페스트푸드 KFC makes good debut in Hanoi

[청석]

Decades after the end of the Vietnam War, an American colonel from Kentucky has made a triumphant arrival in this country’s capital.

But rather than battling for hearts and minds, this newest in-country campaign is being waged over Vietnam's stomachs.

KFC Corp. -- with its white-bearded icon, Col. Sanders -- recently became the first U.S.-based fast-food chain to open a restaurant in Hanoi. Although expensive by Vietnamese standards, costing three times as much as some pho noodle bowls, Southern fried chicken is quickly attracting a following.

To celebrate her birthday, math tutor Vu Thi Viet Anh and her two teenage students decided to splurge at the fast-food outlet.

"The food tastes greasier than Vietnamese food," Anh said. "I like that."

KFC's arrival in Hanoi comes as Vietnam is poised to join the World Trade Organization, a move that could open the door for a wide spectrum of foreign investment.

"As Vietnam opens its markets to the world, we're readying to accept many new things from other countries. Fast food is just one of them," said Nguyen Ba Hung, a deputy director for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who specializes in U.S. issues.

A large and youthful population, free-market changes and a fast-growing economy have marked the former pariah state as Asia's last significant bastion of untapped retail potential.

Once-unlikely trading partners, the United States and Vietnam did nearly $8 billion in two-way trade last year, and Vietnam ranks among the fastest-growing markets in Asia for U.S. goods.

Although primed for an even larger foreign retail invasion, Vietnam knows that the road to capitalism via the spicy chicken sandwich is fraught with peril: The nation is among those with the most cases of avian flu, which has killed dozens of people.

Restaurant workers say the chicken served in Hanoi's KFC is imported from Thailand, and customers are given constant reminders that chicken is good for them.

In 2004, KFC outlets in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, pulled chicken from the menu after a bird flu scare. At the time, the chain began pushing its fish sandwiches.

Critics worry that a taste for foreign food may drive Vietnamese youth away from their own culture.

"It's only food, but it can have an influence," said Hung, the Foreign Ministry official.

"If young people get to like this American fast food, they may develop a fixation for the country that produces it. They may feel they can no longer be 100 percent Vietnamese. We don't want that to happen."

Hung needn't worry about everyone in Hanoi, which served as the capital of Vietnam during the war. Here, a traditional atmosphere remains. Workers still walk the streets wearing non la, the traditional conical hats.

One cabdriver tipped down his Ray-Ban sunglasses to say he wouldn't go near any KFC restaurant. "I have no interest," he said.

Source: Daily Mail