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In the 2nd of a two-part series, Guy explores Vietnam's rice growing fields and factories to see how the single-party state is also fast becoming an industrial powerhouse and the world's next high-tech workshop. He tries out the latest electric scooters and visits the huge 'VinFast' factory so see how the Vietnamese are moving into the car industry. With a quick test drive in their latest electric model, will Guy be impressed?.
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00:02Guy Martin is exploring again.
00:07Yeah, Vietnam. Always been fascinated.
00:13Fifty years after the Vietnam War ended, Guy's already seen how its effects are still being dealt with.
00:25But there is more to this country than just a war story.
00:30The number one reason I'm fascinated is because it's still one of only a few nations under communist rule.
00:36So we need to find out a bit more about that.
00:38And another reason, right, the saying Vietnam is going to become the next workshop of the world.
00:44Yes, I just want to suss that out, see what's going on.
00:48And so Guy's 1,000 mile journey continues.
00:53We definitely wasn't expecting anything like this.
00:56Living and working alongside the Vietnamese.
01:00Oh, I rather see embracing.
01:03To find out how this communist state really works.
01:07You're all taught how to rebuild a machine gun.
01:11Yes.
01:12Yes.
01:14And how it's preparing for a high-tech future.
01:17This is amazing.
01:18What's that?
01:21You know what I'm like.
01:22I just want to suss the job out and see what it looks like on the streets.
01:34Vietnam, in the heart of Southeast Asia, is a third larger than the UK.
01:41It has a population of 100 million.
01:43And the average wage is around £200 a month.
01:52In a country where a hearty meal costs a pound.
01:56Oh!
01:57Number one.
01:59Perfect.
01:59And a mobile phone costs £5 a month.
02:05Not usually for spice on a Tuesday morning, but that's all right.
02:08When in Rome.
02:10I think my gob has numbed off to the spiciness now.
02:15It's all right.
02:16Numbed off?
02:18Numbed off, yeah.
02:20Is that what you'd say, numbed off?
02:25Gai's journey through Vietnam has reached the south and the famous river region called the Mekong Delta.
02:37For someone like Gai, finding out how a country works means going to work.
02:44And in Vietnam, a traditional hub of culture and commerce is the floating market.
02:50Where the gruff starts early.
02:59All right, mate.
03:00Yeah, here we are.
03:0232 minutes past four.
03:04There we are, Saturday morning.
03:07Topside of Canto.
03:09South, South Vietnam.
03:11It's a proper Vietnam.
03:13Anyway, floating market.
03:15Fruit, veg, that sort of thing.
03:17We're going to meet a bloke called...
03:18Yui.
03:20I'm going to get on his boat and we're going to do a bit of selling.
03:22I think.
03:23You're your salesman?
03:24No, I'm crap, I don't know, we're giving it away.
03:28This will be more observe and learn from my side of things, I think.
03:35I'm going to go find our mate, Yui.
03:38And he's in here somewhere.
03:41Xin chiao.
03:43Xin chiao.
03:45Focus sleep.
03:48Yui lives with his family in a typical two-roomed home.
03:51With a kitchen at the back that opens directly onto the river.
03:58Xin chiao.
03:59Xin chiao.
04:01Are you getting on?
04:02Nice to meet you, Yui.
04:03Nice to meet you.
04:04Okay.
04:06Sound, mate, sound.
04:08Where do you want us, mate?
04:09What can I do?
04:13Every day begins by loading produce grown on the family farm.
04:20Onto a sampan, a flat-bottomed boat that can be moored at the back door.
04:27Along with a helper called Man, he sets sail for market.
04:31Oh, you've done this, mate.
04:32At 5am.
04:36Where are we going?
04:37We're going that way?
04:38That way.
04:39Sound job.
04:40Sound job, mate.
04:42You know how long you worked on the market?
04:44How old are you?
04:46How old are you?
04:47How old are you?
04:47You're 32.
04:48You look well on that, mate.
04:57Are we going over there?
04:59Over there.
05:00That's the market over there, you sound.
05:03There have been floating markets here since the 18th century.
05:07At its peak, 800 boats sold goods, squeezed into a half-mile stretch.
05:15Yeah, let's drive.
05:16Sound, mate.
05:17Let's drive.
05:19But, as Vietnam develops and more traffic goes by road, the river trade is much quieter,
05:26leaving the entrepreneurial Vietnamese to sniff out a new opportunity.
05:31on clad in orange life vests.
05:35Foreign tourists.
05:40Yui's sales routine is well honed.
05:43Intercept the potential customers, offer a free sample, and use his new assistant's sparkling sales patter to close the deal.
05:56Do you want to buy out?
05:58Yeah?
