How much gold kept among Vietnamese people?

VietNamNet Bridge – Newly released information that Vietnam has imported 1000 tons of gold in the last 20 years has stirred up the public. Experts now try to guest how many tons of gold are being kept among Vietnamese people and what Vietnam should do to use the huge capital in the most effective way.

The information about the 1000 tons of gold imported in the last 20 years was released by Le Duc Thuy, former Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, now Chair of the National Finance Supervision Council. The head of the council did not confirm the existence of 1000 tons of gold among the public, but he said: “I am sure that a large volume of gold is being kept in people’s homes”.

Thuy commented that Vietnam should not make a hasty move to prohibit the transactions in gold. The prohibition can only put gold out of the official circulation, while the gold will still exist in the society. Meanwhile, gold should be seen as an important source of capital, and if gold cannot be put into official circulation, it will be “sitting idle”, not making profit, or will be traded on the black market. i.e out of the control of the management agencies. Thuy believes that it would be better to attract the huge capital (gold) into banks instead of prohibiting transactions in the gold.

While the national economy needs more and more capital from different sources for its development and investment, gold trading floors have been shut down and the gold prices have been continuously climbing to new highs. One week ago the State Bank issued a legal document to scale down the activities of mobilizing capital in gold and lending gold.

However, a senior official of the State Bank of Vietnam has denied the fact that 1000 tons of gold is now lying under people’s pillows. “To date, no one can say for sure how much gold is being kept among people,” he said.

The figure cited by the former Governor of the State Bank is sourced from the World Gold Council and the figure does not include the illegal imports and the import volume through other unofficial channels that the organization still cannot reckon up.

Meanwhile, the general director of a famous gold trading company guesses that people are only keeping 200 tons of gold because when the world’s gold prices were higher than the domestic prices, a substantial volume of gold was illegally exported,. However, he stressed that 200 tons of gold would also be a large volume of capital, worth $10 billion and the capital should be put into business rather than sitting idle.

Meanwhile, VnExpress newspaper quoted a director of a big bank in Hanoi as saying that the management agency needs to consider the specific characteristics of the market in Vietnam. In other countries, gold is considered as a type of good and not a tool of payment. Therefore, the volume of gold kept among people is not very big. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, gold is not only used as a kind of good (jewelry products), but also as a kind of asset (people store gold instead of cash)

If the management agency tries to weed out gold from the official channel, even though people still want to keep gold as their assets, this is really a kind of the management agency’s “voluntarism” which wastes a large amount of capital.

“It will be not the right time to weed out gold from the official channel until gold is no longer favored by people,” he said.

Meanwhile, the central bank, while trying to protect its view that it is necessary to prohibit transactions in gold, said that the massive mobilization and lending in gold have been making the dollarization in the national economy more serious and encouraging speculation.

Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam once declared that in case the market has gold in excess, the central bank may spend money to purchase gold to increase gold reserves.

Vietnamese enterprises should work as small fry to grow up: expert

VietNamNet Bridge – What should Vietnam do to be able to create Vietnamese products with globally recognized brands? This question was raised by VietNamNet to Tran Quang Hung, Secretary General of the Vietnam Electronics Association.

Why do Vietnamese enterprises decide to have their products outsourced to China?

