Vietnamese businessman owns tiniest town in US
Source: Agencies |
April 14, 2012, Saturday
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VIETNAMESE businessman Pham Dinh Nguyen flew to the US for the first time, drove to a tiny, frigid trading outpost and bought his own piece of the American dream: Buford, Wyoming - population 1.
Nguyen's name was not released last week when he won the auction for Buford - billed as the nation's smallest town - but he has since drawn attention in Vietnamese media and on social networks. Many are lauding him for showing the world that Vietnam has moved far beyond war and poverty.
Nguyen, who bid US$900,000 for Buford, runs a trade and distribution company in southern Ho Chi Minh City.
He said that although he is not exactly sure what he will do with the town just off Interstate 80, he expects to use it to sell items made in Vietnam.
"Frankly, I just see Buford as part of the United States: A large and potential market for Vietnamese goods," Nguyen, 38, told media. "Buford is likely to be the showroom for such goods."
His purchase impressed many Vietnamese. Businessman Tran Thanh Tung said yesterday in Hanoi that he was "surprised, but also proud."
Buford consists of a gas station and convenience store, a 1905 schoolhouse, a cabin, a garage and a three-bedroom house on 10 acres between Cheyenne and Laramie.
It was formed as the Transcontinental Railroad was built in the 1860s. Up to 2,000 people lived there before the railroad was rerouted. Now, it's more of a stop off for passers-by eager to get a snapshot with the road sign reading "Buford, Pop 1."
The remote property is 8,000 feet above sea level, and Nguyen said that when he visited this month on his first trip to the US, "waves of skin-cutting cold blew into my face."
Nguyen put down US$100,000 and will have 30 days to complete the purchase. He says family members in the US are helping to finance the investment.
The town was sold by Don Sammons, the self-proclaimed "mayor" who owned it for the past two decades, and who served a tour in Vietnam in 1968-69 with the US Army.
Nguyen's name was not released last week when he won the auction for Buford - billed as the nation's smallest town - but he has since drawn attention in Vietnamese media and on social networks. Many are lauding him for showing the world that Vietnam has moved far beyond war and poverty.
Nguyen, who bid US$900,000 for Buford, runs a trade and distribution company in southern Ho Chi Minh City.
He said that although he is not exactly sure what he will do with the town just off Interstate 80, he expects to use it to sell items made in Vietnam.
"Frankly, I just see Buford as part of the United States: A large and potential market for Vietnamese goods," Nguyen, 38, told media. "Buford is likely to be the showroom for such goods."
His purchase impressed many Vietnamese. Businessman Tran Thanh Tung said yesterday in Hanoi that he was "surprised, but also proud."
Buford consists of a gas station and convenience store, a 1905 schoolhouse, a cabin, a garage and a three-bedroom house on 10 acres between Cheyenne and Laramie.
It was formed as the Transcontinental Railroad was built in the 1860s. Up to 2,000 people lived there before the railroad was rerouted. Now, it's more of a stop off for passers-by eager to get a snapshot with the road sign reading "Buford, Pop 1."
The remote property is 8,000 feet above sea level, and Nguyen said that when he visited this month on his first trip to the US, "waves of skin-cutting cold blew into my face."
Nguyen put down US$100,000 and will have 30 days to complete the purchase. He says family members in the US are helping to finance the investment.
The town was sold by Don Sammons, the self-proclaimed "mayor" who owned it for the past two decades, and who served a tour in Vietnam in 1968-69 with the US Army.
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