PH-Vietnam: Compete and Cooperate

The Vietnamese will be richer than the Filipinos this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, which projected that the per capita income of the Vietnamese will be $3,500, overtaking Filipinos with their $3,380.  Vietnam, with a population of 96 million versus our 110 million, exported around $300 billion in 2019 (versus the Philippines’ $70 billion).  Its 8.4-percent jump from the previous year confirms that it was the major beneficiary of the United States and China trade war.  Vietnam had a foreign direct investment or FDI of over $20 billion versus the Philippines’ $7.6 billion.

Another visible achievement of Vietnam was its ability to immediately contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) while largely having its economy operate normally.  What is often not presented are key characteristics of the nation that allow this effectivity, which include a responsive centralized governance system, and a generally cooperative population, especially on prioritizing what needs to get done. These traits were evident when in the early signs of outbreak in Vietnam, as in the Danang incident, the government immediately implemented policies that the West would consider ‘draconian’ like relocating over 80,000 Vietnamese after 11 people tested positive.