I have been to hundreds of countries across five continents and four oceans in the past 2 years to update the post-COVID-19 world. What I saw, smelled, tasted, and felt in reality urged me to share with you the following, with the hope that you will understand more about our country compared to the world, love your homeland more, and do something to contribute a small part to the development of your country:
1. The size of the economy grows strongly
Innovation and Enterprise Law are two important keywords for Vietnam to have today's economy. The Innovation process started in 1986 but the real changes only started in 1995 when Vietnam joined ASEAN and the US lifted the embargo, which meant integrating with the world and being recognized by the world to join the game with them.
Then, in 2006, Vietnam joined the WTO and participated deeply in the global economy with 15 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and 2 FTAs under negotiation. Most of the developed countries of G20, G7 or the countries in the top 30 largest economies in the world have had a much longer period of peace and development than us.
In just 28 years, from a planned economy near the bottom of the list, Vietnam's economy has ranked 35th in the world with a GDP of over 400 billion USD. This is truly a big step forward.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of CEO Group - Mr. Doan Van Binh.
2. Golden population period
At this time, Vietnam's population has reached 100 million people, ranking 15th in the world. This population size creates a large market with diverse needs, extremely attractive to global investors.
The population is still in its golden period, creating abundant human resources for the economy, attracting FDI. Human resources are always the decisive factor, especially young resources. Young people are healthy, young people have many dreams, young people dare to take risks, young people have enough time to "try" failure. And failure is the mother of success.
Japan is a great lesson in population aging and population decline. Japan's population has decreased so much that there are not enough workers left to work in the economy. Japan is having to import labor from China, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and especially Vietnam.
Japan understands that at some point, the countries that are providing the main source of human resources for them will also develop and the human resources will stay and not go to Japan anymore. Currently, the Japanese government is changing in the direction of loosening the nationality policy for the F3 and F4 generations with Japanese blood abroad, especially those of Japanese descent in Brazil.
There are over 2 million people of Japanese descent here. In the future, Japan’s nationality policy may have to be further expanded. Simply put, Japan has a lot of work and few people. On top of that, many people are old. We have an advantage and need to make the most of it.
3. Success in poverty reduction
The definition of poor people is people whose income is less than 50% of the average income per capita of the country. According to this standard, there are still many poor people in the mountains, rural areas, and islands, but no one is hungry anymore.
Vietnam’s poverty reduction efforts have been very successful. Born and raised in the countryside, having suffered from hunger during the crop failure in the late 1980s before the Hoa Binh hydropower plant was built, we have seen the tremendous changes that have taken place over the past three decades. This is an achievement recognized by the United Nations.
Look at Africa, typically South Africa - the most developed country on the continent, the unemployment rate is up to 40%. Out of 10 people, 4 are unemployed. Beggars are everywhere. 10% of white people dominate the entire economy, owning up to 80% of the country's land.
India still has 21% of people living in extreme poverty, which means over 300 million people have an income of less than 1.95 USD/person/day. To make it easier to imagine, if we only had 45,000 VND/day/person with all the expenses for housing, food, drink, transportation, clothing, education, healthcare, funerals, weddings... then what? Try taking 45,000 VND and leaving the house to live for 24 hours and see how miserable it would be. If anyone wants to try, remember to call me.
Or look at slums around the world to understand and be proud of what we have done in the past. Orangi is considered the world's largest slum in Karachi, Pakistan with 2.4 million people; Ciudad Neza in the capital of Mexico City is the second with 1.2 million people; South Africa has Soweto, Alexandra and also the white slum in Gauteng. Kenya has the Kibera slum. Even in Seoul, South Korea, there is the Guryong slum village. Manila North Cemetery, Philippines is home to the very poor.
And Cite Solei (Sun City) in Haiti is the most dangerous place with 400 thousand people living in the haunting fear of violence and instability. Brazil has thousands of Favelas on the outskirts of Rio with houses without numbers, streets without names, full of social evils.
4. Easy access to social networks, high level of democracy
If you go to China, you cannot use popular international social networks like facebook...
In India, internet and wifi are very poor. India is considered an IT powerhouse. The problem is that they want to control society. In Cuba, you can only use internet in 5 star hotels for a limited time.
Ethiopia - the second most populous country in Africa, after Nigeria with over 110 million people, and a rising star in Africa with a GDP growth rate of 10%/year, only allows the use of social networks in international hotels with unstable network quality.
Many American friends from the US Real Estate Association who have been to India and Vietnam say that Vietnam's telecommunications infrastructure is very good. You don't see any difference compared to the US. Most people use new smartphones, the internet and wifi are impeccable. Democracy on social networks reflects democracy in society.
5. Vietnam tourism has many leading things
After COVID-19, countries are facing difficulties. The Russia-Ukraine war added a heavy punch. Incomes fell, aggregate demand fell, inflation rose, supply chains were broken… making the world economy even gloomier.
In this context, tourism has been chosen by all countries as a key industry to contribute to the recovery of the national economy. Large countries such as the G7 or small countries such as the Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, San Marino, Monaco, Malta, Singapore... are all looking for ways to attract international tourists. Because of that, the global tourism playground has suddenly become crowded and crowded. Competition is increasingly fierce.
