Sai-Gon

Viet Nam is a wonderful place to visit. It’s primitive and modern at the same time. In Saigon, the people have a wonderful sense of optimism about the future. They seem to have a good appreciation of the challenges facing them, but believe they are manageable through hard work and sacrifice – primarily to get an education, They look at Hong Kong and Singapore and see that it is possible. They think their government, since the opening to capitalism in 1996, is on the right track. They are willing to accept less democracy now, for greater economic opportunity (a la China). It reminds me of Hong Kong 30 years ago when I was first here – a primitive agricultural economy co-existing with a modern tourist economy.

People are still incredibly poor in Saigon. Anything labor intensive is almost free. “Polo” tee-shirts are $1 -2. Silk scarves are as cheap as $2 in the market. Basically, not more than the cost of the materials. Beautiful hand-made lacquer and embroidered pieces sell for less than $50. The workmanship is good, but not excellent, so they will have a difficult time moving up the value ladder.

We visited a factory that makes puffed rice cakes – by hand. The rice is puffed in a wok then, then browned with caramel, rolled flat, cut into squares and packaged in plastic bags – all by hand. There is not a single machine. The woks are fuelled by rice hulls and nutshells with no oil or coal.

A number of people talked about the Viet Nam’s recent wars – with the US in 1970’s and with Cambodia in the 1990’s. China also invaded them in the 90’s in defense of Cambodia (and the genocidal Khmer Rouge). They don’t believe they can afford to dwell on the past and make a point of saying it’s time to look to the future. They want to emulate the capitalists, not fight them. They seem sincere. The issue is they do not have a competitive advantage - like location for Hong Kong and Singapore. Nor do they seem to have natural resources. Trying to compete on cost with China and their other neighbors is a losing proposition. They are too small. What they do have is some incredibly beautiful countryside. Na Trang has beaches that could rival anything in the Caribbean. Then there is the Mekong Delta which has endless possibilities. It was a shame that plastic and other garbage seems to dominate the banks of the river as well as other areas of the countryside.

Overall, the Vietnamese people are the friendliest and most enthusiastic I have ever met. Wherever we went, from the Hotel to the puffed rice factory, people were friendly and helpful – and seemed genuinely glad to see us.