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HCM CITY — A delegation of students and professors from Harrow School in the UK met with billionaire Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo, permanent vice chairwoman of HDBank and CEO of Vietjet Air, at the bank’s head office in HCM City on July 12.

The 21-member delegation comprised of professors and students who were in Việt Nam to explore the country’s culture and people.

One of the highlights of the country’s economic scenario in recent years has been its strong economic development which has given it the epithet "The Asian dragon that has just woken up."

With a desire to create connections between entrepreneurs running large enterprises and the younger generations, Thảo has spent a lot of time meeting and sharing experiences with the latter recently, including the Harrow delegation.

Harrow is a boarding school for boys in London founded in 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth I.

Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo, permanent vice chairwoman of HDBank and CEO of Vietjet Air permanent, with professors and students from Harrow during their visit to HDBank’s head office in HCM City on July 12.

It is arguably one of the most famous schools in the world with royals from around the world studying here besides many countries’ leaders and politicians, including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Earlier, after an interview done with Thao by Harvard Business School, a group of MBA students from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in the US came to meet Vietjet executives to study the business environment and success stories of leading enterprises.

During their fact-finding trip to discover the culture and people of the S-shaped country, the professors and students from Harrow also had the opportunity to meet the Vietjet CEO and listen to her talk about building a successful airline business.

At the meeting, deputy general director Trần Hòai Nam gave a brief introduction to Vietjet and HDBank.

Thảo told them about the time she was studying and researching, stories that created a big impression on the professors and students.

She spoke fondly about her high school period, her beautiful memories of teachers and dear friends, and the big dreams she had about her future.

She does not meet her ex-teachers regularly now, but they always keep track of her activities and are always the first to inquire and encourage her after every important event.

HDBank staff present gifts to students at the Sapa Primary School.

Việt Nam's private sector is growing strongly amid drastic competition.

HDBank has grown 22-fold in the last 10 years to become one of the country’s largest commercial banks. Vietjet has become the market leader in just eight years, and contributes 70 per cent of the growth of Việt Nam’s aviation industry.

The teachers in the billionaire’s life had a significant contribution to these successes.

The nearly two-hour meeting with one of the world’s most powerful women was a special event for Harrow School’s professors and students on their journey to discover Việt Nam’s culture and dynamic society, the creativeness and breakthroughs of private businesses in a miraculous emerging economy in Asia.

After the meeting with the billionaire, the visitors went on a journey to discover Việt Nam and visited the UNESCO and United Nations offices in Việt Nam.

They traversed more than 300km of mountain roads and visited hundreds of ethnic H’Mông, Dao Đỏ, Tày, Giáy, and Xã Phó households. They played with the children at the Sapa Primary School, taught English, participated in games such as tug of war and mini football and tested their dexterity through traditional Sapa folk games such as bamboo and xòe dancing.

HDBank staff gave gifts to the young students there to encourage them to overcome difficulties and study diligently to ensure a bright future.

The Harrow delegation was able to discover the beauty of the country and people in the most authentic way.