A generation of Taiwan-born kids with Vietnamese heritage have the potential to deepen and expand bilateral ties.
The News Lens
Date: 2017/12/08
By: Jay Lin
It has taken me 44 years to get to Vietnam, but at least I am finally here. I wished I had
Credit: Depositphotos
arrived even sooner to witness its rapid transformation. Taiwan was one of the earliest investors in Vietnam, as early as 1988, and is the country’s fourth-largest foreign investor. The cab driver who whisked me to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport told me that I was his fifth consecutive fare heading to Vietnam. Now that I am here, I understand all the hullabaloo.
Vietnam has about 95 million people, with a median age of slightly over 30 and an economic growth rate that tops 6 percent per year. Youthful energy is abundantly visible in the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh, where I’m staying for three days. My service apartment is situated inside the centrally situated Saigon Centre. I arrived on a Sunday to check in, and witnessed a fervent scene where teenagers, couples, hipsters, and families in their twenties and thirties came out in their best attire and took turns taking pictures all along the window displays and Christmas decorations at the Takeshimaya Department Store. [FULL STORY]