Vietnamese food is mostly based on rice and noodles, like most other Asian countries, but the flavors here come from herbs and spices such as lemongrass, mint and even curry powder. The most popular and famous of Vietnamese dishes is Pho, a hot rice noodle soup made with a beef broth boiled from large bones. It is served with slices of filet mignon together with ginger, although you can also order your pho with chicken or vegetables. Cha Ca is another classic Vietnamese street food, made by mixing minced fish with spices like coriander and dill.

Since being introduced by the French, coffee has become an essential part of Vietnamese culture, and Vietnamese iced coffee is particularly unique for its brewing style and taste. It is brewed using fresh Vietnamese roast coffee and a French drip filter, then sweetened with canned condensed milk and poured over ice.

Forget about fast, throwaway fashion, because it’s custom-made tailoring you want to get in Vietnam. Vietnam is well known for its superb bespoke tailoring of suits and dresses, and the best part is that you can get complete outfits for a fraction of the price anywhere else, even in Asia. If you work in business, you can get all your suits made here to last you a lifetime, and if you are a lady, you can make yourself a beautiful ‘ao dai’ or a western-style dress.

Yaly Couture at 47 Nguyen Thai Hoc St. (tel. 0510/910-474) is a good answer to selecting your own tailor from the many budget places. Yes, the prices are higher, but quality comes with more of a guarantee and similar efficient service.

There are also skilled cobblers who make custom shoes at affordable rates. Find them near the market on Tran Phu Street.

Tran Phu Street is lined with art galleries and the good pottery and carved-wood vendors. Along the river, lots of places sell blue and white ceramics. However cumbersome your finds are, like those lovely Chinese lanterns, shopkeepers are masters at packing for travel and to fit in your luggage, and will do so before you’ve even agreed on a price or decided to buy. Haggle hard.

Many companies can take new opportunities to invest in Vietnam’s emerging market especially due to the less controlled economy and a young labour force. With this burgeoning young labour market, companies overseas see Vietnam as a good opportunity to employ them on their manufacturing sites. The young Vietnamese are known for their natural entrepreneurship and this makes Vietnam a unique destination to tap on given the global marketplace companies deal with in recent times.

Vietnam, which is now known as the raising market for new opportunities presents the biggest opportunities for exporters. IT has been noted by the Vietnam Customs Office that exports of items like textiles and manufactured goods along with oil, IT services and shoes are flourishing where exports are concerned. Vietnam encourages foreign investment by providing incentives for businesspeople setting up their businesses in Vietnam. Some of these benefits include tax incentives between Vietnam and her neighbours.

In all, Vietnam offers a window of opportunities for business to invest. The robust economy, if maintained, will ensure that businesses will be able to reap profits while being in Vietnam. They can tap on the several manufacturers and suppliers available in Vietnam itself and make a headstart.

Bars and coffee shops in Hochiminh City
1. Seventeen saloon – Let’s go west.
You do not have to “Go West”, you can still throw a western-style party in the heart of Saigon. Stepping through the doorway, you are welcomed by a pretty cowgirl in boots and cowboy hat. You may find you mind swaying with Rock & Roll, Pop Rock, R&B and heavy metal while friendly cowgirls are serving you drink and popcorn. The stage is in the centre of this wild looking saloon with its interior design nicely imitating a cowboy bar. This saloon is also a recommended place for young folk looking hang out at special events such as thanksgiving, American Independence Day and Charismas eve. Every night form 7 pm till 9pm, buy one tiger beer get one free. Light snacks like BBQ and cowboy corndogs are also served. Price starts from VND 74 900. Open 7 pm until late.

2. Wild Pub – go wild, free style.
Situated at the heart of Pham Ngu Lao, this small pub gives us a heartburn with its crazy pink girl Cocktail, a combination of Rum and cola. Free style decoration, with chair and table creatively made from recycled material and walls painted with graffiti apparently form the uniqueness of the pub. Red Saigon Beer, Cuba Libre and Jager Bomb are well known drinks of this place. The capacity is only about 40 customers, as small as a bar in a cowboy movie. Price of drinks ranges from VND 20 000 to VND 60000. If you are lucky you may come on the day a local rock band is performing, to entertain you with folk rock and acoustic songs. The kind owner of this pub is ready to offer 10 % off for those who visit during happy hour from 6 pm to 8 pm. Open daily from 10 am to 11 pm

