying to have such control over a foreign language was very tricky today, but hopefully by the end of the trip, I will know enough to properly thank them for their hospitality. 

During the company visit with GreenViet, I learned how they were able to capture the developing market of green buildings. They did so through their commitment to Vietnam and the Vietnamese people. Focusing on local projects and hiring local engineers from various different specialties. They believe that as a company they must act like a shark and swim fast and bite everything. In the business world this means they must be constantly innovating and staying on the cutting edge of green building technology (swim fast), and also be taking every project they can (bite everything). By biting everything, Greenviet is able to build relationships with companies around Southeast Asia. They gave many examples of foreign companies from Singapore, Japan, etc., investing in small green building projects in Vietnam and then leveraging this previous relationship and trust into bigger projects abroad. This way of establishing relationships through smaller projects has helped GreenViet get to where they are today, having 50% of the market share in Vietnam. 

During this visit, Mr. Quang, co-founder of GreenViet, emphasized the growing competition from foreign companies. His attitude towards this foreign competition was that Vietnam has 4000 years of history of defending itself from outside countries (China, France, USA, etc.), and that this attitude is what he brings to the company. They focus on Vietnam first. By staying a completely local company with local engineers, they are able to undercut foreign competitors on price while providing the same level of service to the consumers. This prevents outside competition from taking over the green building sector of Vietnam. Going further, in order to ensure other local companies do not grow in competition, GreenViet aims to raise the entry barriers in the green building space. Some of this comes from economies of scale; GreenViet already has many clients, and using high-tech programs and simulations that are a yearly subscription rather than per client basis means that the tools are cheaper for GreenViet to use than competitors that are just entering the space. This is because the same subscription for GreenViet could be used for a hundred projects, where new competitors will pay the same price for a smaller number of products. Thus giving GreenViet an edge over local competitors trying to enter the market. 

Mr. Quang has made a commitment to continue his education and stay up to date on many of the areas surrounding the green building industry. This is something that resonates with me as I believe that industries would be a lot more efficient if executives stayed up to date with current trends and information, and is something I would like to contribute to in my professional development.