05:59Do you buy anything?
06:02Go on.
06:03It is not an easy way to make money.
06:06They're not keen, mate.
06:07They're not keen.
06:09Particularly when your sales assistant is out of his comfort zone.
06:12Yeah, do mango.
06:13Mango.
06:14And then nearly falls in.
06:16Oh, fucking hell.
06:17There they are, mate.
06:19Sorry, mate.
06:19Sorry, mate.
06:20But the trainee salesman persists.
06:23Go on, mate.
06:23Have a taste of that.
06:26And sells the first mango of his life.
06:30We're going to buy some, mate.
06:31Cheers, mate.
06:33The price for one mango is around £1.50.
06:37Yeah?
06:37And the Instagram video, for free.
06:42Cheers, mate.
06:44Cheers, mate.
06:45100.
06:46100?
06:47Yeah, 100.
06:48Ah, thank you.
06:51The driver of the tourist boat gets a tip for himself.
06:54Yeah, come on.
06:55Come on.
06:55Cheers, mate.
06:57And then it's back to work.
06:59Come on.
07:00Come on.
07:01Cheers.
07:04Good morning, Vietnam.
07:07Welcome, welcome.
07:08Welcome to Floppy Market.
07:11More flexible visa policies means 23 million tourists
07:16are predicted to visit Vietnam this year,
07:1930% up from last year.
07:22And whilst most come from South Korea and China,
07:25Western visitors are growing quickly, too.
07:29Go on, you.
07:30Any mango?
07:31No.
07:31Any cuss?
07:32No?
07:33No, we're not going to sell any.
07:34All right.
07:34Good morning, Vietnam!
07:38Our lads have had a decent do out of this.
07:41You see the money in the back pocket?
07:44We're getting a fair wedge in there now.
07:51Come on, mango.
07:52Two mangoes, 100.
07:54Xin chào.
07:55Go on, pick out the mango you want.
07:57Yeah, there you go.
07:58Another deal.
08:02Thank you very much for letting us aboard.
08:05So, yeah, best of luck.
08:06Come on.
08:07Come on.
08:07Come on.
08:08Come on.
08:10Come on.
08:11Come on.
08:1240 years ago, Vietnam was one of the poorest countries in the world.
08:18But it's changing fast, with ambitions to trade in much more than just mangoes.
08:24As Guy's about to find out on the next leg of his journey.
08:39In fast-developing Vietnam, cars and lorries are increasingly seen on the roads.
08:45But the real engine of growth is something far smaller.
08:49Scooters.
08:5198% of vehicles are motorbikes.
08:54And in cities thriving with trade, the Vietnamese have turned loading them into an outform.
09:02Guy, who made his name racing the fearsome Isle of Man TT,
09:07now faces the challenge of riding with 200 kilograms of melons.
09:12It's 97cc, that.
09:14Three times heavier than the recommended load.
09:21We've got a fair bit of weight on here.
09:23I'm going to take it for a lat around the block.
09:25Shall we see how I get on?
09:29Are we ready?
09:35It does feel a bit unsteady.
09:40Yeah, the handlebars are definitely twisted.
09:44Oh, hang on. Right. The speedo doesn't work. Here we go.
09:52There are 77 million scooters and motorbikes in Vietnam.
09:58Three million are sold every year.
10:00That's five sales every minute.
10:03All right, Doc.
10:06A bike like this costs around £400.
10:09And with fuel costing 60p a litre, less than half the price of the UK,
10:15a scooter can travel 100 miles for around £2.
10:20Right, we're going to do a bit of right turn here, mate.
10:22I don't know if my winkers work.
10:24My winkers don't work, mate.
10:25We're going to turn right down here.
10:27I need to knock her back again.
10:28Whoa!
10:29Okay, now, mate, I can hear you.
10:30I can hear you.
10:31Mate, I'm going right.
10:32You're all right.
10:34All right, big man.
10:35Yeah, I can hear you.
10:36I can hear you, mate.
10:38Did we survive?
10:40All is happy.
10:43It is illegal to ride an overloaded scooter in Vietnam,
10:48but the police do seem to turn a blind eye
10:51because, obviously, they know it's the most efficient way
10:52to get your gear about.
10:54I don't know.
10:54Do I look overloaded to you?
10:57Yeah.
10:58Okay.
10:58Well, we was breaking the law.
11:00But we've not had a collar felt, have we?
11:02No.
11:02We'll go a bit further.
11:05Vietnam's 77 million scooters may be helping drive growth,
11:10but all those engines create pollution,
11:13and so there are plans to start banning petrol-powered two-wheelers
11:17by 2030.