3. Da Tung Thay – Reminiscence of the past.
Da Tung Thay is a place where many young Vietnamese gather to share recycling ideas. Professional band come to play acoustic guitar songs every Saturday night. From 11.30 am to 1.30 pm lunch serves for only VND 40 000/ person. Customers can enjoy a lunch set comprising steamed rice, soup, fried vegetables and drinks. The shop is also well known for its coffee. By serving coffee Buon Ma Thuot style (Strong black coffee with single ice cube) and gridding the coffee beans upon request, the coffee is free chemical contaminants and retains its original taste. All furniture is classic. On the wall, some black & white pictures and old clocks are hung to record the timeline of one’ life. On the second floor, where a small library is, wall paper is made of old books. In the hope that customers can find some things that once, belonged to them, the shop’s decoration focuses on vintage style. Open 8 am to 11pm daily

A good idea is to take a look at other press releases on line or off, and make a note of the style that they are written in. That will give you a good idea of how to write a press release, but what about content? For that, you will have to find something newsworthy to write about. It could be the launch of your company, or a new product, or a successfully completed project. It could be a new appointment, or an upgrade to your services. Nearly every company, even small businesses, have at least a few newsworthy stories to share, and those are the ones you want to turn into press releases.

There are even free online press release portals that you can submit your news to yourself, which have a global following, and they are a great way to get started with your own publicity drive.A better idea would be to write an informative article on your industry or speciality, and submit it to trade publications in your area. If it is published, you will usually have your name, company information and contact details included with your article, and you could find yourself getting business that way.The main benefit of using publicity and media instead of traditional advertising is that it is a lot cheaper than paying for advertising. You can do most of the work yourself, or you can hire a freelancer to craft your press releases and other materials for you.

Getting to know the editors of magazines and other print publications can be the trickiest part of the publicity and media process, but focusing on publications that are closely related to your field is usually the easiest way to get around this problem.Deciding what’s newsworthy and what’s not can also be a learning curve, but if your press releases and articles are well written and topical, you should find that eventually, you are taken seriously, and your content is published. So why not start looking for newsworthy information about your business, and practice writing press releases, or think up new ways that you can get local media attention? It is a great way to get free advertising, and will certainly get your business on the map.

Hand in the completed Arrival/Departure Card with your passport and duplicate visa application form at immigration in Vietnam. The Departure Card will be returned to you. Keep this safely. You usually have to show it when checking into hotels and will be asked for it in when you finally leave Vietnam.

You should list all valuable items on the Baggage Declaration form, such as video cameras, portable computers and expensive jewellery. The duty-free allowance is 200 cigarettes, 2 litres of alcohol plus perfume and jewellery for personal use. You can take up to US $7000 into Vietnam in cash or travellers’ cheques; anything in excess of this sum has to be declared.

Hand the completed Baggage Declaration form to the customs official checking your baggage, who will give you the yellow duplicate – again, keep this carefully as it is required on final departure. (NB. You have to show your baggage check when reclaiming your luggage at the airport on arrival; the stub should be attached to either your airline ticket or boarding pass.)

Finally, it’s a good idea to make photocopies of your Departure Card and Baggage Declaration form at your hotel and keep them separately, just in case you lose the originals. They won’t be accepted in place of the real thing, but may make things slightly easier.

Areas needing attention are nutrition, basic health, fresh (safe) water, aid to handicapped, school tuition for children, and support of poor families. Problems associated with unsafe water are particularly serious. Fresh water in rivers and streams in Vietnam is often a source of cholera, dysentery, typhoid fever, and amoebiasis. Tragically, unsafe water is also beginning to cause cases of poliomyelitis, eliminated long ago in the United States. Safe fresh-water wells can be placed in operation for as little as $700 each.

Poor children in Vietnam also need charitable assistance if they expect to go to school, since families must pay tuition for them to attend. Charities at work in Vietnam believe that the children of today, particularly those who are orphans or who have been abandoned, need extra help to grow and to become productive members in Vietnamese society. Most charities devote 90 percent or more of contributions toward programs to directly aid children. Contributors to charities that benefit Vietnamese children often include American veterans of the Vietnam conflict and naturalized Vietnamese-Americans. Others include religious groups and individuals who wish to do something positive to alleviate the plight of orphans.