By Shayne Clark
Integrated University Communications
(March 16, 2009) Cliff Young, professor and associate dean of faculty, and Wayne Cascio, Robert H. Reynolds chaired professor of global management, traveled to Vietnam in January to participate in a faculty development excursion in international business. The trip was sponsored by UC Denver’s Center for International Business and Educational Research (CIBER). The group spent several days in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi studying Vietnam’s emerging economy, the Mekong Delta and Halong Bay, where Young remembers flying through the limestone formations while covering a downed airman during the war.
As a part of the trip, the group visited a small rural school in southern Vietnam built with funds from Cargill, the feed company. These schools allow rural children a chance to receive an education without having to travel miles to more populated areas. This was an opportunity to witness a Western company demonstrating a positive interest and investing in an emerging country. At the end of the trip, Young and several of his colleagues contributed to Cargill’s fund to build more schools in Vietnam.
Young saw Vietnam as a rapidly emerging economy. “It was like a town under rapid construction, they were trying to build as fast as they can.” The country is still dominated by communist rule, but they have embraced the principals of a free market capitalist economy. For the 86 million people living in Vietnam, they have a long way to go. The government is still dealing with inefficiencies caused by powerful provincial governments. However, Vietnam is directly pursing corporate America’s “China plus one” strategy, hoping their less expensive labor costs will allow their economy to benefit from foreign investments.
For Young, visiting Vietnam had significance beyond the economic purpose. During the Vietnam War, Young was an F-4 Phantom pilot for the US Air Force. His assignment lasted roughly six months, during which he flew over one hundred missions. “My memory of Vietnam when I was there is very jaded,” Young admits. However, from his recent trip, he saw the people as optimistic and striving towards a bright future as a player in the world economy. He felt at ease in the country; the people had no hard feelings about the war. “The whole experience was an exercise in healing.”
Vietnam is eager to catch up with the rest of the world’s economy, and Young thinks they will. This trip was a chance to witness an emerging player in the world market. Currently, Vietnam is focused heavily on production, evolving as a major exporter. “The goal was to make us aware of how these economies will affect us.”
Photo: Top, Ho-Chi-Minh City and Saigon River. Bottom: Business School profs Cliff Young, back row second from left, and Wayne Cascio, to his left, visit a school in Vietnam.