The narrative, according to Victor Ngo, chief executive officer of UOB Vietnam, is that for the decade from 2010 to 2020, investments in the country could largely be split into two parts. Higher technological manufacturing in the north and traditional textile manufacturing in the south.
The fastest way to get from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi is by taking a two-hour plane ride, over a distance of 1,161km. This makes the capital city, Hanoi, geographically closer to mainland China and the rest of Asia Pacific; while the distance between the largest city and former capital Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore is about the same as it is to Hanoi.
For this reason, when Vietnam first became a contender for China- plus-one (China+1), which refers to the business strategy to avoid investing only in China and diversify business into other countries, many companies that had operations related to technology relegated their business to Hanoi in the north.
