VIETNAM'S AGRICULTURAL REFORMS By ROB SIVAK/WASHINGTON (fwd)
Stephen R Denney
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995
From: Voice of America
Subject: VIETNAM'S AGRICULTURAL REFORMS By ROB SIVAK/WASHINGTON
DATE=7/11/95
TYPE=AGRICULTURE TODAY #1844
NUMBER=3-22540
TITLE=VIETNAM'S AGRICULTURAL REFORMS
BYLINE=ROB SIVAK
TELEPHONE=202-619-2023
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=SMART
CONTENT=
[TAPE INSERTS AVAILABLE FROM AUDIO SERVICES]
//EDITORS NOTE: PLEASE WATCH TIME REFERENCE IN INTRO AND FIX
ACCORDINGLY.//
INTRO: U-S PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON'S ANNOUNCEMENT THIS WEEK
(SCHEDULED FOR APPROX. 12 NOON, 7/11) THAT THE UNITED
STATES IS RESUMING DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH ITS OLD
ADVERSARY, VIETNAM, FOCUSES NEW ATTENTION ON THE SOCIAL
AND ECONOMIC CHANGES WHICH HAVE SWEPT THE
COMMUNIST-RULED ASIAN COUNTRY IN THE TWENTY YEARS SINCE
THE END OF THE VIETNAM WAR. AS VOA'S ROB SIVAK REPORTS,
AN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIST BACK FROM A RECENT TRIP TO
HANOI SAYS SOME OF THE MOST DRAMATIC CHANGES CAN BE
FOUND IN VIETNAM'S BOOMING FARM ECONOMY:
TEXT: IN THE TWO DECADES SINCE NORTH VIETNAM'S MILITARY
TRIUMPH OVER THE U-S-BACKED FORCES OF SOUTH VIETNAM, THE
RE-UNITED BUT PHYSICALLY SHATTERED NATION HAS TRAVELED A
HARD ROAD. THE COMMUNIST-LED COUNTRY OF MORE THAN 70
MILLION PEOPLE HAS BEEN SHUNNED BY MOST WESTERN
GOVERNMENTS, DIPLOMATICALLY AND ECONOMICALLY. BUT
RECENTLY, AS HANOI HAS MOVED TO LIBERALIZE ITS ECONOMIC
POLICIES AND OFFERED CONCILIATORY GESTURES TO THE U-S
AND WESTERN LENDING INSTITUTIONS, THE DOMESTIC CLIMATE
HAS CHANGED. VIETNAM'S DOORS ARE OPEN NOW TO BUSINESS,
INVESTMENT AND INTERNATIONAL AID, AND THE UNITED STATES,
SINCE LIFTING ITS EMBARGO LAST YEAR, HAS ALREADY BECOME
THE COUNTRY'S LEADING INVESTOR.
ONE OF THE CLEAREST SIGNS OF VIETNAM'S ECONOMIC
RESURGENCE -- AND POLITICAL REFORM -- IS ITS
AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, ACCORDING TO RAISUDDIN AHMED. HE IS
A BANGLADESHI ECONOMIST AT THE WASHINGTON-BASED
INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE, OR IFPRI,
WHO TRAVELED TO HANOI EALIER THIS YEAR TO DISCUSS FARM
POLICY REFORM IDEAS WITH VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS. OVER THE PAST 5 YEARS, SAYS MR. AHMED,
STATE-RUN COLLECTIVIZED FARMS HAVE GIVEN WAY TO PRIVATE
FARMS PRODUCING FOOD FOR FREE MARKETS. AND THE COUNTRY'S
FARM ECONOMY IS GROWING BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS, HE SAYS,
DRIVEN LARGELY BY VIETNAM'S BOOMING RICE INDUSTRY:
TAPE: CUT ONE -- AHMED :28
"RICE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT CROP, AND IN FACT, IN SOME
SENSE, IT SIGNIFIES THE PROGRESS IN AGRICULTURE AS A
WHOLE. VIETNAM WAS A NET IMPORTER OF RICE ABOUT SEVEN OR
EIGHT YEARS AGO, BUT WITHIN THESE LAST EIGHT YEARS THEY
HAVE BECOME SURPLUS PRODUCERS OF RICE. AT PRESENT THEY
ARE EXPORTING ABOUT TWO MILLION TONS -- THE SECOND
LARGEST EXPORTER OF RICE ON THE WORLD MARKET."
