TToday was a long day filled with lots of information. We started the day with a Vietnamese language class and learned a little bit about their culture. We had pizza for lunch, which was the first meal I had that did not feel exotic.
But to get to the more important parts of the day, we went to the market. There were lots of souvenirs being sold. The vendors were selling them at very high prices, even though they were made very cheaply. The whole culture of the market seemed to revolve around starting with a very high price so that when they lowered it, it sounded like a good deal, even though they were still making a huge profit. There was one woman we talked to who spoke pretty good English. She said she spent 5,000 dong on one hat she was selling, but she had it listed for 425,000 dong.
We also went to the Consulate today, which gave us lots of information. We learned about what they do in Vietnam and a little bit about the history of the country’s economy. To summarize the history, after the war, the government implemented economic renewal reforms in 1986. These reforms allowed farmers and other producers to specialize in the goods they wanted to produce. This helped maximize production across the country. I think this is a big reason America thrived as an economy as well.
Another major cause of Vietnam’s economic growth was its global trade integration. Vietnam signed a trade agreement with the United States in 2000, which helped reduce tariffs and increase trade. All of these factors helped America become a huge powerhouse in the world, and they are now helping Vietnam grow too. Vietnam is currently a middle-income country, and they hope to become a high-income country by 2045. Based on all the information and experiences I have had through visiting different companies and seeing the city, I think they are likely to be successful. They have a huge working population and a rapidly expanding city that is creating more businesses and opportunities.
The only problem I could see impacting their growth is global communication. America is such a strong economic powerhouse because it attracts people from all over the world with specialized skill sets, and most people end up learning English. While Vietnam can still bring in skilled workers, it is harder when people do not share the same language. Vietnamese is not a language many people learn as a second language around the world. This is the only factor I think could prevent Vietnam from becoming a high-income country by 2045.
As we are coming to the end of our trip, I want to say that coming to Vietnam was nothing short of a great decision. Getting to make connections with UEF students and getting an inside view of popular companies in Vietnam has been an amazing experience. I do not think I would have gained this perspective anywhere else.
