Sunday, April 23, 2006
Gates in Vietnam
HANOI (Reuters) - Thousands of Vietnamese students climbed trees or pushed against barricades to give Microsoft founder Bill Gates a pop star's welcome in Hanoi on Saturday.
The world's richest man spent the day in the impoverished Southeast Asian country, which has the highest rate of fake software sold in the world, according to trade groups.
He signed an agreement with the Ministry of Finance to make it the first arm of the government to use licensed software in its systems. Vietnam wants to join the World Trade Organization and will have to abide by intellectual property agreements....
Gates, who is worth $50 billion according to Forbes magazine, was greeted with a combination of adulation and curiosity during his encounters with the public at Hanoi University of Technology and in the countryside.``I want to see the face of the Microsoft founder and the richest man and the most famous man in the world,'' said Nguyen The Vinh, 19, of Tam Son.
On Saturday morning, about 7,000 students swarmed the campus to see Gates. They climbed trees and crowded onto balconies for a better view. Others pushed against security barricades.
Students inside the university auditorium gave Gates an ovation before he made a speech and answered their questions.
``I hope that one day I can be as successful as him,'' said one student, 19-year-old Nguyen Trung Dung.