11:19But rather than give up on their beloved mopeds,
11:22the ever-ingenious Vietnamese have invented a very clever solution.
11:27It is a vision of the future for urban mobility.
11:35The Camel is an electric scooter,
11:39although with its cargo box, it's more like an electric van.
11:45Five seconds.
11:46Four, three, two, one.
11:49Right.
11:49Go.
11:53It's not overly energetic.
11:56It keeps up with most of it.
11:58It's all right.
11:59The magic is in the pioneering way.
12:03This bike is recharged.
12:06Electric scooters, they're all right,
12:08but most folk live in flats,
12:10so taking these home and charging them
12:12is going to be a right pain in the backside.
12:14But this company thinks they've got a plan for that, right?
12:21Instead of plugging the scooter into a socket
12:23and waiting for it to recharge,
12:26you find a vending machine
12:27and swap your flat battery for a fresh one.
12:32This subscription service costs around £30 a month.
12:39Simple as this.
12:39Go to the app.
12:40Swap battery.
12:41Get that QR code on the screen.
12:44Confirm.
12:44Do you want to do a battery swap?
12:46Yes, I do.
12:47Open the door.
12:49So then, I'm going to take the battery out of my bike.
12:51It's in here.
12:52Two batteries in here.
12:53Take the battery out there.
12:57Put the battery in there.
13:02And then it's going to randomly open a box
13:04with a fresh battery in.
13:05Wait for it.
13:07In a moment.
13:08There we go.
13:11I tell you.
13:14Impressive.
13:16And I've got another 100-mile range as quick as that.
13:20You know what I mean?
13:21If every scooter on the road was on this system,
13:24you would need streets and streets of these.
13:26Obviously, we might have a grid supply issue.
13:29But the idea's there.
13:32What a sell.
13:41Encouraged to park his scooter for a while,
13:44Guy heads further south into rural Vietnam.
13:48It's a bit wet, that wood, mate.
13:50She's smoking.
13:54Its countryside looks idyllic.
13:56But like a city full of scooters,
13:58these fields also produce greenhouse gas.
14:02Guy's on his way to an agricultural revolution
14:04that is redressing the balance.
14:07Yeah, back home, I work on a farm a bit.
14:09And wherever we're going,
14:10I just want to see how the farming works down here.
14:13So what do they grow down here?
14:15Yeah, rice.
14:18After India and Thailand,
14:20Vietnam is the world's third biggest exporter of rice.
14:24A food that provides 20% of the planet's calories.
14:32About 3 million hectares of rice-growing land in Vietnam.
14:38Yeah, that's a lot.
14:39That's about the same as three Yorkshires.
14:44Today, Guy will be working as a labourer in one of those fields with Farmer Wren.
14:50We're going to go, we pick it in a, what's that, 20 hectare rice field?
14:57Where am I going over here?
14:59Sound job, mate.
15:01Agriculture is the biggest employer in Vietnam.
15:06We're in, mate.
15:07But as the economy has industrialised,
15:10wages here have been left behind.
15:14Weeding rice fields is a solitary job that only pays in pence.
15:29rice is the grain of a grass, and telling it apart from weeds requires an expert eye.
15:38We're looking at this one.
15:41We're looking at these.
15:41Yeah, we're looking at these.
15:42Yeah, yeah, yeah...
15:45Cheers, mate.
15:48Here.
15:49Got him, mate.
15:51Here.
15:53Over there.
15:54I'm doing it.
15:55I'm doing it.
15:55I'm doing it.
15:58I'm doing it.
15:58Cheers, mate.
15:59I love it.
16:05I love it.
16:06I love it.
16:09I love it.
16:13We would have to get 20 times more than this to fill a bag,
16:17and then for that one bag, you would get 70 pence.
16:21You'd be grafting for it.
16:23Weed picking here is only necessary because this is a very special rice farm.
16:34Rice is traditionally grown in flooded fields that kill off competing weeds.
16:40Unfortunately, that water also keeps oxygen out of the soil,
16:45leading to the production of methane, a greenhouse gas.
16:49Along with the massive amount of water used in the first place,
16:53rice is not a particularly sustainable food to grow.
16:59You've got to put it in perspective, haven't you?
17:00What does it take to grow a kilogram of spuds?
17:05About 500 litres of water, right?
17:07Something like that.
17:07500 litres of water, right?
17:08What does it take to grow a kilogram of rice?
17:105,000 litres of water, right?
17:13That's a lot of water in here.
17:15But we've had this massive, yeah, breakthrough.
17:20Sort of here.
17:20We're sort of at the epicentre of the revolution, really.
17:23And that's the key to it.
17:24That bit there, a bit of a sluice gate.
17:25Yeah, it just turns the water off.
