Mr. Le Minh Hoan, Secretary of the Dong Thap Provincial Party Committee once made a businessman confess that he chose "lotus land" as a place to start a business just because there was a smiling Secretary. Hoan's famous quote is: "I'm not doing politics, I'm just connecting".
Mr. Le Minh Hoan arranged to meet me at 7 am on Saturday. The messages exchanged before the trip to Dong Thap were encapsulated in a few words announcing the meeting place and time. The Secretary's email is always checked and answered after only about 5-7 minutes with the number of words always limited to less than ten. “Fast, neat is his style,” said an employee under his command.
On Saturday morning, Secretary Le Minh Hoan not only made an appointment with reporters but also took advantage of inviting two more representatives of small businesses in the area to meet. Mr. Nguyen Tan Long, General Director of Dong Thap Muoi Agricultural Technical Services Co., Ltd. said he was very surprised when he received a phone call from a person claiming to be "Cyc Lo" inviting him to have breakfast and drink coffee.
"This Mr. Cyclo even jokingly said he wanted to buy rice, which made me dumbfounded, after a while he sat next to me and said he didn't know who Cyclo was, that Cyclo was Uncle Sau Hoan, then it broke," Mr. Long said. . The name Cyclo comes from the Six Lotus - Sau Sen reading camp. Because Mr. Le Minh Hoan is the sixth child in the family, his hometown is the land of pink lotus, so he gave himself that name.
Mr. Long carried two bags of rice, one of ordinary rice, the other of medicinal rice being researched and developed for Secretary Hoan to see and comment on.
Breakfast was served, familiar dishes of Dong Thap such as noodle soup, broken rice… While the diners were still eating, Mr. Hoan finished his meal and began to check the work via email. .
He took out from his pocket two books for Mr. Long and his partner: One Straw Revolution and The successful experience of the small boss. Hold the book"The successful experience of a small boss”In this article, Secretary Hoan Bao teaches the Chinese way of doing business, as simple as needing to change a bit in packaging, revenue and profit could have increased many times. “My packaging is so simple now,” he said, glancing at the two bags of rice that Mr. Long brought.
The friend who accompanied Mr. Long resisted if the packaging was fussy, the price went up, consumers didn't buy anymore, making it difficult for businesses. Secretary Hoan laughed, patted the book and told him not to think about the subtraction problem, but to think about the addition problem when the goods can be sold less but the total revenue is higher. "There are tips of the Chinese here, they don't teach anything sublime, just small stories, read it gradually," he said.
He also said he connected Mr. Long to a large agricultural enterprise in the province at the office. He himself has some business to do and will come back later.
While waiting for Secretary Le Minh Hoan, Ms. Lieu, deputy head of the provincial socio-economic department, led me to the back of the campus where Mr. Long was chatting with Mr. Tran Tan Duc, Director of Dong Thap Food Company. Long's concerns were explained to the other director in turn, from big things how to find output for products, to small things like how to make beautiful and attractive packaging.
Mr. Tran Tan Duc, in fact, is also a mentor - a guide for start-up businesses in the province. Dong Thap, in its start-up movement, has established many startup instruction classes. The province has signed and comprehensively cooperated with Startup Vietnam Investment Fund (SVF) to invite experts on consulting and guidance.
Not only new startups have to go to school, leaders like Mr. Hoan or Mr. Duc who are big businesses also have to go through training courses to become instructors.
A large business will act as a “mentor” for several “mentees” who are small businesses. Because the province believes that teachers come and go, no matter how good a teacher is, in the process of operation, only local businesses can fully understand local businesses, and can provide the closest mentoring.
About 20 minutes later, Mr. Hoan returned, sat at the table and listened to the story. Seeing that Mr. Long was still confused about the product packaging story, he pulled out his iPad and enlarged the illustration of the "smile curve".
Pointing to the photo, the Secretary of Dong Thap province explained that many businesses are still at the bottom of the curve, where the value is the lowest. Meanwhile, the stages of distribution, marketing and making services "for money" have not been done. Of course, as he said, small businesses, new to doing, have weak knowledge, they need to read and learn, more importantly, don't "walk away alone".
With that, he quickly got up and returned with three other books. "How talented, how many books are given away this morning", he humorously said. Trung Quan, Mr. Hoan's staff, said that every time he reads a good book, he orders by box for occasions like these. Books were ordered so much that the delivery staff just saw Quan and shook hands.
