Good morning! Welcome to the latest edition of the Vietnam Weekly, written by Ho Chi Minh City-based reporter Mike Tatarski. The Friday newsletter is always free to read.
On Wednesday, I published a feature for paying subscribers on Vietnam’s increasingly high-profile semiconductor ambitions and the country’s potential place in the industry. Next week, subscribers will get an article on how 2024 is shaping up to be a very contentious year for labor issues. If you haven’t already, you can become a Vietnam Weekly supporter for US$8/month or US$90 below.
A new episode of The Vietnam Weekly Podcast drops Monday morning, featuring a conversation about the Mekong River with Brian Eyler, author of Last Days of the Mighty Mekong. Available wherever podcasts are found.
On a quick foreign relations note, yesterday Vietnam and Australia upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
On to the news.
A Metro Bonanza?
According to a recent Politburo decision, Vietnam’s infrastructure will match that of other developing countries by 2030 and the developed world by 2045.
While these goals seem vague without specific benchmark countries named, there is more detail when it comes to building out metro networks: Hanoi will have 10 metro lines spanning 417 km by 2030, while Ho Chi Minh City will have eight metro lines and three monorail lines with a total length of around 220 km by 2030.
This will not happen, and even Politburo members likely realize it. That’s not just my assessment - last July, Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng accurately said it would take a century for HCMC to finish its metro system at the current pace.
The two cities currently have 13 kilometers of operating metro lines combined, with another 30ish kilometers (hopefully) opening this year. Very little will be added through the rest of this decade, barring a miracle.
Here in HCMC, workers recently broke ground on the long-delayed, over-budget second line, but this only entails relocating underground utilities for now. Actual construction won’t begin until next year (hopefully).
Last month, HCMC Chairman Phan Văn Mãi said the city needs better financial policies, not money, to speed up metro work: "We are not asking the central government for hundreds or thousands of billions of đồng, but we are asking for policies for the city to execute the projects itself.”
This is concerning, as last year’s Resolution 98 was touted as a solution to the city’s development challenges.
I don’t understand the political system well enough to grasp the point of announcing top-down goals that are unattainable - but at least infrastructure is getting attention from the highest echelons of power.
Tourism - Thriving or Struggling?
The tourism industry continues to generate headlines at odds with each other.
On February 27, VnExpress ran an article titled ‘Vietnam risks losing regional tourism race without visa waivers: experts.’
Two days later, it published ‘Number of international visitors to Vietnam surges in February.’
The visa topic in particular has surfaced repeatedly since Vietnam reopened post-Covid, especially as ‘competitors’ like Thailand and Malaysia make it exceptionally easy for most nationalities to enter.
Also last month, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính directed several ministries to work together to improve visa policies, but the layers of bureaucracy involved in that means rapid action is unlikely.
Meanwhile, it remains abundantly clear that local officials don’t really know what attracts tourists - or what kind of tourists they want. Sustainability is frequently mentioned, but Phú Quốc plans to open a cruise ship terminal in August. Hanoi approved a plan for the “exploitation” of West Lake for tourism that includes building a driving range, while Hạ Long will host a drone light show and HCMC is building a US$57 million circus complex that will include “an area for circus animal raising and training.”
That last one probably isn’t aimed at foreign tourists, but think of all the other things US$57 million could be spent on. (Not to mention the practice of using circus animals is wildly outdated.)
This also links with the oft-discussed ‘night-time economy.’ Zing News ran an article this week noting that tourists are bored of Nguyễn Huệ and Bùi Viện, HCMC’s two primary evening pedestrian areas.
The former holds great promise but largely remains an area where people just wander around aimlessly, while the latter is an abomination.
Dien Luong wrote last month about how the country’s lackluster nightlife illustrates official inertia on tourism. I don’t think HCMC’s nightlife is lacking when it comes to bars, etc., but his argument on visas is spot-on:
“Reform of Vietnam's visa system has also been sluggish. In 2017 Vietnam offered visa waivers to around 20 countries. That number has now risen to 26, along with the introduction of 90-day e-visas and the extension of temporary visas for certain tourists to 45 days from August 2023.
These changes look minimal, however, compared with Thailand, which currently offers visa waivers to visitors from more than 60 countries and territories. Malaysia and Singapore have been even more determined, offering visa waivers to 158 and 157 territories, respectively. All three countries are now rolling out visa-free deals for Chinese tourists.”
I don’t necessarily think Vietnam should compete with Thailand or Malaysia on tourist numbers - look at the damage done to places like Phú Quốc and Sa Pả without those visitor levels - but it’s striking how these debates play out year after year.
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Extra Links:
In Ê-đê Villages, Bến Nước Is the Heart Pumping Water Across the Community (Saigoneer)
Vietnam’s Labour Export: Economic Boon or Developmental Bane? (Fulcrum)
Exclusive: SpaceX's talks with Vietnam over Starlink on hold (Reuters)
Power Dynamics Between Southeast Asian Journalists and the Western Media (New Naratif)
Have a great weekend!
That ‘e-visa’ I had to print out and carry the hard copy through immigration made me think I don’t know what ‘e’ is really about. At least I got to skip the ‘visa on arrival’ step like in the past.