VOA慢速英语--越南在经济发展上正在追赶中国

Vietnam Is Following China in its Economic Development

Experts say Vietnam is copying China in its efforts to grow economically and is only about 10 years behind its larger neighbor.

In many ways, the two countries are competitors. But they have built up their state-controlled economies on job creation through factory work for export.

China opened up to foreign investment in 1978. Vietnam got started 10 years later.

Now Vietnam is learning to deal with corruption¹, traffic problems and the sinking performance of state-operated companies while the country’s middle class grows. Experts say the same issues were all signs of development in China.

Currently, Vietnam’s National Assembly is examining a bill to let the country have three special economic zones. The bill is likely to pass this month.

The Vietnamese website VnExpress International says the zones would offer foreigners who invest in factories tariff² exemptions⁴. This would free them from paying taxes required of other investors⁵. The website said the proposal would also guarantee long-term leases for land on which factories are built.

This is similar to what China did in 1979, when it created four zones to increase foreign investment. Now, there are 32 such areas.

Song Seng Wun is an economist⁶ with CIMB Private Banking⁷. He said Vietnam seems to be copying from what he called the Chinese Communist Party’s playbook. He added that, “Vietnam has a Communist Party. So I suppose there is that kind of, if China is doing it, we can also perhaps adapt it to Vietnamese conditions.”

Controlled economy and factory work

Ralf Matthaes is the founder⁸ of Infocus Mekong Research, an advisory⁹ service in Ho Chin Minh City. He told VOA that governments in both China and Vietnam turned to factory work to employ large, uneducated populations.

In the early 2000s, China’s economy heavily depended on factory work, especially for export. It helped drive economic growth about 10 percent every year to 2010. By following a similar path, Vietnam’s economy has expanded at more than six percent a year since 2015.

Like China 10 years ago, Vietnam depends largely on production of low-technology exports, such as furniture and car parts. China is moving up to produce more high-tech¹⁰ products and providing more services.

Companies from Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the West often turn to factories in China and Vietnam to save on labor¹¹ costs. For investors looking for a less costly¹² country, China has become the “world’s factory,” while some people are calling Vietnam “China+1.”

Matthaes said mass manufacturing is one way to employ a lot of unskilled workers. Although Vietnam looks to Singapore as an economic success story, the greatest model is China, he said.

The trade links between Vietnam and Singapore were growing five years ago. At that time, the Vietnamese ambassador to Singapore called relations between the two countries a model.

Although Vietnam depends on the Chinese economy for trade, it thinks of China as a competitor. The two countries fought a border war in the 1970s and now dispute territorial¹³ claims to parts of the South China Sea.

Directing results of fast growth

Observers say China’s population saw results of factory-driven economic growth. They note that such growth is now affecting Vietnam’s economy.

The Boston Consulting Group predicts the number of middle- and upper-class Vietnamese will double between 2014 and 2020. It thinks that number could total about one-third of Vietnam’s current population of 93 million.

In other signs of following China, Vietnamese workers are known for moving from job to job within a few months for higher pay. Traffic is starting to thicken in the financial center Ho Chi Minh City, as it has in China’s major cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, since 2000.

Vietnam’s fight against corruption went public in 2017. It followed China’s anti-corruption campaign, which experts say gained strength in 2012.

Observers say it is now Vietnam’s turn to make its state-owned businesses perform well or be sold off.

Kevin Snowball is the chief executive officer of PXP Vietnam Asset Management in Ho Chi Minh City. He notes that state-owned enterprises are another feature of communist countries. Such businesses heavily influenced the Vietnamese stock exchange from its creation in 2000 through 2005.

Thousands of Vietnam’s state enterprises have been all or partly privatized. China began reforming its state businesses about 20 years ago. It is still pressuring them to change following a drop in profits in 2015.

Snowball told VOA Vietnam established the stock market as a way to sell state assets. Snowball said this is because when the market first opened, almost everything that was listed was state-owned up until the end of 2005.

Snowball said, “The government needs to spend probably 25 billion dollars a year on infrastructure¹⁴ development in order to keep encouraging (foreign direct investment) to come in.” The sale of state assets is providing some of the money for that, he added.

I'm Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

tariff – n. a tax on imports or exports

exemption³ – n. freedom from having to do something

adapt – v. to change one’s behavior so that it is easier to work or live somewhere

+ - short for the words plus or and

executive – adj. relating to the directing of things

enterprise – n. a business organization, project or activity

asset – n. a valuable person or thing

infrastructure – n. the system of public works in a country or area

encourage – v. to give support or help; to make something more appealing

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 tariff   

n.关税，税率；(旅馆、饭店等)价目表，收费表

参考例句：

• There is a very high tariff on jewelry.宝石类的关税率很高。
• The government is going to lower the tariff on importing cars.政府打算降低进口汽车的关税。

3 exemption   

n.豁免，免税额，免除

参考例句：

• You may be able to apply for exemption from local taxes.你可能符合资格申请免除地方税。
• These goods are subject to exemption from tax.这些货物可以免税。

4 exemptions   

n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额

参考例句：

• The exemptions for interpretive rules, policy statements, and procedural rules have just been discussed. 有关解释性规则、政策说明和程序规则的免责我们刚刚讨论过。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• A: The regulation outlines specific exemptions for some WPM. 答：该规定概述了某些木质包装材料的特定的例外情形。 来自互联网

5 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

6 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

7 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

10 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

13 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。