Despite hardship and difficulties, Bui Minh Thang, a Củ Chi born and raised boy has taken over his family mushroom farming business. With enthusiasm and dedication, he has expanded production and improved the livelihood of many people in Ho Chi Minh City’s Cu Chi district. Starting with merely 13,170 USD, since 2015 till now, Bui Minh Thang has built a mushroom farm of over 3,000 square metres. This lucrative business in Ho Chi Minh City’s Cu Chi district earns him 6500 to 8700 USD each month and helps reduce unemployment in the area.  “It is a stable job which provides stable income for us. We can earn about 6 to 7 million VND per month,” said Huynh Van Vy, a worker at Thang’s mushroom farm According to Hoang Minh Thang Deputy Secretary of Cu Chi District Youth Union, Ho Chi Minh City, this business model has been effective at creating jobs for many local people and helped improving their income as well. Thang's family trade has been passed down from generation to generation, and ever since he was little, he dreamt of taking the quality of Vietnamese mushroom to a new level. He even decided not to pursue his studies in Japan to stay and develop the family trade. Bui Minh Thang said that Vietnam’s climate is appropriate for growing mushrooms. Moreover, the market is now increasing demand for high quality mushroom species, therefore he is determined to develop the business. Thang’s facility is now able to supply 10 different mushroom species with capacity of up to 120,000 mushroom packs a month. Bui Minh Thang also expressed in the early stage, he faced difficulties while farming mushroom as he lacked sufficient technology and outdated farming methods. However, he overcame this by incorporating technology and new farming methods to achieve remarkable results. To encourage young people to engage in the start-ups in the locality, HCMC has invested some 4.4 million USD in more than 900 start-up projects to apply technology in producing and developing new agriculture products. Bui Minh Thang has won various prizes and was named among the 10 outstanding young citizens of 2017, chosen by the city’s Youth Union. He has set himself as a new standard for Vietnamese youths to follow.-VNA