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Vietnam Is Swelling. What About Us?
By Atty. Koykoy T. Lim
Published: December 03, 2006 by The Bohol Standard

Won’t it be amazing enough that a country that was once ravaged by a ruthless war is now Asia’s second-fastest-growing economy next to China?

The Philippines should watch out on this and learn a lesson from its own neighbor.

What was Vietnam like in the 1960s and 70s? Almost nothing. Hollywood movies depicted Vietnam where Vietcongs staged treacherous, brutal ambush on defenseless American soldiers, and on the next scene what were being portrayed were vast expanse of rice fields and farmers and villages burned to ashes as American soldiers, in their quest to avenge their loss, inflicted collateral damage on the poor, scampering Vietnamese.

That is forgotten now. A painful war experience that had left millions homeless, fatherless, motherless has been buried deep in the annals of history.

Vietnam is now soaring high, and has overtaken the rest of Asian countries in terms of GDP growth, at 8.4 % in 2005, according to Fortune Magazine.

Foreign companies and billions of dollars of investments keep a steady stream to this former colony of France in the 1800s.

Intel, which holds 80 % percent of computer chips market in the world, is investing a $-billion chip assembly and testing plant in Ho Chi Minh City. Disney produces its Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and other stuffed animal toys in this country of 84 million inhabitants, one million less than the Philippine’s population.

Car companies are rushing to build manufacturing plants in Vietnam as manufacturing cost is 34 % lower than in China.

As the country opens its arms to the World Trade Organization, flow of exports and imports have made Vietnam a future winner in the global marketplace rather than a loser, a perennial consequence to smaller economies like the Philippines.

Exports, particularly in textiles, furniture, and seafood, were valued at $32 billion last year, and millions of jobs have been created as Vietnam’s economy continues to expand.

What is amazing to ponder on Vietnam’s speed of growth is that it was only in 2001 that its government started to embrace the concept of liberalization and international trade.

Vietnam, which used to receive large support from the communist Soviet bloc until Russia’s collapse in 1991, had frowned on the modern approach of industrialization, but in 2001 it walked away from traditions and entered a bilateral trade agreement with the United States, a former nemesis.

The United States’ Central Intelligence Agency’s Factbook has reported on Vietnam’s successful fight against poverty when it said that “Deep poverty, defined as a percent of the population living under $1 per day, has declined significantly and is now smaller than that of China, India, and the Philippines.”

What does it have to say to us? It means that there are now more destitute people in our land than in Vietnam. Isn’t that a wake-up call to us?

Amid all these sweet things about Vietnam, the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy in Hong Kong tags Vietnam as the second most corrupt country in Asia next to Indonesia.

Vietnam, according to the same consultancy firm, doesn’t have a world-class university. And English has just emerged as a popular second language.

It only takes six years for Vietnam to revolutionize its economy, and the country is now on its way to an unprecedented prosperity.

We used to scoff at this country, a victim of unfavorable portrayals in American movies.

Look, our country is now importing rice from Vietnam. Filipino teachers, who receive handsome amount of salary, are now educating Vietnamese children.

Vietnam’s leap of progress, carried out in a short span of time, should compel national leaders, including provincial officials, to reflect on how poor our performance has been in the economic race.

Vietnam’s story reminds us that when we work silently rather than talk much we can expect results.

We don’t need to wait for the next election to see results.

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