As Vietnam's communist party apparatchiks met at the weekend under portraits of Marx and Lenin for the opaque process of selecting the country's new rulers, Bill Gates, the world's richest man, landed in Hanoi for a one-day visit and was received as a conquering hero.
Mr Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft, a first-time visitor to Vietnam and the epitome of capitalist success, was given a red carpet welcome at the dilapidated Hanoi University of Technology, where he was mobbed by thousands of cheering students, many clutching Vietnamese versions of his books.
In a speech and subsequent question session, Mr Gates won repeated applause as he spoke of the potential for young Vietnamese to work in software outsourcing, call centres, back office processing and other niches of the global information economy.
"With the internet having connected the world together, someone's opportunity is not determined by geography . . . but by the investment in education that you make," he told IT students.
"You represent the future of invention and technology," he said. "In fact, you represent the future of this country, making sure it uses digital processes to grow in a rapid way."
The rapturous reception - as the country's leaders were discussing the "socialist-oriented market economy" - reflects the conflicting impulses in today's Vietnam, where the ruling communists are struggling to reconcile their aspirations for a strong "knowledge-based economy" with the legacy of the socialism.
Although Hanoi is eager to develop high-technology industries as a cornerstone of the economy, analysts say progress is being hindered by vested interests from the state-controlled past.
- (Financial Times service)
