From: tran@neep.engr.wisc.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese
Subject: [ECO] VN Economy
Date: 28 Sep 92 13:48:12 GMT
Reply-To: tran@neep.engr.wisc.edu
Organization: SCV Relay
Originator: daemon@media-lab.media.mit.edu

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

To^i vu+`a ddo.c 1 ba`i ve^` VN, tha^'y co' nhie^`u ddie^?m dda'ng suy
nghi~ ne^n post (without permission) le^n SCV dde^? ba` con
co^ ba'c ddo.c cho+i:

"Red millionaires"
Shedding its socialist image, Vietnam embraces capitalism.

By Jeffrey Brody
Orange County Register

   The "red millionaires" hit the streets of Ho Chi Minh City at night.
   Most Vietnamese still live in poverty, but the new rich flaunt their wealth,
careening through waves of pedestrians and bicycle-driven rickshaws in BMWs and
Mercedes-Benz sedans.  They are communist officials who hold government jobs by
day, then strike on their own after dark.  They rush to cabarets and
restaurants -ordering from menus in French and Italian- to negotiate deals with
investors flocking to Asia's newest boom town (DDa^y la`
bo^. ma(.t tha^.t cu?a nhu+~ng ngu+o+`i va^~n tu+. cho la` phu.c vu. giai
ca^'p vo^ sa?n).
   Their prevalence is what prompted one economist to dub them "red
millionaires".
   Tran Dinh Sac's business card tells both sides of the story.  One side lists
his position as director of the Ministry of Culture, Information and Sports.
The other identifies him as vice director of INCODEC, one of many private
firms that se^k joint ventures with foreign companies.
   "I know the right people to see," said Sac, who sells rice overseas and
imports machinery in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon.  "I can help business-
men deal with the bureaucracy#." (Bie^'t cho^~ cha.y cho.t, ho^'i lo^.).
   After nearly two decades of snubbing the West, Vietnam is shedding its
socialist image and touting itself as a source of cheap labor, oil, timber,
rice and natural gas. (Mo^.t hi`nh thu+'c no^ le^. kinh te^', ba'n
re? ta`i nguye^n quo^'c gia, vi` nhu+~ng ngu+o+`i hu+~u tra'ch chi? co^'t
vo+ ve't cha(.t tu'i rie^ng chu+' kho^ng nghi~ to+'i lo+.i i'ch chung).
   The entrepreneural spirit has overtaken Vietnam, from small children hawking
Ho Chi Minh T-shirts to multinational companies building luxury hotels and golf
courses beside white-sand beaches.
   Wages average less than $1 a day#. And emissaries from overseas corporations.
(Co' ca'i gi` thie^'u o+? ca^u tre^n vi` kho^ng ddu? nghi~a).
   Growth has skyrocketed in the past few years primarily because of foreign
investment.  In 1991, Asian, Australian and European companies pumped $3
billions into Vietnam economy#. (Vi` kie^'m a(n ddu+o+.c chu+'
kho^ng pha?i vi` giu'p VN).
   US companies have lagged on major investments because of the trade embargo
imposed after Vietnam war ended in 1975.  The embargo prohibits US companies
from signing contracts and doing business in VN, although entrepreneurs are
free to lay groundwork for future ventures.
   That's exactly what executives at United Airlines, Unocal and Irvine-based
Fluor Daniel Corp. have done in anticipation of trade sanctions being lifted
after the US presidential election Nov. 3.
   R.D."Dick" Carrano, vece president of Fluor's Asia/Pacific sales division,
sees tremendous potential in VN.  He said political and economic conditions
there resemble those in China when that nation began trading with the West in
the early 1970s.
   "We poised to go in," Carrano said.  "We hope we're allowed to do business
there#.  We had to pass up some opportunities in VN because of the restrictions.
   Carrano, who visited nine Asian countries this summer, looks forward to his
first trip to VN in October.  He plans to meet with government leaders in Hanoi
to discuss energy development and natural resources.
   Fluor specializes in building oil and gas refineries and developing seaports
and manufacturing plants.
   The company has been in Asia for 40 years, and was one of the first US
companies to build plants in Indonesia, Taiwan and China#.
   "We know how to operate across the region," Carrano said.  "We understand
the culture#."
   Vuong Tran, a Garden Grove, Calif., travel agent who opened a consulting
firm to help companies do business in VN, said he fears that the US might lose
out to Asia countries.
   "Vietnamese want to do business with Americans," said Tran, who has visited
his homeland four times this years.  "Unfortunately, the Japanese, Koreans and
Taiwanese have gotten there sooner."

