Today marks the last day of my blog posts, and second last day of our stay here at Vietnam. It brings me great sadness to think about how this fun experience is coming to an end, and that I am soon parting ways with all of my Vietnamese friends. Today started as a regular day, when we left to tour the Tan Cang-Cat Lai Terminal early in the morning. We were able to learn more about the success of the company through statistics such as market share and vessels served per day, as well as tour the actual port and see workers loading and unloading the cargo. Prior to visiting the company, I had thought that it placed a great emphasis on skills training for workers and transportation services. However, after seeing its operations, it seems like the company focuses the most on providing labor service for clients that ship their cargo in and out of the port. It also seems that the Saigon Newport Corp does not own the vessels, barges, or containers, and simply operates the port to ensure an effective transition between cargo owners through storage and movement of goods. This places them more in the freight and logistics industry than I was expecting. As someone who has done due diligence on the freight industry for a venture capital project, it is impressive how SNP has been able to achieve a majority of the market share in Vietnam (55%), as I know that in the US, the freight industry is very fragmented with fierce competition, and not dominated by any one company. It also surprised me to learn that the company is government-owned, and its terminals serve both the purposes of economic growth and national defense. I assume that government support is one of the main reasons how it has become such a major and successful company.

After the visit, we went to Pizza 4P’s, a chain western restaurant, to eat for the second time. I really liked their pasta, both with cheese toppings and crab meat. It was a great lunch with a nice view of district 1.

After lunch, we visited the US Consulate to learn about the current tariff situation and its foreseeable effects on Vietnam. With a more than 40% tariff placed on Vietnamese imports into the US, it is very hard for exporters to sustain both a reasonable price and a consistent consumer demand. As well, with US being the biggest exporting country for Vietnam, there is no replacement country that will match the US’ demand. As a result, I predict that the scale of operations at the ports of Tan Tang will be negatively affected by the tariffs if they come into effect. Not only the ports but the whole economy will be damaged.

To wrap up our afternoon, we went to the Banh Thanh market, a famous tourist market, to shop and practice bargaining for goods. We were warned of the high prices in the market and advised to bargain heavily, which is what I did. The process is very fun but I felt a lot of peer pressure from the shop owners to buy their products after bartering, even if the price was not the most ideal. As well, I learned that the prices that they give out initially is absurdly high. You can almost always get at least 50% off from bartering, and even more if you are a skilled bargainer. The market itself was very crowded, and the shops were so close together. It is definitely very different from the shopping mall experience, but I think both have their appeals.

Finally, I ended the day at a local spa with a massage to prepare for the long flight ahead in just a little more than 24 hours. The service, price, and quality were all amazing. This is definitely the best thing I will miss from Vietnam. I hope to experience this again someday.

Thank you for reading my blogs for this Plus 3 Vietnam trip! I had so much fun writing about my days in the past 2 weeks. I am also very grateful to have the platform to document and publish these blogs on, so that I can look back at them in the future and remember everything. This is one of the best trips I have ever been on and I have made so many new friends. May this legacy with UEF and Pitt continue next year!