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Last Friday was the official Grand Opening Party at the Hard Rock Cafe Ho Chi Minh City.   Last month was the soft opening.

Leon Sikes, the Managing Partner at MNG Joint Venture Partnership, and I were given invites by the Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company, or VTI for short.  For those of you that do not know, VTI is the owner of Highlands Coffee, and the master investor for Hard Rock Cafe HCM.  MNG, which focuses on global commerce and trade, intends to distribute Highland products in Turkey with hopes in expanding to the Central Eurasian region.

Since Leon and I did not have our invitation passes, Derick from VTI walked us in.  Once inside, I forgot I was even in Vietnam.  They did an amazing job with the interior of this Hard Rock Cafe.  Since it was the grand opening, the drinks and appetizers were free.

Hard Rock Cafe HCM was a bit packed since there were actually two parties, the 6 PM and the 9 PM (for VIPs).  At 9 PM, the early group just stayed, I would not have left either.  Run-DMC was the star of the grand opening.  If you did not get an invite, you really missed a great party.

Hard Rock Cafe HCM is definitely the place to go to hang out, have a drink and listen to good much in Saigon.  Actually, I would say it beats all the other clubs in Saigon now.

Photos and 1 video below.  Sorry, I used my G1 Google Phone so the picture quality is a bit lacking.

(Hard Rock Cafe HCM from the front of the Intercontinental Hotel)

(Entrace of Hard Rock Cafe HCM)

(First band playing)

(Run-DMC playing)

Over two years ago, I wrote a blog post about the Advantages of BPOs to Vietnam and how Vietnam had a comparative advantage due to low labor costs when compared to other outsourcing countries in Asia.  Since I posted that article, I have received many  inquiries monthly asking information about business process outsourcing (BPO) opportunities in Vietnam.  Several BPOs  in Vietnam have become quite successful including Transcend People, Ltd., run by my friend Mark Tran.

I met Mark a couple years ago.  At that time, Transcend People, TPL, was located in one building.  Today TPL is located in three different buildings in Saigon staffed by experienced Expat and Vietnamese professionals.   Below are some information about Transcend People provided by their company website:

Established in 2004, Transcend People, Limited (TPL) is a privately-owned and rapidly growing business process outsourcing (BPOs) provider headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. TPL offers customized, flexible, and superior BPO solutions to long-term partners and aims to become a world-class BPOs service provider.

TPL was established and is managed by experienced industry professionals from the US. This unique background underlies a strong commitment to ease of integration, transparent communication, and superior customer service. TPL has built an extensive roster of loyal and satisfied clients who have experienced the TPL advantage. At TPL: We do it better! Source: http://transcendpeople.com/tpl/home/about.html

TPL offers the following BPOs services including; Data Entry, Web Services, Sales and Marketing, Accounting and Human Resources.  You can visit their BPOs Solutions webpage for more information: http://transcendpeople.com/tpl/home/solutions.html.

I will blog more about TPL in the future.  In the meantime, if you want more information about the services Transcend People offers, you can either contact TPL directly or just send me an email for a personal referral.

Transcend People, Ltd.

Website: http://transcendpeople.com

Contact: http://transcendpeople.com/tpl/home/contact.html

A friend from the Spanish Embassy here in Saigon asked me to share this with everyone. I think many will find it interesting:

PRESS RELEASE

The Spain-Vietnam Investment and Business Cooperation Forum opens a virtual space in Second Life

Ho Chi Minh City, Thursday, 21st. The Spain-Vietnam Investment and Business Cooperation Forum will open next Thursday the 28th with an inauguration ceremony chaired by senior representatives of institutions from both countries. More than 30 Spanish corporations and 127 Vietnamese firms will participate in the Forum, aimed to promote investment and collaboration agreements.

On the occasion of the Investment Forum, the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade has opened an innovative line of communication on the internet: a digital re-enactment on Second Life, the ground-breaking virtual world.

Second Life is an online space where its residents can interact with other people, participate in group activities, explore the surroundings, and even conduct business. Second Life is open not only to individuals, but also to private companies, non-profit organizations, universities, and government agencies.

The virtual meeting will take place in a modern train station situated on the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade’s personal island on Second Life. Visitors will be able to walk on the platforms and visit the stands of the participating Spanish companies. Each stand will display videos, slideshows, and contact data for the company. The logos of the Vietnamese companies taking part of the Forum will also be displayed.

This Second Life space has been designed as a meeting point for the Vietnamese and Spanish businessmen, the official institutions, and the media. The virtual event represents yet another tool for Spanish and Vietnamese companies to get in touch while allowing any interested party to obtain relevant information on the Investment Forum.

During the celebration of the Forum there will be computers for the press to explore the Second Life virtual meeting space. In addition, anyone can create an “avatar” or “persona” in this virtual world. To do so, you must download the Second Life program on to your computer and create a free user account on www.secondlife.com.

The Forum is organized by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade through the Spanish Economic and Commercial Office, and will take place on the 28th and 29th of February at the Caravelle Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City.

The following industries are involved in the event: textile and garment, chemicals, furniture, solar energy, mechanics and chrome plating, electrical materials, medical equipment, home appliances, waste treatment, railway transports, decorative items, real estate and construction, intelligent transportation systems, engineering services and consultancy, consulting and training, tourism, and quality control for agro-food.

The Spanish firms are looking for Vietnamese partners to reach business agreements regarding franchising, know-how transfer, licensing, technical assistance, subcontracting, and the establishment of new companies.

CONTACT:
Ana Sainz Hermoso (Ms.)
Media Liaison
hochiminhcity@mcx.es
Tel: (08) 825 01 73
Mob: 0938020250

I have been reading this blog about the Vietnam stock market for some time now.  Duy Phung, the maintainer of this blog, does a pretty good job in keeping track of the latest English news on the stock market here.

He asked to exchange links so I said okay

Vietnam Stock Market News website URIs:

http://vietstocknews.blogspot.com/

or

http://www.vnstocknews.com/

Doing Business in Vietnam drafted a short list of accomplishments for Vietnam after it’s ascension to the WTO one year ago. The list of accomplishments include:

• A Record Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
• A Record Foreign Indirect Investment (FII
• An Increase in Export
• Equal Treatment for Vietnam Products
• Increased in Consumer Spending
• A HOT Real Estate Market
• The MOST Attractive Manufacturing Destination

Read more at -> http://blog.doingbusinessinvietnam.com/2007/11/doing-business-in-vietnam-wto-benefits.html