mirror-textfiles.com/politics/SPUNK/sp000675.txt

The information in this file was recently published in FREEDOM  -
the fortnightly anarchist journal published by FREEDOM PRESS:

FREEDOM PRESS (IN  ANGEL  ALLEY)  84B  WHITECHAPEL  HIGH  STREET,
LONDON E1 7QX GREAT BRITAIN

Do write for a sample copy or for  a  copy  of  our  booklist  of
publications.  We will be putting more of this information out so
watch this spot...

Focus on... South East Asia.

With this issue we continue our  look  at  various  countries  in
Asia...

VIETNAM

Why did the US lift its embargo of Vietnam in  February?  Was  it
because:

a) Bill Clinton's a real nice  chap  committed  to  the  laudable
ideal  of 'free trade'?  b) The rgime in Vietnam has had a change
of heart and now encourages free and open political activity?  c)
There are about half a billion barrels of oil waiting to be mined
along Vietnam's 3,000 mile coastline?

Coca cola and Pepsi Cola waited a polite couple of  hours  before
opening  up  in  Vietnam after Bill Clinton lifted the embargo on
the 3rd  February  this  year.  Unfortunately  for  US  corporate
interest  the  other bees have been buzzing around this honey pot
of cheap labour since the communist party happily set  out  along
the  capitalist road of reform in 1986. Political reform? No. The
Vietnamese state no longer seeks to justify itself with reference
to  Marx  (not  many  do these days indeed there's only five left
including  Vietnam  and  the  other  four  are  equally  commited
ideologically)  but  we  wouldn't be alone in failing to identify
this as a change of heart given the Vietnamese state's preference
for  the  examples  of  the  'strong  states' of the area such as
Taiwan, or Singapore whose Prime Minister Mr Goh Chok Tong in  an
interview  with  the  Financial  Times  recently when asked if he
expected to see opposition forces in Singapore replied 'Not in my
political lifetime'. This would seemingly reflect the aspirations
of the Vietnamese state. There will be no political  reform  here
if  the  Vietnamese  communist  party has its way. Instead we are
talking about the usual kind  of  reform:  trade  liberalisation,
financial  reform  and price decontrol. Indeed the latter had the
predictable consequence of ushering in periods of 300%  inflation
in  the  1980s  which we are now told is under control though its
still running at 30% - high in regional terms - and  will  hardly
be  welcomed  by  a  working  population which comes cheaper than
Canton  -  oh  yes  in  this  crazy   world   it   is   possible.
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 So  at least they're all positively employed in providing for an
ever increasing standard of living for the  domestic  population?
Well  no not quite. Production is now nicely gearing itself up to
the new sacred cow:  international  trade.  Vietnam  is  now  the
world's  third biggest rice exporter whilst many at home still go
hungry. And oil. Did we mention oil? Just the mere sniff of it is
of  course  enough  and  in  Vietnam  1992  saw the production of
100,000 barrels per day almost all of it going abroad  to  grease
the  global  economy  whilst  adding  to the drain of wealth this
country so vitally needs to build up a viable economy. So there's
money  to  be  made  and  the world economy is coming back to the
country it devastated some 25 years ago. Not everyone in  the  US
is  happy  though.  One  Gloria  Emerson  (who  must be important
because she's quoted in  the  Guardian)   expressing  her  regret
says,  '... I guess we will have our revenge. We will rewrite the
war, we will win it, and we will make sure they starve.'  We  are
sure  her  views find an echo in various quarters of the Pentagon
and on Capitol Hill.
 But others are ahead in the race. Capital is moving  in  swiftly
to  an  economy  where  labour,  as we say, is cheap with labour-
intensive  production  -  highly  flexible  and  able  to  switch
location  quickly  from  one  country  to another when the labour
force proves 'undisciplined' or insufficiently 'motivated'.  Thus
Japan, who, as Chomsky has said, are admissible to the charade as
'honorary whites' and other NICs have led the stampede  with  the
US  and the EU now coming up fast from behind to use Vietnam as a
production base.
 Equity capital is flooding in bringing Vietnam steadily into the
growing       international       division       of       labour.
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investors  can get a full 100% stake in some areas of the economy
and  transfer  profits  in  full  -  Vietnam  reaps  no  benefit.
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 Thus 1992 saw  the  first  recorded  trade  surplus.  First  the
country  is bled for its raw materials accounting for some 70% of
the overall total - cheap in the global scale of value -  of  the
remaining  30% about 70% is with countries like Japan, Singapore,
Taiwan and Hong Kong. Such investors can get a full 100% stake in
some  areas of the economy and transfer profits in full - Vietnam
reaps no benefit. So appealing is all this that the last 6  years
have  seen  more than 500 projects ($4.6 billion) approved - some
20% of which are fully owned by foreign companies. Not surprising
that  an  internal  document  for  one major bank in this country
says, in advice to its investors,  that   'Direct  investment  is
expected to continue expanding buoyantly in coming years'.
 For Vietnam the sums don't add up so  favourably.  As  in  China
rising  unemployment  and  a  social  imbalance between urban and
rural areas is threatening the state with the  same  unrest  that
China  has  seen.  And of course there's the old story of foreign
debt which, standing at around 150%  of  annual  export  earnings
with  payment  arrears of about $140 million due to the IMF, puts
the trade aspect in a more realistic perspective.  And  the  good
news?  With the lifting of the embargo... this clears the way for
the  debt  to  be  paid   off...   Well   that   is   a   relief.
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Future FOCUSes will continue to look at this area (S. Korea  will
be  next)  as well as carrying out our plan to look at militarism
and to re-focus on some areas previously covered.  The  first  of
these  will  probably  be  the former Soviet Union. We have other
plans but are open to suggestions and contributions from readers.

 Financial Times 21/4/94 The Guardian 5/2/94