| สาระสังเขป |
The Senate Standing Committee on Armed Forces visited the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to discuss official matters with high-ranked officials on disaster preventions and disaster victim supports. After that, the Committee visited the Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh and discussed official matters and exchange opinions. The Committee obtained background information on politics, economics and societies of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which can be summarized as follows:
1. Disaster preventions and mitigations
The Senate Standing Committee on Armed forces visited the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to discuss official subjects with high-ranked officials on disaster preventions and disaster victim supports. The executive team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development led by Mr. Nguyen Wanying, Deputy Director-General of Irrigation Bureau, welcomed the Committee. On this occasion, the executive team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development presented information, which is summarized as follows:
- There are many important rivers in Vietnam. The main ones are Daeng River and Tai Bin River in the north and another river in the south coming from Mekong River Triangle. Vietnam is located in tropical area with 3,200 kilometers of shoreline from north to south causing regular flooding and storm disasters, which become Vietnam’s identity. In monsoon season, storms enter the Country from the north and pass through the south. Each area receive various amount of rainfall. The area with the highest rainfall is in the north. The highest rainfall record is 4,200 m3. The flooding disasters in the north last 1-2 days. The south receives greater effects from flooding disasters because the areas are Mekong plains. The floods last 2-3 days. In the central, the floods drain fast. They last only 6-12 hours. The highest rainfall was 37,800 m3 in 1945 and 1971.
- Regarding Vietnam’s geography, three-fourths of the area is mountains and forests and one- fourths of the area is plains. The great storm disaster happened in 1997 in Ca Mau Province in the southern part of Vietnam, where disaster rarely happened. So, the local residents did not have experiences in handling disasters, causing a great damage. There were 778 casualties and 2,123 lost persons. Moreover, 30,000 fishing boats were destroyed along with other properties. Regarding the recovery programs for victims and properties in disaster areas, the government has a concrete policy by providing a practical Disaster Prevention and Implementation Strategy, which has been in used until year 2020. In this year, the government will enact a law on disaster prevention and educate citizen on how to protect and help themselves in emergency situations. The government will also add communication and public relations channels in order to immediately handle the disasters. According to the past performance, there were less disaster victims.
The Committee asked questions to the executive team of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and received more information as follows:
- Vietnam has a cooperative system under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
- The government has assigned the policy responsibility to Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to prevent disasters and mitigate the damages. The military would also be assigned to take part in disaster rescuing and lifesaving missions because there is no authority responsible in disaster prevention and mitigation.
- The National Meteorological Center under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinates with other meteorological centers in other countries to provide weather forecast in Vietnam and create disaster-warning systems for the citizen.
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is responsible for water resources control, conservation and development, as well as, other resources reservation including deforesting preventive measures and forest fire prevention. The responsible authority is Forestry Department.
- To solve conflicts with citizen on dam constructions, the government has a policy to relocate the citizen to other areas and provide specific lands for their occupations.
- Vietnam has potential in building hydroelectric power plants. There are hydroelectric power plants selling electricity to foreign countries under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, However, the electricity generation is not sufficient for the demand. Vietnam Government built two nuclear power plants to serve the demands in the Country.
- Vietnam is an agricultural country. Therefore, the irrigation system has been developed since the beginning of the country development. There is enough water supply for every province to grow rice. Farmers in Vietnam can grow rice three times per year and the agricultural areas cover 7.7 million hectares.
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development uses annual budget in various activities such as constructions, local investment, etc.
- Hue and Danang are highlands connecting to mountains and ocean. When there are floods, the water level decreases quickly.
- Ministry of Transportation is responsible for taking care of citizen residing on the shoreline when storms approach. Other authorities helping people living on the shoreline are Border Police who prevent marine disasters and help the citizen.
- Regarding the Navy’s roles in helping disaster victims, if the situations are small, the Navy commands the border military units to take care of the situations. If the situations are big or far from shore, the Navy provides ships to help.