17:27Quite simple.
17:29The system is called AWD, alternate wetting and drying.
17:35I thought we were just getting our eye in with what's going on here.
17:44Shall we go get a look up there, then, mate?
17:46Yeah.
17:49First, the river water is diverted to a pump house.
17:53Hey, Red, can I turn the pumps on, please?
17:58This one.
18:03The second stage is the pumps filling an irrigation channel
18:07built between the fields.
18:12Go on, let's get cracking, mate. Let's get cracking.
18:14The final stage is flooding the fields.
18:18Am I opening it all the way?
18:19All right, mate.
18:20By opening giant valves.
18:24Renders one week dry and one week wet.
18:28Oh, yeah, that's loads of water, isn't it?
18:31Today, it's time to start a wet week.
18:36It's going through at a fair pace, that, yeah?
18:38Yeah, it'll still take a full day to flood that field.
18:40It's about 110 hectares altogether here.
18:42Seven to 800 tonnes for rice every harvest.
18:47Three harvests a year.
18:47This farm has cut down on its water usage by 30%, and its emissions by a half.
18:55And because the technique encourages deeper rooting, yields have risen by about 10%.
19:01This is one of the first farms to be used in this system, and it's going to spread, hopefully, across
19:05the whole of Vietnam.
19:06This is all a government-funded scheme.
19:09Change on this scale is easier in the one-party state of Vietnam, where what the Communist Party wants, the
19:17Communist Party gets.
19:21That's accepted when it comes to things like greener food production.
19:25But there's a darker side to the system, too.
19:29Dissenting voices are harshly dealt with, so some things are best discussed in the privacy of a hotel room.
19:38We're all right.
19:41In the past, news websites like the BBC have been blocked, and a special division of the army, Force 47,
19:50monitors the internet to make sure people don't watch videos like this one.
19:57So here we go, right?
19:59This is a bloke called Tho Lam.
20:01He's head of the Vietnamese Communist Party.
20:05He's in London.
20:06This posh steak restaurant.
20:10Who does he think he is, that chef?
20:11He's prancing about a lot.
20:141,500 quid, that steak.
20:15Gold leaf on the top of it.
20:17This Turkish steak chef is feeding, look at you, this bit of steak into the mouth of Tho Lam.
20:26His thumb's up there.
20:27All right, okay.
20:28Is that the best thing to be doing when you're the leader of the Communist Party in Vietnam?
20:33No.
20:34I mean, the Communist rules were all equal.
20:36It's just...
20:37Some are more equal than others.
20:40Right, anyway, anyway.
20:41A street food seller here in Vietnam saw this video, and he sort of did his own video.
20:47Of that.
20:48Taking the mic out of it.
20:50Look, watch this.
20:51He's doing a couple of little movements that are sort of giving it away that he's taking the mic out
20:54of that video.
20:56But he's not saying anything.
20:57He's not mentioning Tho Lam.
20:59He's just doing a bit of mickey taking.
21:02Anyway, this didn't go down very well.
21:04You know what they did?
21:05They got hold of this street seller, locked him up, gave him five years.
21:09Locked up for five years for doing that.
21:13That's not...
21:14No.
21:15No, I don't agree.
21:16I do not agree one bit.
21:19Despite this, online life is slowly becoming more liberal.
21:24Human rights websites that were once blocked are now freely viewable.
21:29A sign that modern Vietnam's iron grip on censorship is loosening.
21:37Finding out more about this new Vietnam and where it's heading means a road trip to its most modern metropolis.
21:45The financial capital, Ho Chi Minh City.
21:51Oh!
21:51Good.
21:52Nice day.
21:52Did you get your coffee?
21:54Got coffee.
21:55Rocket fuel.
21:59Throughout his time in Vietnam, Guy is helped by translator Kimmy Phun.
22:05You're ringing, mate.
22:06Answer your phone, mate.
22:07Mate, mate.
22:07Get cracking.
22:08You're all right.
22:08Hello?
22:11Every journey is a chance to learn more about Vietnam from a native.
22:17Mate, I've got a lot of questions for you.
22:19Yeah?
22:19Everyone in Vietnam is a millionaire.
22:23Yeah, that's true.
22:25How much is a million dong?
22:26A million dong is worth 30...
22:3030 pounds?
22:31Well, I spent nearly half a million dong last night getting my feet massaged.
22:36I thought, oh, I'm pushing the boat out of here.
22:37It was only about...
22:38Mate, it was about 13 quid.
22:41Kimmy's background also reveals the work ethic behind Vietnam's extraordinary growth of nearly 7% every year since 1990.
22:52You didn't have it easy growing up, sleeping on the floor, eh?
