Not rumour - fact - I was there.
A few years ago a small group of VN expat pilots were having a beer or two in the Omni bar.... as you do. We were aware that there had been some protracted negotiations over the previous year or two with an outside consortium (I think it was Singapore based) who were looking to take a controlling share in what was then known as Pacific Airlines. We knew this deal had collapsed largely as a result of the disputed value of Pacific - put at approx $5 mill US. At some stage early in the evening we met two very excited, and, oh yes, very knowledgable, QF commercial gents who advised us they were here to set the world on fire with something now called Jetstar Pacific. The upshot of most of what we heard was that the poor old Viets were hopeless at business, had no commercial acumen, couldn't count to ten, and that this was a fantastic 'win win' for the QF group and VN in general. These gents left after a while and those of us remaining were quite taken with their instant grasp of how business was done in VN, and how the locals clearly had no idea whatsoever of how 'real business was done in the real world'. Apparently about $40 mill US should wrap the whole deal up including investment, and the new deal would be making a profit in no time, much to the educational benefit of the local uninformed, who clearly had no idea how to spot a great business opportunity.
I can think of three or four people in VN right now (not expats) laughing their heads off, and toasting the undeniable business acumen of their new partners, as they have been successfully doing for around 10,000 years
Chuc Mung Nam Moi !!! Mot, Hai, Ba, …. Yo !!!
Brilliant !!
Last edited by Olive61; 1st Jan 2012 at 23:11.