Summary
In the article “Vietnam has produced a new class of billionaire entrepreneurs,” the author implies that Vietnam is increasing its influence i economy around the world. A renamed Oxford college after a Vietnamese was regarded as a monument that other countries started to recognize Vietnam’s economic development. Vietnam’s authorities had a burning ambition to cultivate internationally competitive champions in these years. Back to 2013, Pham Nhat Vuong was the first one getting into the billionaires’ club. The conglomerate he established, at the same scale as that of the company in S&P 500 index, has vied with another empire, Vinhomes. Successively, other entrepreneurs in Vietnam joined the tycoons’ list, and they were benefited from the former Soviet Union. After Soviet bloc collapsed, these Vietnam’s students seized the opportunities, made money, brought their fortunes and futures from Soviet back to Vietnam and became billionaires. Although the government and the business giants seem to be in “symbiotic relationship”, the state still dominates the flow of the investment to the giants and controls their fate. For the country, fostering more billionaires is not only the key to maintaining its economic growth, but also the key to boosting its international competitiveness.
讀後心得
一直都知道越南的繁盛程度已經漸漸超乎想像，但是文中提到以越南人為名去重新命名 Oxford College 的院區，更高程度的去證明越南在世界上的經濟地位。而越南的競爭力，不只是企業主自己單打獨鬥，跟南韓相似，越南政府有很大的野心想要讓越南成為世界經濟體中佔有重要的角色，超過十億資產以上的企業也逐年攀升，讓越南在國際間分量逐漸加重。
Notes: Need to Learn From this Article
-a monument = a marker
The economic development of Vietnam now has a permanent monument in one of the world’s most prestigious seats of learning.
Thao College is a marker of a significant shift.
-be in the cross-hairs: be the target
Whereas American and Chinese billionaires are in the cross-hairs from their respective governments, Vietnam’s wealthy entrepreneurs are the beneficiaries of the authorities’ ambition to foster internationally competitive national champions.
-a sprawling conglomerate: a giant empire
Top of the list is Pham Nhat Vuong, founder of Vingroup, a sprawling conglomerate—and the first to enter the billionaires’ club, in 2013.
sprawling (adj)
1. 寬廣的
These things are little suited to display in sprawling exhibition halls.
2. 龐大的
His three sons now manage his sprawling empire.
Over time it became the heart of a sprawling nuclear industry.
He will have ultimate authority over the U.S.’s sprawling intel apparatus.
It’s not easy to run the sprawling U.S. intelligence community.
These Korean Chaebol families have seen their sprawling empires crumble over the past decade.
3. 幅員廣闊的
Japanese soldiers fiercely loyal to the emperor fought U.S. troops across the sprawling country.
4.大(型的)
It has turned from a nondescript village into a sprawling city in a few years.
He runs a sprawling wildlife processing facility in South Sumatra.
-vie with: to compete with
It vies with Vinhomes, the property arm it spun off in 2018, as Vietnam’s largest private firm by market capitalization.
-a function of: the result of
The Soviet link is a function of Vietnam’s modern economic and political history.
-gain an easy ride <=> gain a tough right: they make situation easy for someone
That friendly attitude can translate into an easy ride; such unofficial government assistance is particularly handy for gaining use rights to prime plots of land, which—as in mainland China and Hong Kong—is technically owned wholly by the state.
-cater to: to satisfy a need/ a desire (+)(-)
While most of the firms led by the billionaires cater to Vietnam’s middle class, much of their wealth comes from property and banking, according to research by Nguyen Xuan Thanh of Fulbright University Vietnam.
-an exciting entrepreneur
While useful in its own right, diversifying beyond areas that benefit from political patronage can serve as a signal to sponsors that they are backing exciting entrepreneurs.
-a sheen of sth
Outside investment brings a further sheen of credibility.
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