TEXT: MR. AHMED SAYS VIETNAM'S RICE-DRIVEN FARM ECONOMY -- NOW
GROWING AT THE IMPRESSIVE RATE OF ABOUT 4 PERCENT PER
YEAR -- WAS SPURRED IN PARTICULAR BY THE GOVERNMENT'S
ADOPTION IN 1988 OF WHAT IT CALLS "DOMOY" OR
"LIBERALIZATION." THE ECONOMIST SAYS HANOI ESTABLISHED A
FAMILY-BASED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEM WHOSE MOST
IMPORTANT TENET WAS A MAJOR DEPARTURE FROM MARXIST
DOCTRINE:
TAPE; CUT TWO -- AHMED :48
"THE FIRST IMPORTANT ITEM OF LIBERALIZATION IS THE
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF FARMING LAND. THEY HAVE GIVEN LAND
TO FAMILIES INSTEAD OF TO THE PREVIOUS COLLECTIVE SYSTEM
OF FARMING. AND THE OLD COLLECTIVE SYSTEM HAS BECOME
LIMITED TO THE TASK OF PROVIDING SERVICES TO INDIVIDUAL
FARMERS. SO FAR AS THE FARMERS ARE CONCERNED, THEY HAVE
FREEDOM TO GROW WHATEVER THEY WANT. THEY CAN SELL THE
PRODUCT ON THE OPEN MARKET. INITIALLY THERE WAS SOME
CONTROL OF PRICES BUT NOW THE PRICES HAVE ALSO BEEN
COMPLETELY FREED, AND IT IS THE MARKET FORCES THAT
DETERMINE THE PRICE. THE SUPPLY AND DEMAND FORCES. AND
THE PROFIT MOTIVE IS WORKING."
TEXT: MR. AHMED NOTES, TOO, THAT VIETNAMESE FARMERS HAVE BEEN
QUICK TO EXPLOIT RECENT ADVANCES IN PLANT BREEDING
TECHNOLOGY. THAT'S INCLUDED HARDIER, HIGHER-YIELDING
RICE VARIETIES MADE AVAILABLE TO THEM OVER THE PAST FIVE
YEARS BY THE INTERNATIONAL RICE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, OR
IRRI, IN THE PHILIPPINES:
TAPE: CUT THREE -- AHMED :27 // BEGIN OPT //
"AND BEFORE THAT, THEY HAD ACCESS TO CHINESE TECHNOLOGY.
CHINESE RICE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY WAS VERY DEVELOPED.
IN FACT, THEY (THE CHINESE) ALSO HAD ACCESS TO IRRI AND
OTHER INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS.
SO VIETNAM, IN AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY, WHATEVER
ISOLATION THEY EXPERIENCED, THEY HAVE COME UP VERY FAST
TO CLOSE THE GAP." // END OPT //
TEXT: BUT THE IFPRI ECONOMIST SAYS THERE ARE QUESTIONS ABOUT
WHETHER HANOI CAN SUSTAIN ITS CURRENT PACE OF
AGRICULTURAL GROWTH. ONE ISSUE OF CONCERN, MR. AHMED
NOTES, IS THAT EVEN IN VIETNAM'S SUCCESSFULLY
PRIVATIZED, MARKET-BASED RICE INDUSTRY, SOME OLD
COMMAND-STYLE ECONOMIC POLICIES PERSIST:
TAPE CUT FOUR -- AHMED :34
"THE EXPORT OF RICE, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR PRICE
SUPPORTS, IS STILL CONTROLLED BY THE GOVERNMENT. THE
GOVERNMENT STILL MAINTAINS CERTAIN DISTRIBUTION
STRUCTURES IN THE URBAN AS WELL AS THE RURAL AREAS --
THE RETAIL SALES. THE GOVERNMENT HAS SHOPS FOR SELLING
RICE. DEFINITELY, THIS GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION,
SIDE-BY-SIDE WITH THE PRIVATE MARKET, INTRODUCES WHAT I
WOULD CALL DISTORTIONS IN THE MARKET, AND THAT HAS SOME
IMPLICATIONS FOR DISINCENTIVES TO PRODUCERS."
TEXT: MR. AHMED SAYS THE PURPOSE OF HIS VISIT TO HANOI WAS TO
ADVISE THE GOVERNMENT, IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ASIAN
DEVELOPMENT BANK, ON WAYS TO GRADUALLY WITHDRAW FROM THE
AGRICULTURAL MARKETPLACE AND LEAVE IT TO PRIVATE
ENTREPRENEURS. THE IFPRI ECONOMIST SAYS HANOI IS
DETERMINED TO TURN ITS FARM ECONOMY INTO A POWERFUL
ENGINE OF DEVELOPMENT, AND TO SPEED THE DAY WHEN VIETNAM
JOINS SINGAPORE, TAIWAN, SOUTH KOREA AND THE REGION'S
OTHER FAST-GROWING ECONOMIES AS THE NEWEST OF THE
SO-CALLED "ASIAN TIGERS." THAT DAY IS PROBABLY JUST A
FEW YEARS AWAY, SAYS MR. AHMED, NOW THAT VIETNAM'S LONG
INTERNATIONAL ISOLATION NEARS ITS END. (SIGNED)
RMS/NES
11-Jul-95 11:38 AM EDT (1538 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America