site of the filipino community in vietnam - south chapter.

Para sa mga mahilig sa motor.

Just want to share these few things I came across with.

I have been noticing since April this year, billboards are spreading around Saigon and it always caught my attention. Looks like a major change of strategy in battling the ever growing counts of fatal motorcycle accidents in Vietnam. I really think “Wear-A-Helmet” educational approach of information campaign best fits in Vietnam rather than implementing the “wear-a-helmet” law.

It is a campaign spearheaded by the Asia Injury Prevention Foundation -a US non-profit organization whose goal is to reduce injuries from road crashes, particularly involving children.
(link here: http://www.asiainjury.org/ )

I always look at it, read or stare closely at the billboards and it gets me to thinking whether this strategy will work in Vietnam. Still, I think these works are great. I think these people are really good.

Sana maintindihan na ng mga vietnamese to.

(pics of campaign materials here:
http://www.wear-a-helmet.com/index.php?cat=1&id=98


(campaign website is here:
http://www.wear-a-helmet.com/

(video of campaign material here:
http://www.dailymotion.com/firat/video/x2n0wl_vietnam-helmet-wearing-coalition_ads/1

Definetly the way to go for RP. Interesting read.


By Willy E. Arcilla
Inquirer
Last updated 06:49pm (Mla time) 08/19/2007

OUR COUNTRY can learn a great deal from Vietnam, particularly in how our neighboring Asean state successfully revitalized its moribund economy starting in 1986.

Since then, Vietnam powered ahead with an average annual growth of 8 percent to earn the accolades of the global business community.

At the same time, it reduced poverty incidence at home, thus achieving the seemingly elusive goal of sustainable economic growth and equitable income distribution.

'Doi Moi'
Faced with stagnant growth, a severe food shortage, fiscal deficits, soaring inflation and chronic trade imbalances, the Sixth National Congress of Vietnam's Communist Party, held in December 1986, initiated an overall economic renovation policy.

Popularly known as "Doi Moi", the policy was aimed at making the country self-sufficient in food production and improving the standard of living of the people.

The core of "Doi Moi" was to reduce state intervention in business and open the country to foreign investment.

The government removed subsidies to drive efficiency and liberalized prices. A Foreign Investment Code was adopted, and the banking system reformed.

In the agricultural sector, land reform gave usage rights, tenure and greater autonomy to farmers.

Trade was liberalized in 1991, allowing more public and private firms to participate in external trade as export and import markets were expanded beyond the former Soviet Union and East European nations, Vietnam's traditional trading partners.

As a result of these reforms, exports have grown at a robust and consistent average rate of over 20 percent annually.

For the first half of 2007, Vietnam's exports have further accelerated to 22 percent against the Philippines' 6.6 percent, which has slowed considerably partly due to the strengthening of the peso.

It is noteworthy that despite Vietnam's export surge, and improvements in its balance of trade and balance of payments, the Vietnam currency dong continues to depreciate which manifests the government's support for exporters.

Foreign investments
Since "Doi Moi," Vietnam's foreign direct investments (FDI) have reached an accumulated invested capital of $80 billion, according to Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who spoke at a Business Forum in the Manila Hotel during his first state visit here.

In 2006 alone, FDI reached $10 billion compared to our $2 billion. This year, Vietnam projects to attract as much as $25 billion compared to our target of $2.5 billion.

From January to May, the Philippines' FDI hit only $900 million, 60 percent below 2006's.

Vietnam's projected FDI for 2007 represents nearly 50 percent of the FDI expected of China, even as China's population is 16 times that of Vietnam's, which is a strong indicator of the potential that foreign investors see and their confidence in Asia's next tiger economy.

This "gold rush" of investments into Vietnam can be attributed to several factors.

In meetings and interviews with foreign businessmen doing business in Ho Chi Minh, University of Asia and the Pacific economist and an organizer for the First Philippine-Vietnam Mission scheduled in Ho Chi Minh City in end-August, Florence Mojica-Sevilla, observed that foreign investors praised the Vietnam government for creating a climate conducive for investments.