2. Background information on politics, economics and societies of Socialist Republic of Vietnam
The Senate Standing Committee on Armed Forces paid a visit to Ms. Panpimon Suwannapong, Consul General of Ho Chi Minh, to discuss official matters and exchange information. The Committee obtained background information on politics, economics and societies of Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which can be summarized as follows:
General information of Vietnam
- Vietnam is a member of ASEAN playing an important role in regional security. The Country has close relations to Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar (CLMV Group)
- Vietnam is a big market in Indochina. There are various natural resources. The labor cost is quite low. The domestic consumption has continually expanded.
Information on Trading and Investment
- Thailand and Vietnam jointly created an operational plan to extend trading and investment cooperation. Two countries agreed to increase trading volume 20% annually during year 2012 – 2015.
- Private sectors of both countries established Thailand-Vietnam Business Council to promote trading and investment between two countries.
- Vietnam accepted foreign investment after the Country implemented Economic Reformation Policy called Doi Moi in 1986. The policy decentralized government power and reduced trading monopoly. The Country continually reformed national economic system.
- Thai investors started investing in Vietnam in 1990. At present, the majority of Thai investment is in the southern part of Vietnam. There are approximately 200 Thai listed companies. The accumulative investment value of Thailand in Vietnam is ranked the 10th – 11th among all foreign investors.
Information on Socio-Cultural
- Both countries signed MOUs on labor cooperation. Thailand also promoted Vietnam language classes, developed educational personnel and established Thai Study Center in many universities in Vietnam.
Information of the Consulate
- At present, there are approximately 1,000 Thai citizen in Vietnam. Most of them live in the south of Vietnam. Their occupations are entrepreneurs, office employees and partners of the persons working in Vietnam.
Problems and Challenges in Thai Trading and Investing in Vietnam
- Lack of knowledge on Vietnamese language and understanding on Vietnamese working environment
- Lack of understanding on trade and investment regulations
- High rent on lands and buildings
- Lack of sources of fund
- Lack of middle-level administrative personnel and skilled workers
- Limitations in facilities, especially power shortage in dry season
- Thai entrepreneurs need to depend on Vietnamese distributors.
- Problems in cooperating with local partners
- Local companies imitate Thai products.
- Disasters, especially floods and epidemics, affecting agricultural and fishery investment
Vietnam and ASEAN
- Vietnam prepared to enter ASEAN Community such as legislative reformation to comply with ASEAN Community agreements.
- Vietnam emphasized on national infrastructure development to prepare for ASEAN Community.
- The government promoted connections among citizen.
- The government promoted personnel development in both language and labor skills.
Views and Suggestions from the Study Visit
The Committee provided opinions and recommendations that after Vietnam became independent over 30 years ago, the damages from Vietnam War destroyed the Country. President Ho Chi Minh reunited the citizen and Country to be whole again and developed the Country to become a gracious member of ASEAN region. The key factors are to establish the Country centre and unite Vietnamese citizen. Other interesting observations are:
1) Logistic System in Vietnam has been continually developed. The citizen fully cooperated when the Government expropriated lands around the shore in order to let foreign investors build infrastructures that promote the Country development. Vietnam Government allows foreign investors to invest and benefit from the businesses for 50 years. After that, all infrastructures will become government properties. Besides, Vietnam built 2 nuclear power plants, a new airport at Ho Chi Minh. The Country allows foreign investors to invest in the new airport. The project will be finished in 2021.
2) Vietnam has continually developed the Country by implementing centralized system. Therefore, there has been no problem among government authorities. All government personnel, regardless of their authorities such as Army, Navy, Air Forces, Police or other authorities, when they serve as public servants for a certain period of time, they will be transferred to be members of Communism Party of Socialist Republic of Vietnam. They have to comply with the Communism Party’s resolutions, which becomes an advantage and benefit in the Country administration.
3) If Vietnam continually develops the Country without any challenges or problems, it is estimated that within 30 years from now (year 2043) the Country would have been developed to be a high potential country in ASEAN. Many foreign businesses and investments would flood into Vietnam.
Keywords Vietnam, Public Dangers, Disasters, Investment
Pillars Political-Security, Economic, Socio-Cultural
|