In general, regular components are imported from China which can provide products at low prices. As for specific components which require high quality, Vietnamese enterprises have to use the products from Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.
I think that in the age of global integration, the origin of products is not the most important factor. The quality and the price are more important.
Apple, for example, also has its products outsourced to China. The country is now considered the factory of the world. Previously, Samsung also made its products in China, and it has just moved to Vietnam.
The key factor is that Vietnamese enterprises should take wise steps and they should know what they need and where they should import components from. It is like being a clever housewife, you knows how to choose the best food at the market.
It always happens that Vietnamese customers refuse to pay high prices for the products made in China. What would you say about that?
Enterprises should understand that no matter where they have their products outsourced to, they must have good designs and they must master the technologies.
We go to China to hire Chinese enterprises to work for us, and not everything provided by Chinese enterprises will be used by us.
However, if Vietnamese enterprises cannot make any components of products, and the only thing they have in the products is the brand name, will Vietnamese brands be able to become famous in the world market?
The story about Dell, a very famous brand in the US, is a typical example. The manufacturer does not have factories, or even depots. If necessary, it has others to do the design for it, has its productionoutsourced to others sand then sticks on its own label to sell.
Hard drives are made in Thailand, CPU by Intel, chips in Thailand, while computers are assembled in China. Who says the computers are not the products of Dell, a US brand?
I once told CMS and FPT Elead that the most important thing for them now is to design a model which can “win the hearts and minds” of customers with high quality and low prices. Acer buys CPU from Intel, Dell also buys CPU from Intel and so does HP. Why can’t Vietnamese CMS and FPT Elead do that?
It is now the age of knowledge-based economy. The companies, that can be good at choosing components and can launch the products which satisfy customers, will be the winners.
As you said, Vietnamese enterprises are now also outsourcing to China, like foreign enterprises. But why cannot Vietnamese brands become famous, whlie some of them have even disappeared from the market?
The business success depends on the management of enterprises. Many Vietnamese enterprises try to simply sell as many products as possible, while they do not pay much attention to developping high quality products.
As you may know, Nokia 1202 is dirt cheap, selling at 400,000 dong. However, it still  defeats all other brands in the low-cost market segment. The product is very durable.
Then, Vietnamese enterprises, please don’t try to do 3Gs. Just focus on low-cost products priced at 300,000-400,000. If your products are durable, you will cement your firm position on the market. But if users have to throw your products away after one month of using, you will not survive.
In order to develop a brand, enterprises have to spend a lot of time and money. However, it seems that Vietnamese brands have not beenaround for a time long enough to conquer customers’ hearts. When you have a brand, you need to develop and protect it. You cannot just “live from hand to mouth” .
But what will happen if all phases of the production process rely on foreign producers?
I think that we need to change our viewpoint on the issue. The strategies on electronics and supporting industries development put forward by the Ministry of Post and Communication and Ministry of Industry and Trade prove to be infeasible. No one and no country in the world can make all components necessary for assembling the whole machine.
The big names like Sony and Panasonic only focus on research and design, or they only make very special products, while they have their products outsourced to the countries where the labour cost is cheap.
So, what should Vietnam do to develop Vietnamese brands in the world market in the globalization period?
I think that there are three ways to develop brands and build a base for future development of Vietnamese brands
First, we should invest in designing. And not say we cannot do that. Two Vietnamese engineers once won the first prize in the competition to design specialized IC in Japan.
Second, we need to develop supporting industries, but we should not try to do everything. We have to focus on specific products.
Third, Vietnam should join the global chain.

Vietnam contributes $10 million to ASEAN infrastructure fund

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese Finance Deputy Minister Tran Xuan Ha told the 17^th APEC Finance Ministerial Meeting in Kyoto, Japan, that Vietnam would contribute $10 million to the ASEAN infrastructural fund.

The Finance Ministers who partiicpate in the APEC Finance Ministerial Meeting in Kyoto, Japan
Finance Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN on November 5 discussed the establishment of the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF). Accordingly, the fund will raise capital in the form of shares from member governments in three stages and by issuing bonds.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Malaysia committed to contribute $300 million, Indonesia $120 million, Laos and Cambodia $100,000 each, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore pledged to contribute at least $15 million to the fund.

ASEAN Finance Ministers also considered reporting on the development of the indicators for the ASEAN bond market and organizing the Investment Promotion Conference of ASEAN Finance Ministers on November 30 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Locally assembled cars drive a tough road ahead

VietNamNet Bridge – In principle, it is now the high car sale season. However, analysts do not think that the demand would be high, because the dollar is still very expensive. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) is planning to slash import tariffs on car imports under the mode of complete built units (CBU).

Tariff cuts planned

MOF has put forward the tentative import tariffs to be applied to cars commencing from early 2011, while it is consulting with the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (VAMA) on the issue.

MOF plans to reduce the import tax rate on less-than-9-seat cars (group 8703) from 83 percent currently to 70 percent applied to the imports from ASEAN countries. Meanwhile, the imports from other regions will still remain at 83 percent in 2011.

As for 4WD models, which now have the tariff of 83 percent as per ASEAN commitments, the tariff has been proposed to reduce to 70 percent. The imports from other regions would be lowered to 73 percent from 2011 from the current level of 77 percent.