It is a climate characterized by political stability, peace and order, an openness to market-oriented reforms, generous fiscal incentives, low corporate tax rates, a competitive cost structure, and a young, well-educated, productive, and highly skilled workforce.

An observer commented, "One of the most apparent differences between the Philippines and Vietnam is that in our country, there continues to be an obsession in politics, celebrities and entertainment, while in Vietnam, everyone simply works hard and fast."

Income distribution
Vietnam's GINI Coefficient, (an economist's measure of income inequality where a value of 1 means only 1 person owns 100 percent of a country's income) is only at 0.40, an admirable feat considering that the country has been independent for only 30 years since defeating the United States in the Vietnam War.

In contrast, the Philippines, which claims to be one of Asia's oldest independent and democratic republics, hovers nearer to 0.50, even higher than some African nations.

At the bilateral Business Forum, Vietnam's Vice Minister of Trade and Industry Nguyen Tan Deng added that as part of "Doi Moi," the government had adopted a pro-poor policy by prioritizing on food production and support for farmers via land reform, training, financing and farm-to-market infrastructure linkages.

Professor Rolando Dy, formerly with the World Bank and now the Dean of Agribusiness in the University of Asia and the Pacific, confirmed that Vietnam has already achieved self-sufficiency in food production.

Today, Vietnam is poised to overtake Thailand as the world's largest exporter of rice.

It also exports a wide variety of agricultural and marine products such as coffee, green tea, black pepper, rubber, cashew nuts, catfish, seabass, and tiger prawns.

Vietnam's per capita income of $700 is expected to reach $1,200 by 2010, representing a compounded annual growth rate of plus 15 percent, whereas the per capita GDP of the Philippines remained virtually unchanged for the past 50 years at around $1,200.

It is admirable for Vietnam to project raising per capita GDP even as it increases its population base to 100 million people while some Philippine government planners seem to blame our country's population for poverty, instead of harnessing their productivity.

Undaunted by China
Many countries including the Philippines appear to have given up on competing with China, the super factory of the world, but Vietnam remained undaunted.

Today, its food processing industry has not only achieved global standards, but has started to successfully compete with China's.

This is true as well in durable consumer goods like footwear and garments.

And now that the US and other markets have been spooked by reports of adulterated Chinese products ranging from canned food and candy, seafood and pet food, toys and children's clothes, tires and bicycles, Vietnam's exporters will stand to benefit as an alternative source, while China remedies its quality control issues.

In the field of high-value electronics, Intel is not only building its $1-billion factory in Vietnam but also its own school to train and recruit Vietnamese to supply its staffing needs.

Business mission
But the Philippines can take advantage of Vietnam's growth.

It is for this reason that a Philippine-Vietnam Business Mission will be held in Ho Chi Minh City from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, 2007.

It is being initiated jointly by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Department of Trade and Industry, ZMG Signium Ward Howell Inc. and the University of Asia and the Pacific in conjunction with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Vietnam Trade Office in the Philippines.

Gigi Zulueta, managing director of ZMG Signium Ward Howell Inc., explained that the objectives of the mission are primarily to: (1) explore opportunities for Philippine companies to set up trade relationships directly with Vietnamese partners in import/export as well as direct and financial investments between the two Asean states; (2) obtain a better understanding of the success of Vietnam's "Doi Moi" that was started in 1986 for possible adaptation in the Philippines; and (3) enhance bilateral relations between the two countries.

Clearly, indicators leave no doubt that Vietnam is well-positioned to become Asia's next tiger economy, and it is thus imperative for the Philippines to learn from and participate in Vietnam's success story.

(The author is partner and regional director of leading human capital solutions provider ZMG Signium Ward Howell Inc.)



Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Definetly the way to go for RP.