大象传媒

Pascale Harter introduces personal insights, experiences and reflections from correspondents, journalists and writers around the world. Today's programme has tales of war and commerce from two very different countries - but there's a surprising common thread. In Ho Chi Minh City, Beth McLeod meets one of Vietnam's rising new breed of female entrepreneurs. While the country is still nominally Communist, its economy is growing - and making some women with heads for business very rich indeed. One of them, Madame Thao, recounts her astonishing life story - and shows how best to dress for success. Yerevan, in Armenia, is a far sleepier place - but it's still the homeland of an international diaspora famous for its commercial sense and its willingness to go a long way to explore new opportunities. Armenian emigre communities have sprung up across the world - and certainly across the Middle East - but the Armenians of Syria have come under particular pressure recently as the conflict there escalates. Kieran Cooke spends time in a shoe shop with a family who recently left Aleppo, and hears what they make of the current situation.