As for the cars with the cylinder capacity of 2500 cc and higher, the inner-ASEAN import tariff from 2011 would be 70 percent instead of the current tax rate of 83 percent. Meanwhile, the tax rate on the imports from other regions would be 77 percent.

Regarding passenger-carrying vehicles with more than 10 seats, including buses, the proposed tax rate is 70 percent (lower than the current rate of 83 percent).

In general, the tentative import tariffs MOF plans to apply on cars from 2011, come in line with the commitments Vietnam has signed before with international partners. Meanwhile, MOF does not have the same plan for trucks: it intends to slash the tariffs more sharply than the committed levels.

Analysts have said that the tariff reduction from 83 percent to 70 percent will surely affect the market, because not only import tariff will decrease by 13 percent, but luxury tax, VAT and ownership registration tax will also decrease. For example, a car valued at $20,000, will be sold at $20,000 + $16,600 (83 percent in import tax) + $18,300 (50 percent in luxury tax) + $4,490 (10 percent in VAT) = $59,390. Besides, buyers will also have to pay the ownership registration tax of 12 percent if they are in Hanoi or HCM City.

Meanwhile, if the import tariff reduces to 70 percent as expected, the price of the car would be $56,100 only, or $3,000 lower than the previous level.

Buy right now or wait?

“Buy right now or wait?” is the question many people have raised for themselves in the context of possible tariff reduction and dollar price fluctuations.

As the dollar price keeps increasing, buyers would have to pay additional money of up to tens million dong, when they buy cars. Therefore, if they do not buy cars right now, they will have to pay higher for the same cars in the future.

However, as the tariffs are expected to decrease, it would be more profitable to buy cars in the future, when the tariffs are lower and the sale prices become cheaper.

Miss Earth contestants visit HCM City’s largest rubbish dump

VietNamNet Bridge – Twenty beauties from the USA, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Singapore, etc. and host Vietnam spent their entire morning to see how rubbish is treated at the $100 million Da Phuoc garbage dump in HCM City on November 8.

Maricelle Rani Wong from Singapore said she was surprised to see such as big waste treatment site. As the second-year student at the National University of Singapore, Wong has visited several rubbish dumps in Singapore but they are much smaller than the one in HCM City.

Other contestants and Miss Earth 2009 showed their interests in the introduction of Kevin Moore, general director of the Vietnam Waste Solutions, the investor of Da Phuoc rubbish dump, about the waste treatment process.

During the trip, the contestant from South Africa consistently took notes in her small notebook while the contestant from Guatemala raised many questions about the treatment process.

After the field trip, contestants met with local women.

Tonight, November 9, 20 out of nearly 90 contestants will perform their talents in the Talent Show at the Diamond Palace in HCM City.

Some photos of Miss Earth contestants at the Da Phuoc dumping site in HCM City:

Miss Earth 2009 talks with Kevin Moore.

PV

Businessmen, please support culture development, but don’t interfere

VietNamNet Bridge – Nowadays, more and more Vietnamese businessmen show their corporate social responsibility (CSR) by funding cultural works or financing constructions of pagodas. However, in many cases, their crude interference ruins the cultural value.

In the interview given to VietNamNet’s Vietnam Economic Forum (VEF), Associate Professor Dr Nguyen Van Huy, Member of the National Council for Cultural Heritage, stressed that businessmen can fund the cultural development, but they should not make thoughtlessly interfere inthe wider context of cultural matters

Could you please tell us what other countries in the world think about the corporate social responsibility in culture development?

In developed countries, businesses and businessmen always pay closeattention to the development of cultural heritages. They believe that culture is the foundation which helps them develop and prosper. Therefore, when they succeed, they think they have to express their gratitude towards customers and the society. At the same time, funding cultural activities is also an effective way of doing marketing for businesses.

Starting business as a railway transport company, nowadays Meitetsu has become a prosperous economic group, operating in many fields. The owners of Meitetsu, who are now millionaires and billionaires, believe that they need to express their gratefulness to the people, who use their railway services, by spending money to build a miniature museum of the world. This is a huge project covering an area of hundreds of hectares.

There are many investment funds and the culture supporters named after famous businessmen, such as Rockerfeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, or Toyota Foundation. The funds reserve big budgets for developing and preserving culture

You have talked about developed countries. What would you say about Vietnamese businessmen and their stories on funding culture development?

