There’s a youthful energy to Ho Chi Minh City, and not just because half its population is under 35. The numerous newly arrived expats are major contributors to this atmosphere. After Vietnam eased its foreign investment laws in 2015, an infectious vivacity began to sweep the city, and there’s now a feeling that something truly important is happening here. Things are cheap (for now) and the rules are in your favour (mostly), so opportunity is everywhere.

‘Hong Kong is expensive, Singapore is too sterile, Bangkok is too sprawling, Manila is too messy,’ says Viet-German photographer Morgan Ommer, who moved here in 2011 after more than 15 years in Hong Kong. ‘Saigon is just about right. People here are friendly and enthusiastic – and willing to experiment with new ideas all the time.’

Innovative, new hubs for business and leisure are cropping up all across town. An amble around District 1 – the city’s downtown heart – showcases the breakneck speed of its growth. Colonial buildings sit alongside shiny, avant-garde skyscrapers. High-end cocktail bars perch comfortably next to street-food carts. Long-time residents, returning Vietnamese and an array of global expats all rub shoulders over locally brewed craft beer and passionate banter.

The latter is a scene on any given evening at Pasteur Street Brewing Company, the first real craft beer bar in the city. Hidden down an alleyway behind the 91-year-old Rex Hotel, the humble upstairs space also doubles as a networking haunt for the city’s new and established entrepreneurs.

Since Pasteur opened in 2014, more than 30 rival craft breweries have followed its lead by setting up shops across Vietnam – and the surge sees no signs of letting up. Each sells craft beer for about US$5 (HK$39) a pop, which is reasonable at first thought, but for a country famed for its US$0.30 (HK$2.40) roadside bia hoi beer, the trend speaks volumes about how Vietnam’s tastes are evolving.

‘Saigon people are very open to new experiences, so it’s always changing; that makes the city feel fresh,’ says Phuc Doan, long-time Saigon local and founder of contemporary tailoring company SIR Tailor. ‘That’s why so many people in Saigon love what they do: they see it’s being welcomed.’

Work and play have a tendency to overlap in Ho Chi Minh City, and it’s attracting those looking to do what they love, with its rare balance of low cost of living, high quality of life and strong networks of friends-slash-collaborators. You see that in any entrepreneur’s daily grind, whether it’s at buzzing co-working offices for startups or quaint cafes filled with digital nomads.