22:58Yeah, yeah.
22:58And you just sort of laughed about this, and your mum and your dad didn't have enough money to bring
23:02you up, so your aunties brought you up.
23:04I remember the house that they built.
23:07It was made from mud and straw.
23:12The thing that changed the destiny was education, really.
23:16Go on.
23:16Studying.
23:17Studying was the only way out.
23:19If you don't want to live in this limited, resourced life, then try to study hard.
23:27You've learnt what?
23:29You're fluent in French, fluent in English.
23:30No, not fluent in French.
23:31You speak better English than I do.
23:33No, I don't.
23:34Yes, you do.
23:37Vietnam has invested heavily in its education system, although not every lesson is academic.
23:43You're all taught how to rebuild a machine gun.
23:48Is this right?
23:50Yes.
23:51Anyone who has gone to college.
23:55And you did it?
23:56Yeah.
23:57You just, like, pull it back, pull all the parts apart, and then put it back in, and then fit
24:03it in position.
24:06Watch out.
24:07Wow.
24:07That was exciting.
24:08I loved it.
24:10Fair point.
24:12Next stop, the ultimate capitalist playground inside a communist state.
24:25There's no better example of Vietnam's progress than the former Saigon.
24:32Guy, who's a better mechanic than a year's cameraman, heads out to film his first impressions.
24:38That's Ho Chi Minh City for you.
24:40A million miles from paddy fields, floating markets.
24:46You see that there?
24:48That's a replica of the Empire State Building, you see?
24:52Behind me.
24:54They're not doing this half-hearted, are they?
24:58The cosmopolitan feel stems from the Americans based here during the war.
25:05It appears everyone now aspires to be more like the old capitalist enemy.
25:11Everything feels a bit, erm, Oxford Street spec.
25:16Bit disappointed.
25:18I don't know much about Fendi, but I know that's posh.
25:21Ferragamo, that looks posh.
25:23Versace, Channel, that's all posh stuff, innit?
25:29But then what do you expect when you're hearing mad numbers of economic growth?
25:33Is it inevitable that all of the major cities all blend into one?
25:38Look, as he says that, we're going past a Louis Vuitton shop.
25:44Saigon's light show suggests that capitalism is working very well for the Vietnamese.
25:49Although there's also a very obvious downside.
25:58Two hours down river, the unfortunate side effect of a booming economy is patently obvious.
26:07The price to pay for all this economic growth is you make a load more pollution, a load more rubbish,
26:14right?
26:14And you can sort of see it down here.
26:16Bottles, polystyrene, chip boxes, rubber gloves, bits of random wood, like a Jerusalem's.
26:23Whatever you want is in there.
26:26Not all the pollution is plastic.
26:30Water hyacinth is an invasive species that thrives on fertilizer draining off from the fields.
26:36It clogs propellers, tangles fishing lines and starves the underwater ecosystem of oxygen.
26:44We're like ten years into travel programs.
26:46I think we're all in agreement this is about the worst we've seen.
26:49We've seen the Amazon, we've seen the Yangtze, we've been to the Umba, right?
26:53Nothing, nothing compares with this.
26:57Yeah, this is, this is bad.
27:00But this contraption here is trying to do something about it.
27:06This is the Interceptor, a static barge roughly the length of two buses that catches 15 tons of river rubbish
27:16a month before it can float out to sea.
27:21It has no engines, so requires no fuel, and simply sits in the water filtering whatever flows into its jaws.
27:30It is run by Ton.
27:33What about was this made?
27:34Some in the Netherlands, some in Germany, and then we ship everything to Vietnam, and then we assemble it here.
27:40Brilliant. It's amazing.
27:42So go on, Ton, what can I do?
27:44So the first thing is that we need to extract the waste from the river onto this conveyor belt.
27:48So please turn it on.
27:50OK.
27:50OK.
27:51Yeah? Yeah.
27:51And this one, you bring it up, and then the front conveyor belt will run.
27:54Yeah.
27:58The mechanicals are solar powered, with the natural force of the tide pushing debris into the trap.
28:05But when the direction of the tide changes, the rubbish needs a helping hand.
28:12Over here, guys, if you can...
28:14Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:16Go on, I can't let him go now.
28:17Come on, we've nearly got him.
28:19Ah, that's it.
28:20Good man.
28:23Even we have some catch live animals.
28:25You catch live animals?
28:26Yeah, we have turtle toys, we have frogs, we have snakes.
28:29Turtles, frogs, snakes?
28:31Yeah.
28:32Yeah, and then we take it, and then we release it back to the water.
28:35Oh, I see.
28:36Yeah.
28:38Normal run, you'd fill it in seven days.
28:40Yeah.
