Turning down an offer of a position in the hotel and tourism sector in Australia, Tran Dat Duy decided to return Vietnam to do something for the country.

He is now the general director and CEO of Kien Giang Tourism Joint Stock Company and Vice Chairman of the Tourism Association of Cuu Long River Delta. Despite numerous successes with many tourism projects, Duy had been very interested in the project of planting 1,000 ha of sugar cane in Long Xuyen, Hon Dat, Kien Giang.

 Tran Dat Duy, a native of Bac Lieu province left for Australia in 1983, when he was the first year student of Ho Chi Minh City University.

While continuing his study in Australia, Duy did various part time jobs, from dish washing to grass cutting, to earn extra money. After that, he applied to the Business Administration University.

Before graduating in 1985, Duy received a two-year scholarship offer from a tourism and hotel corporation on condition that he would have to work for them for at least five years after graduation.

Duy rejected the offer and decided to come back to Vietnam in 1992 with the determination to do something for the homeland.

When the Vietnamese Government launched the programme “One million tone of sugar” in 1995, Duy got involved in providing financial guarantees and brokerage, as he had done some research on the sugar industry of Australia, the world’s most powerful sugar producer. However, the Australia’s model was impossible to apply in Vietnam since factories in Vietnam are far away from production zones.

Realising this difficulty, Kien Giang’s authorities had asked Duy for help to set up a 1,000 ha production zone close to Kien Giang Sugar Factory. The project costs him nearly VND 40 billion in developing infrastructure, especially irrigation and an electricity system. Capable of 60 tonnes of sugar canes per hectare, the zone has around 200 regular workers.

Before the project, Duy had planted 300ha of sugar cane in Tay Ninh, 200ha in Phu Yen and 600 ha in Binh Thuan province.

“Planting sugar cane on alum-based soil is really a hard nut to crack” Duy confided. They had to pump water in the field in dry season and pump water out in rainy season to dilute the alum in the soil.

All these difficulties and hardships could not prevent Mr. Duy from implementing this project, considering it part of his contributions to the country. Duy even plans to set up a tourist spot at the Long Xuyen quadrangle.

Source: Tien Phong

Translated by Hoang Anh