Globalization

Today was our first day on the job. In the morning, we went to Hanoi University, where we received a briefing on interviewing and writing snapshots of CEOs from APEC member economies. Snapshots are brief reports highlighting influential business executives and political leaders within APEC. We first heard from Vietnam's Minister of Tourism, who spoke on the growing influence of tourism on Vietnam's economy. It was the first time we had to listen to a speech through a translator. I think we might have come up with our own interpretations. =) Then we heard from the UN Habitat representative, who spoke on sustainable development and economic disparities and problems within Vietnam.

The speeches were cut short because we had to hurry to tour a Japanese industrial zone. Denso is the name of a company that exports automotive parts, and we toured its main plant in Hanoi. It was really cool to see globalization right in front of our eyes. One thing that really stuck out to us was the gender discrimination. The majority of the first floor was women; they assembled the parts by hand. However, on the second floor (where the air conditioning was), male engineers designed parts for the company. In the words of Dr. Nelsen, it was "white-collar outsourcing in action."

After leaving the plant, we drove to a handicraft center where the main source of income was from pottery. We spent a short while shopping around before getting ready for the gala dinner.

Of course, we were late to the dinner and missed the keynote addresses. However the food was AMAZING, especially the desserts. We made important connections with both foreign and Vietnamese entrepreneurs. It was an exhausting but most definitely an unforgettable day.

Signing off,
Kristen and Ke