New Management and Direction

Dear Readers,

Now under the direction of Asian-American Poll Media,  Little Saigon Inside will mainly focus on economic trends and business opportunities relating to Vietnam and its community abroad.  When relevant, we will provide insights on political trends that affect "the pursuit of happiness" by the Vietnamese people living in Vietnam  as well as overseas.   Thank you to all of our loyal readers for the last 3 years and we hope to bring a richer experience with our new format.

Little Saigon Inside Staff

iPhone and "Made in Vietnam"

Since 2007, Foxconn Industry, has been quietly buidling manufacturing facilities in Vietnam to prepare for the inevitable raising inflation and production cost in China.  Foxconn, headquartered in Taiwain,  is the world's largest manufacturing of electronics and computer components.  The founder, Terry Guo is a billionaire and third richest man in Taiwain.  His younger brother actually resides in Cupertino, California.

Foxconn manufactures iPad, iPod, iPhone and electronic products for HP, Dell, Sony, Microsoft, Cisco, Motorola and Nokia. 

With the recent spate of suicide in its Shenzhen factory and China government pressure on its labor practice that forced Foxconn to increase its minimum wage 100% earlier this year,  Foxconn is seriously thinking about relocating to Vietnam.  Even though Vietnam  lacks the skilled workers and a reliable network of suppliers, the lure of a cheaper location is hard to resist.  There have been talks with Vietnamese government to build a cross-border railroad network to Guadong province and its economic hub Shenzhen to bring supplies directly to manufacturing facilities in Vietnam.

The conventional wisdom is that by 2013, it would be common to see iPhone with a "Made in Vietnam" label.

Miss World 2010 Coming to Vietnam??

From Miss World's Website:

http://www.missworld.com/Vietnam/vietnam-2010.html

" The 60th Miss World festival celebrations will be held in Vietnam between the 3rd October and Saturday 6th November.  (The main sponsor and organizer for the event in Vietnam is Kieu Hoang and his company RAAS)

In 2009, Julia Morley, Ksenia Sukhinova (Miss World 2008), Zhang Zilin (Miss World 2007), Tatana Kucharova (Miss World 2006) and Maria Julia Mantilla Garcia (Miss World 2004) visited Vietnam on a fundraising tour, helping to generate over VND8 billion (US $450,000) to support children in need and local community projects by assisting in fundraising for RAAS (Rare Antibody Antigen Supply, Inc.).

Founded by company president Kieu Hoang, RAAS supplies blood and plasma products, as well as vaccines and other much-needed medical goods, utilising state-of-the-art screening equipment and investing in biotechnology developments. Kieu Hoang has dedicated himself to improving the circumstances of many disadvantaged children and families in Vietnam; with the support of Miss World, RAAS has been able to bring great change to the lives of hundreds of Vietnamese people.


The 120 nations represented in the Miss World Festival 2010 will also tour Vietnam, following in the fundraising foot-steps of Julia Morley, Mr Kieu Hoang and our Miss World winners, to raise money to help sick and disadvantaged children. They will play a fundamental role in bringing ‘Beauty With A Purpose’ to the fore.


During the festival, the Miss World 2010 contestants will travel around the country, sampling the many rich delights Vietnam has to offer, participating in a number of special events, as well as joining in with the celebrations for the 1000 year anniversary of the city of Hanoi. "

Biotechnology in Vietnam Conference

Dr. Thai Duc Nguyen, Chief Scientist of the Biotechnology Division of Saigon Hi-Tech Park, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is concluding a visit to the United States with a discussion about opportunities in biotechnology in Vietnam. The two hour meeting will be held on Friday, July 9 at 9:30AM at the Hotel Rex in San Francisco. Representatives of research, educational, trade and industrial groups are invited to attend.

In cooperation with the U.S. Commerce Department, the San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office, Dr. Nguyen will present information about the Saigon Hi-Tech Park campus where biotechnology research, education and training projects are taking shape and giant computer organizations such as Intel of USA, Nidec of Japan, Sonion of Denmark, Datalogic of Italy and many other organizations are now located, and successfully carrying out research and manufacturing operations. Nguyen, a former medical researcher at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) will detail opportunities for independent operations and collaborative research projects, as well as for investments.

Dr. Nguyen’s visit to the United States began more than six weeks ago when he was a speaker at the 15th Anniversary Celebration of the San Francisco – Ho Chi Minh City Sister City relationship.

Space is limited. Additional information and reservations may be made through the San Francisco – Ho Chi Minh City Sister City Committee: Call (415) 447-6075 or email sfhcmcscc@aol.com.

Thank Our "Bridging Two Cultures" Sponsors

Bernard W. and Eleanor G. Burke
California Pacific Medical Center
Jerome L. and Thao T. Dodson
Gilead Sciences, Inc.
Robert G. Gish, MD
Vietnamese American Entrepreneurs Association


Sincerely,


George G. Saxton
Executive Director
San Francisco - Ho Chi Minh City Sister City Committee
Board Member, Northern California Sister Cities International