28:40But when the holidays are on, you see so much more rubbish, you're filling it in three days.
28:44Yeah, three days.
28:45Tun, you've got some information, I'm impressed, thank you.
28:48The rubbish has moved into six large skips.
28:52Yeah.
28:52You ready?
28:53OK, just hold it.
28:54Yeah.
28:54Oh, she's away now.
28:57And now turn it on.
28:59There she comes.
29:01Look at all that.
29:06Oh, that's the daddy.
29:08That's the daddy, look at that.
29:10The full skips are collected by boat, which takes the waste to be burnt and create power.
29:17So you generate electricity?
29:19Yeah.
29:19Yeah.
29:20So like a waste to energy plant?
29:21Yeah.
29:22How many megawatts?
29:2345 megawatts.
29:24Honestly, 45 megawatts, waste to energy?
29:27Yes.
29:28It's not messy.
29:31This is an amazing piece of engineering, this.
29:35It's really meaningful.
29:37Yeah.
29:38The interceptor's simplicity makes it easily scalable, and other vessels are being deployed
29:44around the world.
29:45Although Tun isn't convinced that this is a job for a motorbike racer like Guy.
29:51I think this kind of life will be too slow for him.
29:55I'd rather see him racing.
30:01Vietnam's learning how to manage its rapid growth.
30:05Companies like Apple, Microsoft and Intel all have bases here.
30:10While the Trump Organization has plans for a billion dollar golf resort.
30:15But it's growth that's in danger of coming to a sudden end.
30:20The economy is outgrowing its infrastructure.
30:23Some roads now carry eight times as much traffic as they were designed for.
30:28And where did we go the other day?
30:30I went down the Micon Delta, and what did we do?
30:32We did like a 40-mile drive.
30:34On the mainest road that we could find, and it took us two hours.
30:38And it's not just the roads.
30:40Guy's eye for engineering has spotted another system under strain.
30:46The next limiting factor is going to be the telecom system.
30:50Because wherever you look, I mean, we've got one here.
30:51Pits of fibre optic tied together with bits of string.
30:54You know what I mean? Getting the data about is fairly important in today's age, isn't it?
31:00That's another thing. Let's get the notebook out.
31:02That's another thing that needs a bit of attention.
31:06But perhaps the biggest restrictor on infrastructure development
31:10is the consequence of a recent crackdown,
31:14disciplining 24,000 public sector workers for taking bribes.
31:20The Vietnamese government had this burning furnace policy, right,
31:25which was to weed out all of this corruption.
31:28A load of people went to prison. A load of people lost their jobs.
31:31So all of these town planners and the mayors,
31:36they're all scared to grant permission for any construction to go ahead.
31:41And so the job has ground to a halt.
31:44Because if it turns out there was a little bit of corruption in there,
31:47a bit of a brown envelope, we know how it works, right?
31:49If it turns out any of that happened, the book's going to stop with them.
31:53Ho Chi Minh's first ever metro system is the most famous delayed project of all.
32:00Bogged down in decades of Communist Party bureaucracy and funding shortages,
32:05it is little wonder that only 10% of the population
32:08are able to use some form of public transport.
32:16Despite the infrastructure concerns,
32:18plans to encourage Vietnam's next growth spurt are already underway.
32:24The strategy revolves around making high-value products for export,
32:29and one brand is leading the charge.
32:32The ambassador for Lincolnshire is off to find out more.
32:37The best three things in Grimsby, fish and chips, the people, and Cleethops.
32:52The Vietnamese admire wealth and love a rags-to-riches story.
32:57One billionaire's businesses loom large over the whole country.
33:03Van Nutt Vong, right? Richest man in Vietnam,
33:07made his money from...
33:11I can't say the name, can I?
33:14I'd just say that's a pot noodle, but that's a bit of a trade name, isn't it?
33:17Anyway, he sold that off.
33:20Hospitals, hotels, that's what he's into now, right?
33:22And then his latest project is making cars.
33:26So we're going to go to his latest car factory and see what he's up to.
33:32After launching in 2018, courtesy of David Beckham and Miss Vietnam,
33:39Vinfast now produces a range of six electric cars.
33:43Its vast headquarters was built in just 21 months
33:48on land reclaimed from the South China Sea.
33:54Nicely pruned hedges.
33:57Initial impressions are good.
33:58Number one.
33:59Number one.
33:59I like.
34:03With plans to send cars to the UK,
34:06Guy is here to get a first look at what an EV made in Vietnam is really like.
34:12Sin chap.
34:14I'm Guy Martin.
34:15I'm here to have a look at the Vinfast cars, please.
34:21The factory site is almost twice the size of Monaco.