Vietnamese businesses have been playing a very important role in the development of the country. They have been accumulating big capital, while many businessmen have become very rich, somethingthey could not imagine just 10 or 15 years ago.

However, it seems that Vietnamese businessmen still do not think that they need to make contribution to the culture development.

In fact, many businesses implemented their corporate social responsibility by funding the repairing pagodas. In some cases, as they did, they made thoughtlessly interfered with the integral part of the work and thus ruined it altogether

For example, a businessman agreed to spend money to recover Tam Van citadel in Dien Bien. The citadel was made of soil, but the businessman then asked to build the citadel in bricks. As the result, the citadel ended up resembling Great Wall. I have to say that this is a kind of rude interference in the work of culturists.

In other countries, businessmen fund cultural projects, but they never intervene in the works of culturists.

Besides, businessmen also spend money to help flood-stricken people, fund art performances or sports events (football tournament, tennis or golf tournaments). But they rarely fund cultural activities, which is understandable: businessmen cannot see their benefit in funding cultural activities. They still do not understand that funding cultural activities is a good way to polish their images.

Some people say that Vietnamese cultural products are very poor and unattractive. Do you agree with the comment?

Making and trading cultural products is the weak point of Vietnamese businesses. Most businesses still hesitate to make investment in the field, partially because they do not have good ideas to develop their business.

Meanwhile, other countries have been very good at this. In China, for example, there are many enterprises specializing in making specimens of antiques which appeared in different dynasties in the country. The products have high quality and they have been selling very well, bringing large profits to the enterprises.

What should we do to settle the problem?

If you go to museums and heritage sites in Vietnam, you will see that there are only generic souvenirs available, the kind of products that you can find everywhere else. Museums and heritage sites do not have specific products of their own. Therefore, the products are uninspiring and unattractive to tourists.

What needs to be done now is for businesses to spend money to create new designs with high quality. However, then a new problem will arise with new designs being copied by other producers. Therefore, producers have no motivation to create anything new or innovative.

VNR500: Private enterprises still cannot top the list

VietNamNet Bridge – In the 2010 VNR500, private enterprises still bottom the list in terms of business efficiency with business results much lower than that of state-owned enterprises and foreign invested enterprises.

On November 25, Vietnam Report and VietNamNet released the 2010 VNR500, the list of the 500 Vietnamese biggest enterprises in terms of turnover in 2010. For the fourth consecutive year enterprises are ranked and made public on mass media. Now, when Vietnamese people are discussing a new five-year socio-economic development plan, it is the perfect time to review a complete picture of Vietnamese enterprises over the last four years.

No discrimination in ranking by economic sector expected

Currently, Vietnam Report releases two main rankings 1/ the list of the top 500 biggest Vietnamese enterprises of all economic sectors and 2/ the list of the top 500 biggest private enterprises.

The classification of enterprises in accordance with the economic sector seems to be seen only in Vietnam.

The proportion of private enterprises in the VNR500 (list 1) has been increasing yearly with an average increase of two percent per annum. The figure shows that the private economic sector has been steadily increasing. Business results of the enterprises on the second list are approaching to the indexes of list 1, which shows the considerable progress of private enterprises, even though the progress remains below expectations.

Therefore, one can place high hopes that in the near future, Vietnam will only have one ranking – the VNR500 – the list of top 500 biggest enterprises of all economic sectors, with no discrimination of the type ownership.

However, this will only become true when discriminations between economic sectors are removed.

Private enterprises still bottom the list in terms of business result

Despite the challenges from the economic downturn, the VNR500 enterprises have still been staying firmly grounded, and the total turnover of all500 enterprises on list 1 has still been gradually increasing over the past four years. Meanwhile, the total sums of taxes paid by the enterprises increased sharply in 2009 and 2010 after the shock in 2008.

Regarding the two main business indexes, ROA and ROE, one can see that the indexes of foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) far exceeded that of the two remaining economic sectors.

However, the gap has been closing. The two indexes of FIEs decreased sharply from 26.9 percent and 62.4 percent in 2007 to 14.7 and 30.9 percent, respectively, in 2008, and the downward trend is continuing.

