It was by accident that I was introduced to a woman, whom people referred to as the most successful business woman of “Hau” River. She came in elegantly dressed and spoke confidently about her business and I could detect immediately that she stil carried within her the root heritage of her mother’s land – a very simple but rich accent of the Southerners – where villages are embraced with forever soothing rivers of the Mekong Delta.
She earnestly told me about her story. Dieu Hien is her name (which stands for “gentle and wonderful”) – owner of Binh An Fish Company with its headquarter in Cantho City. Her company is home of 5000 employees. Dieu Hien told me her ambition is to help more and more people improve their living standard by bringing job to them. Having to grow up in poverty herself as an orphan she experienced the hardship of life when both of her parents were killed by the war and her house burned to the ground. She was sent to dwell temporarily in a Buddhist temple and later on was adopted by the good couple who lived on the river. Dieu Hien struggled to find her destiny and built a foundation of hard work and with a determination to bring people together for the better future. She believes in team work and co-existence are the keys to success in business and in life. Binh-An Company was built on this foundation.
After only one year of production she successfully introduce her products, basa fish, to European markets where she was widely accepted and acknowledged as the best basa fish with highest quality and highest grade.
Dieu Hien did not stop in Europe markets. In fall 2009 she decided to make her way to the USA. Despite of all the controversies about Basa fish imported from Vietnam for the last few years Dieu Hien is still planning to build a first class final packing / final processing plant in the heart of Los Angeles. Her goal is to bring this food to all USA restaurants, fast food chains and supermarkets. Her dream is to build a name of BIANFISH Company that will be a household fish brand in the USA.
She negotiated with the USA Government and was successfully granted zero tariff for import her products into the US. Her motto “YES WE CAN. WE DO QUALITY” conveys Dieu Hien’s determination and promises to introduce her products to the great USA market.
In June 2009 a Binh-An Fish USA office was open in the most famous city of USA: Beverly Hills, California. A beautiful multi-million dollar home was bought with an office staff ready to work. On the opening day the Mayor of Beverly Hills, along with its many famous entrepreneurs were invited. Nancy Krasne, the mayor, expressed her admiration to Binh-An’s owner, “here I thought I was invited to an opening of a small fish market in my town, but little did I know this is going to be a large scale operation factory, built from a dream of a little woman from Vietnam. Dieu Hien came to us as a breath of fresh air”.
Even the grandson of the founder of this famous city highly praised her, “Beverly Hills is not a city of wealth and fame, but a city built on intelligence and achievements of each of its citizen. We happily welcome her and even though she didn’t say much, we can tell she will bring success and pride to our beloved city”.
I can’t help but thinking of Dieu Hien’s amazing story. It’s already very difficult to gain the market share in her home land for a short period of time. But it is much more difficult to penetrate into the USA market due to fierce competition. Dieu Hien knows how to overcome the challenges in business as much as she has overcome the adversity in her life. I wonder who copied from whom the phrase “Yes We Can”, US President Barrack Obama or Madame Dieu Hien.
I believe in Dieu Hien’s determination. She will be the skillful captain who will take Binh-An Fish Company across the Pacific ocean. USA market is her next frontier and we do wish her al the best.

Tron Van Do
K.V. Nguyen