Inside Son Doong Cave lies a separate, unique world with its own primeval forest, underground river and climate. (Photo: Thanh Nien Newspaper)
Vietnam tourism is attractive and full of potential, but is currently "in the middle of the pack", ranking average overall in terms of competitiveness. As of 2021, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF), tourism ranked 52nd out of 117 countries ranked in the global tourism development capacity index.
Understanding the current position of the tourism industry is very important for us to have the right strategy, the right plan as a basis for efforts and actions. There are still too many things from small to large that need to be improved if we want the spearhead tourism industry to make a breakthrough. The prejudice that our country is beautiful so it is naturally fragrant will be a big mistake.
However, I want to confirm with you that we also have things in the leading group: Son Doong is the number 1 cave in the world; Vietnam's beaches are in the top group with the beaches of Maldives, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Hawaii, Australia, Tanzania (Zanziba), Seychelles.
Vietnamese cuisine is also among the top in terms of color, smell and taste. The group of countries with top cuisines includes France, Italy, Morocco, Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia, Thailand, and Mexico.
Accommodation is new, modern, updated to international standards and especially very cheap. Most of Vietnam's accommodation system has been developed within the past decade. Most of the 4-5 star hotels are international brands.
That means right from the stage of choosing the design unit, arranging space, functions, choosing materials, equipment, using software, standards of management and operation personnel... all must comply with the standards of international hotel brands such as Accor, Mariott, Intercontinental, Best Western, Wyndham...
The accommodation system in Europe, America... was built a long time ago, many hotels were upgraded from ancient castles so they are quite old.
The price of 4-5 star international hotel rooms in Europe, America, Africa, and Oceania is 300-500 USD/room/night, while in Vietnam it is only around 150 USD.
6. Proud achievements in gender equality
Going back 30 years, in the early period of Renovation, women in rural Vietnam were still heavily discriminated against.
For example, when guests come to visit, women have to go into the kitchen to cook for them. When the food is brought up, only men are allowed to serve it, women are not allowed to sit with them. When men and guests finish eating, the women eat whatever is left. Today, gender equality in Vietnam has made great strides along with economic development and international integration. In the previous term, we had a female National Assembly Chairwoman.
In this term, we have a female Standing Secretary of the Party Central Committee. The National Assembly has over 30% female representatives. The government has many female ministers such as health, home affairs, and the State Bank. In the business community, there are also many talented female entrepreneurs. Women in most Vietnamese families are appointed as “ministers” of education, health, foreign affairs, and even economics.
While in India with its caste system, dowry, and mostly arranged marriages, women are not given due importance. The majority of Muslim women are proud of their religious and cultural women’s rights. However, the non-Muslim world still believes that women’s rights in Muslim countries have certain limitations…
7. Housing and employment
Every national government attaches importance to these four things: housing, employment, health care, and education.
There is still much to be done in education and health care. There is also a widespread bias that most Vietnamese cannot afford to buy a house because housing prices are too high compared to low incomes. But the numbers don’t lie.
According to the results of the Population and Housing Census at 0:00 on April 1, 2019, the rate of households owning houses reached 93.6%. This rate puts Vietnam in the top 10 countries with the highest rate of people owning houses in the world.
According to Home Ownership by Country 2023, Vietnam ranks 7th in the world in terms of home ownership. Employment is a difficult problem, but overall the absolute unemployment rate in Vietnam is still low. Most people have jobs in the city but still have fields in the countryside, from which they have income in one form or another.
8. Taxes
Vietnamese people are enjoying tax benefits, especially personal income tax related to assets in general and real estate in particular.
Vietnam does not have any property tax, including real estate tax, inheritance tax, and gift tax. The lack of property tax, along with the growth of the middle class, is strongly supporting the issue of home ownership and tourism real estate.
Most developed countries have property taxes. European countries have very high personal income taxes.
9. Stable political situation
This is incredibly important. The stories of Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, the Middle East, Somalia, Libya… help us understand deeply how precious it is to live in peace.
10. Vietnam is full of energy
If you go to Denmark in Northern Europe, down to Italy, Türkiye, Greece, Spain, Portugal in Southern Europe, or Laos right next door, the Caribbean countries, the Latin American countries, life is surprisingly slow.
In Vietnam, everywhere is full of youthful energy. Our population increases by over 1 million people each year. Even in the countryside, mountains, and islands, there is a bustling spirit of business and trade. In Myanmar, even in Indonesia, the pace of business is quite different.
Most cities in India are the same. So are African countries. This explains why foreign investors are so enamoured with our dynamic market.
The world is facing enormous challenges. Vietnam is no exception. The Government has identified difficulties in institutions, administrative procedures, cash flow, interest rates, etc. that are hindering development. The Government also understands that the business community is facing unprecedented difficulties.
Once the major obstacles are resolved soon, Vietnam will certainly develop faster, accumulate more resources and bring more happiness to the people, including you.
Doan Van Binh (Chairman of CEO Group)
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