Việt Nam in Transition – The Countryside

It is conventional wisdom that the majority of Việt Nam’s growth is happening in the cites – principally in Hà Nội and Sài Gòn.  No argument from me on that.  Both cities are coming apart at the seams, as Antidote to Burnout pointed out recently.  Though recent hard data is difficult to come by, most figures from 2000 indicate about 80% of the population still lives in the countryside.  (EarthTrends Country Profile )

So – what’s happening in the countryside?

Undeniably, the standard of living in the countryside is lower than  it is in the cities.  It retains its bucolic beauty, yet change is happening here as well.  It is easy to find families still living in nasty little shacks with dirt floors, but they are rare.  Most people now live in a sturdy, if unremarkable, concrete home.

As you pass through small villages, you might notice beauty parlors.  Little ones with one or two chairs.  Not barbershops – but women’s hair salons.  Seeing these, you know disposable income is increasing.  Poor women don’t have the money to get their hair fixed.  A proud, but very shy, young lady showed me around her shop.  Somebody in her little village was spending dông in her shop.

The same is true with the Internet.  Though not as ubiquitous as in the cities, Internet cafés can be found in many villages.  Note there is only one motorbike outside, but lots of bicycles; another indication of transition.  Inside the only people you see are young.  Though they lack the sophistication of Internet users in Korea, Europe, North America, Japan, or other developed countries, they know chat, email, and finding web sites about popular singers.  There still are few web sites in Vietnamese, but that too is changing.

Where is this new money coming from?  Its not coming from traditional agriculture, which is primarily rice growing, nor from vegetable farming.  Its coming from new sources, as exemplified by these shrimp ponds.  Aquaculture is a major new sector of the Vietnamese economy, and shrimp farming is the biggest part of the sector.  (Business Briefs)  You need electricity for shrimp farming – the ponds must be aerated and water pumped.  But, you also need to get product to market, and new infrastructure is being built to help farmers do that. 

One more indicator:  the mobile phone.  No, you don’t see many people out there with a phone screwed into their ear, but change is still underway.  As I stopped for some fuel for my môto, I looked up - - and there it was - - the mobile phone tower.

Hey – they want to talk to Uncle Binh in Sài Gòn too!

Comments

[Tom Murray]

Great post. Vietnam is growing so fast. One of the neat things about the economy is that many homes seem to have a small business on the bottom floor, facing the road. Since mortages do not exist, a profit is a little easier to generate. Cash flow isn't going to debt, lease payments or employee salaries.

Last year the Internet cafe I used in Dong Ha was full of excited, energetic kids all playing games or in chat rooms. They enjoyed themsleves so much it was too noisy for an old man like me. Dong Ha has Internet Cafes, but not banks. It shows what's important.

[The Hoppy Mailman]

I've heard a couple of stories on the shrimp farming in Vietnam on NPR. The shrimpers in the states are not very happy because the price is cheaper for the Vietnamese shrimp. It's a shrinking world and we'd better learn how to all live on it.

[Hattyoi]

thats for sure, brother