34:24So Guy is issued with his own golf buggy and given free reign to explore.
34:32This is just another level, isn't it?
34:35We definitely wasn't expecting anything like this.
34:40700 cars a day can be built here.
34:43It's massive. Look.
34:45Some of which are immediately used as tow trucks.
34:48Here we go.
34:49Now we're talking. Look at this.
34:51Look at that.
34:52Now we're talking.
34:54Look, we've got another in here.
34:55Look.
34:56I think that's a VF6, isn't it?
35:00I'm impressed.
35:05We're driving in.
35:09Vinfast makes almost every component on site,
35:13starting with sheet metal, pressed in giant moulds.
35:21There are very few humans.
35:24The plant is 90% automated,
35:27relying on 1,400 state-of-the-art robots
35:31selected from the pick of European manufacturers.
35:36We might as well be in a BMW factory in the middle of Cologne
35:39or an Aston Martin factory in England.
35:41You know what I mean?
35:42It just happens that we're in Vietnam.
35:43Looks just the same.
35:44Like, I can't believe it.
35:49Go on, what are we seeing here?
35:50What are we seeing here to the right?
35:52Ah, it's a steering array.
35:54Yeah, it's a dash panel steering array.
35:55Let's have a look.
35:58Yeah.
36:00China has built a reputation for building relatively cheap EVs.
36:05Amazing.
36:06Beautiful.
36:07And through Vinfast,
36:09Vietnam is looking to follow suit,
36:12encouraging engineering talent
36:14by offering employees reduced tax rates.
36:19Quality.
36:20Quality, yeah.
36:22Look at the finishing of those wiring looms.
36:24If there was a place to cut corners, it would be in areas like this.
36:28That's an earth link for the chassis.
36:30You know what I mean?
36:30There was no need, really, to shrink wrap the suaging on that.
36:34And they have done.
36:34And it's nice.
36:35And it's just finished over with a nice bit of loom tape.
36:38And, you know, no-one's ever going to see that.
36:39That's quality.
36:42We've got to do a few more miles.
36:48You know what we've got to do.
36:57You know what we've got here.
36:59You know, we've got to work on the rails.
37:00You know, what we've got here at the front comes down.
37:02You know what we've got here.
37:04The rear camera fans have built in.
37:09in cars sold to the U.S.
37:11Xin chào, nice to meet you.
37:13Look at the quality on that paint there.
37:15Look at that.
37:16But on this visit at least,
37:18the factory and its methods appear to be modern
37:21and highly efficient.
37:22I'm gonna time them and see how long it takes
37:24to put the battery in.
37:3230 seconds.
37:33Putting the battery in, nipping it up,
37:35and the next one coming in 30 seconds.
37:37Yeah, 700 cars a day.
37:38I can see where that's coming from, yeah.
37:44Vinfast's latest model is the VF9.
37:48A luxury family car, costing around 60,000 pounds.
37:54Their goal is to sell this car worldwide.
37:58And to do that, they've got to appeal to the average person.
38:01Well, I am very much the average person.
38:03So, they're gonna let us on the test track.
38:06Let's take it for a race.
38:07There's only one way a person like Guy Martin tests a car.
38:12to see how fast it goes.
38:14All right.
38:14And whether you can crash it.
38:20I'm blindfolded.
38:21Obviously, I can't drive because I'm blindfolded.
38:23But if you put me in this, and I didn't know what it was, I can tell you 100%
38:29I would never believe that this car was built in Vietnam.
38:36Right, it's beeping at us.
38:37Look at that, 80, 90, look, 100 mile an hour, 110 mile an hour, 120 mile an hour.
38:52I'm driving like an absolute goon, and it won't let me do anything.
38:58I can't fault that.
38:58My foot is flat on the floor, and it just won't let me do.
39:01You know what I mean?
39:01The computers have controlled that.
39:18I can't fault that.
39:20I can't fault that.
39:20That is an amazing piece of kit, and on top of that, it's got a 10 year warranty.
39:27After a day at the biggest car company he'd never heard of, Guy's conclusion is inescapable.
39:33If that's a sign of things to come from Vietnam, the West need to look out.
39:38Yeah, these are serious players.
39:41But for all the progress, it's something from Vietnam's past that will be the spectacular final stop of Guy's trip.
40:02Nearly at the end of our time in Vietnam, we all like to do summits that's a bit of a
40:08do at the end of a trip, don't we?
40:10Anyway, I think we've found summits.
40:13Amidst all the modernisation that Guy has seen, Vietnam still has time for ancient traditions.
40:20Buddhism, introduced 2,000 years ago, is the biggest religion.
40:24And Choroy Tomchak, one of its newest temples, where all visitors must pay their respects.
