This is an ad for Vinhomes Ocean Park, a new development on the outskirts of Hanoi. (0% interest until 30 March 2022; 35-year mortgage!) Note that VinUniversity is featured as the centerpiece of this new community, an example of doing well (profit) and doing good (community service).

This has played out pretty much as I thought it would. VinUniversity was never envisioned as a stand-alone institution but rather an integral component within a larger Vingroup community and the company’s expansive portfolio, including Vinhomes Ocean Park condos and villas, business center, and other Vingroup subsidiaries, all part of the company’s cradle-to-grave approach to doing business. The latter will help Vingroup recoup its investment in the former.

The joke is that Vingroup has all of the bases covered except a nationwide chain of funeral homes and cemeteries. I have other suggestions but would rather not offer free advice to a company with a market capitalization value of $16 billion. 😉

Apropos of nothing and on a lighter note, the above image of VinUniversity reminds me a little of the Wizard of Oz. In fact, that’s what the university might have looked like without the surrounding community. Below is an image of VinUniversity from its website.

You be the judge.

Shalom (שלום), MAA