Contrary to expectations, the business results of private enterprises, which are much lower than that of FIEs and state-owned enterprises, place them at bottom the list of enterprises.

The weakness of private enterprises is partially explained by the fact that the enterprises are facing more difficulties than state-owned enterprises in accessing land and bank loans.

Little changes in business field structure

The list of the top 500 enterprises shows only little changes in the business fields of the biggest enterprises.

Industrial enterprises are still dominating the ranking (70 percent of enterprises), while the two other business fields, agriculture and trade services, have the same proportion of enterprises on the list – 10 percent.

The enterprises operating in five key fields are still topping the rankings, including enterprises focused on mineral resources – oil and gas, construction – real estate – construction materials, banking – finance – insurance, steel and agriculture – forestry.

The crisis storm deal a blow on exports

While some business fields such as mineral resources – oil and gas, and steel still can show their strength, other business fields which rely on exports, such as footwear, seafood and garment, have endured negative impacts from the global economic crisis.

This explains why in the 2007 ranking footwear and garment companies stayed above the construction and real estate field with 5 percent of enterprises, but in the 2010 ranking, the figure has dropped to 2.6 percent.

The number of manufacturing enterprises in the ranking remains very modest, which shows that the productivity and competitiveness of Vietnam’s economy remains weak after four years of joining WTO.

The dire need to enhance national competitiveness

Vietnam’s economy is rebounding far from the shadow of global economic turmoil, but this strong recovery is not enough to guarantee sustainable growth and high competitiveness for the nation if it cannot address a number of key issues that are a brake on its future development. The European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) recommends in its third edition of the “White Book” released in Hanoi on Thursday that the Government should take bold actions with regards to infrastructure, administrative procedures reform, human resources (HR) development, low value-added production, and better protection of intellectual property rights (IPR).
These issues were highlighted by EuroCham Chairman Alain Cany and EuroCham Executive Director Matthias Dühn when they were interviewed by the Daily. They were of the opinion that resolving those concerns was crucial for Vietnam to achieve more sustainable long-term economic growth and not be caught in the “middle-income trap”.

Shift to high value-added production

“What we recommend for Vietnam is to shift from basic low value-added exports to more sophisticated and high value-added production and exports,” Cany said, though he agreed that the country had been successful in development, largely through low value-added exports for rice, coffee and other commodities.
Cany assumed the local content of made-in-Vietnam goods was just about 30%, as companies had to count on many imported materials and commodities to turn out their products. Heavy reliance on imports to produce exports is somehow more harm than good to their cash flow.
“They have to pay foreign currency first to import up to 70% of the input materials and then sell (finished products) within three to four months, and wait to receive payment in the U.S. dollar in another two months. So on average, you have a shortage of cash flow of 70% of your export turnover for more than six months, and this costs a lot,” Cany pointed out.
To increase the local content, Vietnam needs to improve the business environment to attract more investments in the supporting industry and production of high value-added items. Actually, more foreign manufacturers are coming to Vietnam to use the good quality but low-cost manpower.
In its White Book 2011, EuroCham views relatively low-cost work force, natural resources, favorable geographical location, political stability and a market of huge domestic potential as the key economic advantages that Vietnam has leveraged to move from a “low income” to “middle income” country in 2010. Over the past years, Vietnam has received large amounts of official development assistance (ODA) from bilateral and multilateral sources.
But EuroCham says Vietnam cannot rely on its current competitive advantages of low-cost labor, natural resources and ODA to last indefinitely because of rising wages, limited natural resources, and the ODA will eventually be reduced or discontinued.
Reality shows the low-cost labor is turning out to be a less prioritized factor that foreign companies consider before their decisions to enter Vietnam. In fact, more investors, especially those of large-scale and high-tech projects, are looking for Vietnamese qualified employees who can be the key to their success in this growing market.
“It is becoming more and more difficult for foreign enterprises to come to Vietnam to hire qualified people,” Cany said “This has been a problem for the last few years, but the more companies are coming, the more difficulties they face. It seems that a lack of capable employees becomes a chronic issue and this made some companies hesitate to make sizable investments in Vietnam.”
EuroCham reported that more than 65% of Vietnam’s workforce was still unskilled and more than 75% of the 20 -24 year olds were either unskilled or skill-strapped. In the ASEAN region, Vietnam ranks in the lower half of the human resource development, and so improving its workforce is one of Vietnam’s key tasks to meet the needs of rapidly changing labor markets at home and abroad.
Labor skills and productivity of Vietnamese employees are what that matters most, and EuroCham calls for agencies to pay more attention to this. Cany admitted general education in Vietnam was good, but stressed improvement in vocational training and higher education to provide the employees able to meet the employers’ requirements.
“We have discussed the HR topic sometimes and some improvements have been made by the Ministry of Education and Training, but this has to be accelerated,” Cany said. He added that if Vietnam wanted to attract the investors who brought added values and know-how from Europe and elsewhere in the world, the country had to make sure they would find qualified employees.