40:31OK, where do I do that?
40:34Even though Guy is not religious, and not here for the religion.
40:41All right.
40:43I think we've got more filament bulbs than we have LEDs, so I don't know who's paying the electric bill.
40:49Maybe the donations.
40:53Nice bit of artwork.
40:55Skipper parking's top notch.
40:56But what have they got?
40:57They've also got a race workshop.
40:59We're going to go get a look at that, and then sort of the next job.
41:05The workshop prepares dragon boats.
41:08How tricky is that?
41:12Sound job.
41:13All right, have a look.
41:14OK.
41:14These 30-metre wooden craft are raced in festivals.
41:20The local Buddhists who volunteer here are preparing for the biggest event of the calendar.
41:26Ocon Bok.
41:27Celebrating the moon deity.
41:30This is something like the Khmer Christmas.
41:34We sit and eat turkey.
41:35What do they do here?
41:36They've got to race dragon boats.
41:38They've been training for months, fettling the boats, but this is the first time ever for any foreigner.
41:44Yeah, in and a deep end, in and a deep end.
41:49The Khmer people are one of Vietnam's oldest ethnic groups, for whom boat racing is sacred.
41:57Races between different temples have taken place since the year 2071 on the Buddhist calendar, around 500 years ago.
42:09Today's a practice session, and Guy's team is warming up.
42:13Being allowed to participate is a privilege, but comes with the pressure of spoiling something that is part race, part
42:21ritual.
42:22Yeah.
42:23I've shit myself.
42:26Let's just have a go.
42:27Let's have a go.
42:27Let's have a go.
42:34Each boat, known as a Tukno, has 50 rowers.
42:39This will be a race between the temples' two best squads, the White Caps and the Yellow Caps.
42:4799 expert spiritual athletes.
42:50Cheers, mate.
42:51And one international guest from Grimsby.
42:56Cheers, mate.
42:57Cheers, mate.
42:58Oh, sit, sit.
43:01John.
43:03Cheers, mate.
43:04Hello.
43:05Gun.
43:09Instructed entirely by whistle, each crew positions to the start line.
43:17The race will be over 1,200 metres, with Guy in the yellow caps at the bottom of the picture.
43:35The crews are stroking powerfully as one.
43:41And learning on the job, Guy eventually finds the rhythm.
43:53It's a true test of endurance in southern Vietnam's tropical climate.
44:00And at halfway, Guy's crew have opened up a slight lead.
44:10It then appears that several races are taking place at once, often in different directions.
44:18Emerging from the choppy water, the White Caps start coming back, so the stroke rate increases with just metres left
44:26to the finish line.
44:31And it's Guy in the yellows who hold on to take the win.
44:35Good work. Good work.
44:38Good work.
44:40I was just thinking about this, coming back.
44:43I wonder where the Brits are.
44:45Oh, yeah, they're the one with the high-vis.
44:48Waving the risk assessment with the last best on.
44:51There's the Brits.
44:55Like, I was obviously the weak link in the chain, but it was all passing me water, thumbs up, gammon,
45:02get cracking more, more, you know what I mean?
45:03So, there was getting me involved, even though I was the dunce.
45:08Great people.
45:10You're the man.
45:11Big help, mate.
45:13You pedal.
45:15I know.
45:16I know, mate.
45:21Back at the temple, the occasion is marked by the head monk honouring Guy with a model boat made in
45:29the temple's workshop.
45:31It's a symbol of the Khmer culture.
45:35Gammon.
45:39It's bloody lovely, that.
45:45And with that, Guy's time exploring the communist state of Vietnam is over.
45:51Genuinely, I've been knackered deep for two weeks in communist rule, which I've been on to you for years, because
45:57I want to get to the bottom of this communist job.
45:58And we've got out here, and actually, it's not a massive oppressed system, is it?
46:04Everyone's got a smile on their face, bellies are full, the economy's growing, people are happy.
46:12That's sort of a conclusion, I want Vietnam to stay as it is, you know, when we're stuck in a
46:16traffic jam and everyone puts the thumbs up and smiles at you.
46:20I don't want it.
46:21I don't want it to be a country of posh watch shops.
46:23Not really.
46:24Because then it'll just merge into the rest of the western cities.
46:28Interesting people, interesting place.
46:31Hell of a story.
46:34So yeah, I've loved it.
46:35It's been mint.
46:36Gammon.
46:37Gammon very much.
46:38God bless.
46:50Is there a number of people?
46:58Weakuen.
46:58Weakuen.
47:00Weakuen.
47:01Weakuen.
47:02Weakuen.
47:02Weakuen.
47:03Weakuen.
47:03You
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