OTHERS RACE AHEAD
   Traders from those nations have raced ahead to cash in on Vietnam's
resources and cheap labor.
   British Petroleum, the Netherlands-based Shell Oil Co., Petrofina of Belgium
and CET of France are among companies exploring and pumping Vietnam's oil
reserves, estimated at 1 billion tons.
   Jae Back Lim, the Korean superintendent of a Ho Chi Minh construction site,
considers VN an entrepreneur's paradise#.
   In an air-conditioned office with a computer hookup and fax lines to South
Korea, he oversees the building of a $6 million office tower near the old
Saigon cathedral.
   Outside, workers shovel sand and lug blocks on their shoulders in 95-degree
heat.  Most workers wear floppy hats and sandals.  Only a few have hard hats.
Each earns about 90 cents a day#.
   Lim, who has worked on projects throughout the world, said the Vietnamese
government is "very reasonable" to investors. (Ra^'t de^~ ho^'i lo^.).
   When overseas investors complaines that the minimum wage for workers
employed by foreign firms was too high, the government cut it by 40 percent
in June#.  Wages dropped from $50 to $30 per month.
(DDa^y la` ca'ch dda?ng Lao DDo^.ng tranh dda^'u cho co^ng nha^n VN)
   Christine White, a University of Hawai professor who specializes in
Vietnamese studies, said it's ironic that the communist government is allowing
foreign investors to exploit Vietnam.
   "The Vietnamese fought a long war to rid themselves of colonial influence,"
White said.  "Now, the mentality of cheap labor is coming back."
(DDa?ng CS VN se~ ddu+a ca? nu+o+'c to+'i lao ddo^.ng vinh quang)
   She said it upsets her to visit Vietnam and see workers treated poorly#.
   With a per capita income of $200 per year, Vietnam's standard of living
ranks with the poorer countries of Africa and Asia#.  Doctors in HCM City earns
$22 per month.  Teachers make $15.
   Wages may be low, but the people are working, said Nguyen Xuan Oanh,
Vietnam's leading economist. (Kho^ng la`m thi` ddo'i, dda^u
co' nhu+ con cu?a Oa'nh ddang du ho.c o+? My~)
   Under the communist system, people faced starvation and widespread
unemployment.  State-run enterprises failed to produce consumer goods
and basic necessities.  Vietnam still suffers from a shortage of high-tech
equipment and medicine#.
   Each week, overseas visitors pack his office with proposals for business
ventures, such as automotive factories and rice-cultivation projects.
   Oanh coined the term "red millionaires" to describe communist Party
officials who have made their fortunes in business.
   He said he sees nothing wrong with government officials using their
positions for personal gain. (DDa^y la` lo+`i tuye^n bo^'
cu?a 1 chuye^n gia kinh te^', xua^'t tha^n tu+` Harvard,
ngu. y' o+? VN ho^'i ma.i quye^`n the^' va` tham nhu~ng dde^?
la`m gia^`u la` chuye^.n ddu+o+ng nhie^n, la` quye^`n cu?a
giai ca^'p la~nh dda.o)
   "I think it's better for a country to have millionaires."
(Tha`nh trie^.u phu' ba(`ng ca'ch na`o#?)
   While the US embargo has not halted investment from from other countries, it
has blocked assistance from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and
the Asian Development Bank.  It also has kept US banks from financing projects
and cut off US foreign aid.
  Without such help, VN lacks money to pay for major development projects and
social welfare programs.
Oanh said the Vietnamese economy won't take off until Vietnam's roads, power
system, water supply, airports and seaports are repaired.  The country - its
population of about 68 million is about 80 percent peasant - also suffers from
a poor school system and inadequate health care#.

MILITARY WELCOME
As a good-faith gesture that the war is over, Oanh said, the US military would
be welcome to return to return to its old port at Cam Ranh Bay
(DDa'nh cho My~ cu't, dda'nh cho My~ nha`o, ro^`i van la^.y My~ tro+? la.i)
  "We'd love to have the Navy#.  We hope the US will come in."
   He said Vietnamese officials have dropped hints about renting the base to
the US after naval forces pull out of Subic Bay in the Philippines later this
year.
   The Vietnamese have sought stronger ties with Washington since the Soviet
Union's collapse#.
   Hoang Ngoc Nguyen, editor of Vietnam Investment Review, an English-langua-
ge newspaper that tracks business investment, said the collapse of the
communist systems in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe prompted the
Vietnamese government to accelerate the shift to capitalism and privatization
of industry#.  The number of enterprises that the government runs is expected to
drop from 15,000 to 3,000 in the next few years, Nguyen said.
   He said Vietnamese desire freedom but are more preoccupied with raising
their living standard than campaigning for democracy#.
(Cha('c dda~ que^n lo+`i cu?a HCM: kho^ng co' gi` quy' ho+n ddo^.c
la^.p va` tu+. do)
   "I was in Saigon before 1975," Nguyen said.  "I love freedom and democracy
but I understand political instability and development.  I've come to believe
the Vietnemese people are not as politically motivated as Western people are#.
Once our people become rich, there will be some sort of demand for measures of
freedom."
   The country is trying to follow the example of Singapore - a capitalist
country that has prospered under authoritarian rule and repression of political
freedom.
   Kerry Boyd Collision, an Australian developer and owner of Shake's English
pub in HCM City, compares Vietnam to a boom town.
   "The atmosphere in Saigon today is similar to Jakarta in the late 1960s,"
he said.  "Both countries were bankrupt, communist, with the same
infrastructure problems, and both have potential for oil and gas."
   "The difference is the Vietnamese work ethic is closer to Korea, Taiwan and
Japan.  This place will take off.  Vietnam will move so quickly you won't
believe it.  It will outstrip Thailand in 10 years."

Chu'c Tro.ng Nga^n
Newsgroups: soc.culture.vietnamese