The conversation with Secretary Le Minh Hoan was often interrupted. This man in his 50s is constantly on the move, doing this, doing that, and always getting caught up in stories with businesses. Sometimes he discovered that he needed to give this to the business, sometimes he replied to emails sent by farmers. There are 23 farmer associations in the province, a place to connect, for farmers to sit together to share experiences and knowledge.
"This is very fun, the whole province is starting a business," said the Provincial Secretary. As he said, the start-up story of the young people of Dong Thap may be just a cake, a towel, maybe everyday products, but it is the heart of the people of Dong Thap. It is the desire that our products contribute to creating a brand for the homeland, solving jobs and jobs.
His concept of entrepreneurship is to see it as a way of life, a way of life, a value in work. That's the spirit the way the whole province is headed.
Secretary Le Minh Hoan showed off the email he received the day before, written by a young entrepreneur. The letter read: "Dear Uncle Sau, for me every day that passes since I find joy in making paper flowers is like a whole world that I live fully with. Paper flowers and their products are now like children that the Handy House team makes to carry them around. The hyacinth bag made by the child has been sent to Korea. They really like Vietnamese organic products. Now going to the mall, it becomes a trendy fashion item…”.
When asked about the thinking of the term, whether it will make today's efforts lose, Party Secretary Le Minh Hoan frankly said that it is also a concern of Dong Thap when embarking on agricultural restructuring, development and economic development. local development. At that time, the leaders of the provinces and cities sat together and determined that they had to completely abandon the term thinking to achieve the set goals.
“We have prepared the next generation for the next term. These people have been working from now on, the provincial leaders only suggest, and they are the ones who directly manage. Thus, the province will not be at risk by future generations, "said Secretary Hoan.
The Secretary laughed when asked about the associate Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Duong. Because if Mr. Hoan is known by the nickname "Xich Lo", Mr. Duong Chairman has the nick name "Ba Gac". Cyclo - Ba Gac walking together shows the closeness between the Party Committee and the government.
Talking about "Ba Gac", Mr. "Cyc Lo" said that sitting here, people talk about Mr. Hoan a lot, but out there, everyone mentions Mr. Duong with strong administrative reforms, especially the coffee shop. Entrepreneur was launched by Mr. "Ba Gac". “We all work together,” he laughs.
Secretary Hoan said that because there was a consensus with each other, sometimes the opinions given were contradictory, but in fact, they added each other and gradually improved in their work. “If you ask me if I disagree, no!” he asserted.
In the position of leader, Secretary Le Minh Hoan said that in addition to connecting between people, he also has to create space for young people to develop and promote their abilities in their own homeland.
Talented people don't have any acting ground, and the experimental land is damaged, because "they are not bonsai to show off, to show off, but need space," he said. At the same time, Mr. Cyclo emphasized to understand the value of the people who work with him, not too important about the degree.
However, this Secretary confided many times that there is a feeling of failure when not keeping good people. He said that sometimes he could not manage the whole system himself, sometimes placing the personnel in an inappropriate position caused these people to meet the jealousy and indifference of the boss, eventually causing them to leave. "Not much of course, but that's my regret," he said.
Coming from an architect background, Secretary Le Minh Hoan is sensitive to beauty, as is advising businesses to pay attention to packaging. He said that people choose a career, but it is actually a profession that chooses people, "at some point, it is necessary to work to contribute to society, but it is normal at first".
However, the knowledge and skills accumulated during his time in the lecture hall have supported this Secretary in his current work, which as he describes "architects has the peculiarity of helping people combine many factors. technically, artistically, socially, psychologically”.
For example, when building a hospital or cultural facility, the participants in the project approval must understand what the users of the facility need, the organizational principles, and the structure. Expanding is urban planning, where is the hospital, where is the trade center, service, square, green trees ...
“Integrative mind helps leaders to judge the interaction between projects. Why build this, that, if built, what will it be like?", Mr. Hoan explained.
As for the last question about Dong Thap image 10 years later, Secretary Le Minh Hoan thought for a moment and said that at that time, he hoped that the province's brand would be more known at that time, with a strong start-up team. active people. That's what I and my associates hope and sow from today.
According to Young Intellectuals 18/08/2017
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