Reporter Volume 25, No.9 October 28, 1993

Vietnam: Present and Future

By PHILIP G. ALTBACH

Flying into Hanoi provides an initial and not unrealistic impression
of Vietnam. The countryside,dotted with villages, is lush, with deep
green rice fields. Roads connecting the villages are the same color as
the muddy Red River--they are unpaved. The Hanoi airport is little
more than a large room with a few wood desks for officials to check
passports. It is hardly an impressive introduction to the capital of a
nation of 70 million that has successfully fought three of the world's
major powers, the French, the Americans and the Chinese, over the past
40 years. 
	Indeed, poverty is the reality of contemporary Vietnam. The
per capita income is just over $200 per year, and the economy is only
now beginning to take off after years of war and Soviet-style
centralized mismanagement. At least in the cities, however, people do
not seem to be starving, and there are few signs of the immense
inequalities and abject poverty that characterize, for example, India,
which has a similar per capita income.
	Hanoi, the national capital, with a population of more than
two million, is a throwback to another age. In many ways, it is a
charming city, with wide boulevards reminiscent of Paris and the
impressive but crumbling mansions and government buildings built by
the French during their colonial domination. The only structures
adequately maintained are those belonging to international
organizations, foreign embassies and a few multinational businesses.
There are virtually no new buildings. 
	Especially dramatic is the almost complete lack of
automobiles. Bicycles, along with a small but growing number of motor
scooters, dominate the streets. Hanoi is a city that stopped growing
in the 1950s. It may be one of the few places left in the world that
give a sense of an earlier, and in some ways more romantic, unspoiled
era. The commercialism of other Asian cities is largely missing. There
are only a few signs of 20 years of Soviet influence, such as Ho Chih
Minh's mausoleum and the national assembly building.
	Likewise, there are only a few things in Hanoi to remind one
of what the Vietnamese call the "American War." Main symbol is the
"Hanoi Hilton," the large and forbidding prison in the middle of town
where American POWs were kept. It is still a jail but will soon be
torn down and replaced with an office and shopping complex.
	There were no signs of anti-Americanism anywhere in Vietnam.
On the contrary, people are especially welcoming to Americans and look
forward to the end of the American trade embargo. T-shirts, available
for $2, urge the end of the embargo or are emblazoned with "Good
Morning, Vietnam." The U.S. dollar is the preferred currency and is
accepted by everyone, from the sidewalk hawker to the hotel cashier. 
	As for the embargo--it is a bit of a joke. American products
are available everywhere, from Coca Cola to Apple computers. Vietnam
Airlines uses Boeing 737s on international routes. Despite the
popularity of the dollar, the increasingly significant foreign
investment is from Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and to a lesser extent
from Europe. With very low wages and a largely literate and
hardworking population, Vietnam offers not only an untapped market for
consumer goods but a source of cheap labor. American firms are already
losing out to competitors. The odd thing is that the Vietnamese seem
to have a special preference for Americans and American products. They
also have a mania to learn English. Eighty-five percent of university
students are studying English.
	Ho Chih Minh City, formerly Saigon and still largely known by
that name, is in sharp contrast to Hanoi. Although it has been almost
20 years since the Americans left, there are many signs of their
presence. Tan Son Nhut Airport, at one time one of the busiest in the
world due to American military flights, still has the reinforced
helicopter hangars--now crumbling. American phone booths are just one
incongruous reminder of what seems like a distant memory. 
	The forbidding bunkers built to protect police headquarters
and other public buildings remain unused around town. American tanks
and helicopters turn up in the oddest places, such as in the garden
outside a downtown restaurant. The American Embassy, site of the final
ignominious U.S. withdrawal in 1975, is now used by several Vietnamese
agencies but still referred to as the "American Embassy." Old American
DeSoto buses, loaded with people, bicycles, and produce, take people
from the villages to the big city.
	Saigon's economy is growing rapidly, especially in contrast to
Hanoi. Its per capita income is more than twice the national average.
There are cars on the street to compete with motor scooters and
bicycles; there are even traffic jams. Life moves faster. Pickpockets
abound, and there are a few beggars.
	The architecture is more evocative of Miami Beach than Paris.
The Continental and Rex Hotels, where the celebrated American war
reporters hung out during the war, are back in their glory, but they
have to survive on a smattering of European tourists and businessmen.
Joint-ventures are very popular. The largest building project in the
city is a hotel financed by Hong Kong interests. One runs into people
who look forward to the return of the Americans and who imply, but
don't quite say, that the wrong side won the war.
	In Saigon, consumerism is rampant and goods from all over the
world are available in the markets. The top desire of every Vietnamese
yuppie is a Honda motor scooter. A television and video recorder
follow, along with a refrigerator. Surprisingly, many are able to
afford these luxuries. Scooters clog the streets, and there is a video
rental shop on almost every street corner peddling pirated American
films. 
	How people can afford these items when college professors earn
around $40 per month and school teachers half that amount, is
something of a mystery. There is a parallel economy and many earn more
than their "official" salary by moonlighting.
	A vivid reminder of the war is a visit to the Cu Chin tunnels,
40 miles from Saigon. More than 50 miles of tunnels were hand built by
the Viet Cong during the war, a remarkable feat of military
engineering. Despite massive bombing by the Americans, the tunnels
were never captured and served as a base for Viet Cong activities in
the Mekong Delta region. Several thousand American soldiers died
there, along with more than 10,000 Vietnamese. The Vietnamese army
offers the opportunity to visitors to fire American rifles for $1 a
shot. Perhaps this commercialism is a sign of the times.
	Vietnam is beginning to move. In the past decade, it has gone
from a rice importer to the world's third-largest exporter of rice,
due to the abandoning of collectivism on the farms. In the south,
there are the beginnings of industrial growth and investment. Although
economically devastated by its wars, the Vietnamese economy is showing
impressive growth. The country is in a period of dramatic
transition--from rigid state control to a market orientation.
	Vietnam has considerable potential--its combination of rich
agricultural land, offshore oil reserves, and a large, energetic and
largely literate population provide a base for economic growth. So
far, the political system remains unchanged. Clearly, the Vietnamese
authorities hope to follow the Chinese model of maintaining tight
political control while opening up the economy. Whether they will
succeed is an open question. So far, Americans have missed the
boat--it seems that we have many more hang-ups about the Vietnamese
than they have about us. They have put war behind them--it is time for
Americans to do the same.

Philip G. Altbach is professor and director of the university's
Comparative Education Center. He recently led a delegation of American
educators to Vietnam.