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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. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 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. ________________________________________________________________________ investors can get a full 100% stake in some areas of the economy and transfer profits in full - Vietnam reaps no benefit. ________________________________________________________________________ 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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