The story is told by Mr. Cao Van Duc – Former Deputy Director of Sonadezi’s General Affairs Division.
“In late 1989 and early 1990, Dong Nai Industrial Development and Investment Company under the leadership of Director Nguyen Van Thuyen negotiated and established a business relationship with (Taiwanese) Yueh Lien Trade and Development Co., Ltd. and Tam Anh Company.
Specifically, Yueh Lien Company with Mr. Nguy Dinh Nguyen was the most active in promoting Vietnam-Taiwan trade. He ordered a large volume of Vietnamese wood products, paper making materials, rattan and lacquer handicrafts to be exported to Taiwan. I was assigned by the Director as the driver of Mr. Nguy Dinh Nguyen while Mr. Chu Thanh Son worked as an interpreter to help him find suppliers and track the delivery of his orders.
The company car drove Mr. Nguy Dinh Nguyen (free of charge) regularly between Dong Nai and Ho Chi Minh City and some provinces in the Southeast region. I still remember the shipment of lacquer vases Mr. Nguy ordered from a Thu Dau Mot lacquer village, which was a large shipment with different products, so its delivery was quite long. I commuted to Ho Chi Minh City every morning to drive the Director to our Bien Hoa-based office but it was quite often that, past midnight the day before, I was still with Mr. Chu Thanh Son driving Mr. Nguy to Binh Duong to inspect and pack his orders so that he could send his shipment to Tan Son Nhat airport the next day for delivery to Taiwan. I was sometimes exhausted and, through Mr. Chu Thanh Son, asked Mr. Nguy Dinh Nguyen’s permission to stop for a while on our road trip so that I could take a short nap to overcome my fatigue and drive safely.
Thanks to support from others around me and efforts to fulfill the Director’s request for “taking good care of the customer”, everything went smoothly while I was supporting this Taiwanese client. Following our first contact with these companies, the Director then successfully linked Taiwanese Vedan Company with an investment project in Dong Nai, so I had the opportunity to travel all over the country in business trips with the Vedan Company, other foreign investors and central and local organizations which supported the Company in industrial development and investment in Dong Nai province.
Vietnam was opening its door for foreign investment and it was a great memory for me to drive and support business trips across the country as a driver at Dong Nai Industrial Development and Investment Company, a predecessor of Sonadezi today”.
