Vietnam’s Youngest Artisan Nguyen Tran Hiep, born in Northern province of BacNinh, has become the youngest artisan of Vietnam at the age of 37. He succeeded in developing a large-scale fine-art furniture workshop thanks to an extensive renovation and considerable investment. Before achieving all this, he had gone through with many difficulties in his work. In 2000, Nguyen Tran Hiep established his own fine-art wood carving workshop, using all of his family’s savings and a loan from BacNinh province’s Youth Union after he had learned about the craft from a famous artisan. Unfortunately, his products could not reach a wide range of customers. At that time, many other people in the village also failed to earn a decent living on making craft and they decided to quit their traditional job. People found jobs and made money manyother ways but Hiep didn’t give up his dream of developing the traditional craft into a profitable business. He is spending the next years learning and researching the market to find out the most suitable markets for his products. He targeted two types of customers: the first is foreign tourists and the second is traders from China. For the tourists, his workshop mainly produces small handicrafts and souvenirs, such as small animals, paintings, tea trays, figurines and rosaries. For the Chinese clients, his workshop makes products to order based on the current sample designs. At present, his workshop renamed HiepThang Fine arts Cooperative, provides stable jobs for 28 employees with an average income of 4-10 million dong/month. One of Nguyen Tran Hiep’s best works is “Bat Long vongquangphat” which originated from the idea of the eight kings of the Ly dynasty incarnating into eight dragons on a five-colour lotus tower. This work was made to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and has been listed in the Vietnamese Record Book in 2011 as the best fine-art sculpture of Ideology and art. 1. When was Nguyen Tran Hiep recognized as the Vietnam’s Youngest Artisan? __________________________________________________________________________ 2. Did he easily succeed in developing his fine-art furniture workshop? __________________________________________________________________________ 3. How did Hiep categorize his customers? __________________________________________________________________________ 4. What kinds of products does his workshop often produce for foreigners? __________________________________________________________________________ 5. How many employees are there in HiepThang Fine arts Cooperative? __________________________________________________________________