Changes for sustainable growth

While vocational training should match the needs of companies, EuroCham also recommends Vietnam in its Whitebook 2011 to encourage a “culture of innovation and creativity” as an impetus to the sustainable long-term development of Vietnam.
“Without this, Vietnam risks falling into the “middle-income trap,” the inability to arise out of an economy based on cheap labor and low-technology manufacturing methods to value-added knowledge-intensive and innovation-based manufacturing for both domestic consumption and export,” EuroCham Executive Director Matthias Dühn said.
EuroCham recommends the Government continue on all levels its efforts to raise awareness about the value of IPR protection, which is regarded as an incentive for many foreign companies to research and develop their products further for the benefit of consumers in the long run. Stricter enforcement of IPR also backs Vietnam’s shift towards creation and production of more quality products, and at the same time are of paramount importance for foreign investors in Vietnam.
Dühn said Vietnam had a good Intellectual Property Law and it should be enforced more rigidly by imposing maximum penalties on violations. “Often, the penalties on provincial levels are relatively low and so do not discourage people from stopping copycats because the money they make is much more than the money they pay for the penalties. This, in fact, often acts as an incentive to counterfeit products.”
Together with the progress in IPR, EuroCham proposes the Government continue its streamlining of administrative procedures to create a real investor-friendly environment. As a member of the Advisory Council for Administrative Procedures Reform (ACAPR), the organization has recognized some major achievements of Project 30 for procedure simplification, but emphasized that big challenges still lie ahead.
Cany and Dühn agreed that additional administrative procedures have arisen in 2010, counter-acting the good progress of Project 30. For instance, the effect of Circular 24/2010/TT-BCT on July 12, 2010 required importers of a large number of commodity imports to submit the automatic import license on customs clearance.
Dühn said as both the application and issuance of the automatic import license were required to be done by regular post/mail, an application was now likely to take an estimated 10 working days, a triple of the time required for the prior existing declaration requirement.
The Whitebook 2011 also raises concerns that the Government has passed Circular 122/2010/TT-BTC on price stabilization that went into effect on October 1. Dühn said this circular “is against the spirit and objectives of Project 30, and will add substantial administrative burdens and uncertainty to the private sector doing business in Vietnam, and also potentially prevent Vietnam from early graduation to market economy status under EU rules.”
These points are summed up in the Whitebook 2011 with the comment “that simplifying rather than increasing administrative burdens would attract more foreign investment."
EuroCham also said that to make Vietnam a better haven for foreign investors, the Government would have to upgrade the labor skills and productivity, and improve infrastructure and energy supply, with a view to better encouraging viable long-term public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
Equal importance is to continue improving the regulatory framework for investment, efficiently enforcing IPR regulations, and streamlining administrative reforms. EuroCham said structural changes for long-term economic growth should remain high on Vietnam’s agenda, particularly with regards to further equitizing state-owned enterprises.
Cany and Dühn agreed that Vietnam was more definitely on the radar screen of European companies, and 2011 should be a promising year for the country, at least in terms of growth. But, they maintained that Vietnam’s ability to sustain high long-term economic growth would depend on the Government’s quick reactions and solutions to the key issues.

Vietnam the first target for Seoul searchers

South Korea's most prestigious university wants to make Vietnam the location of its first overseas campus, part of an internationalisation strategy billed as putting "obligation and responsibility" above revenue streams.

Seoul National University

Seoul National University believes it can pass on academic expertise in development informed by South Korea's rapid transformation into an advanced market economy, presenting that as a motivation for its overseas-student recruitment and plans for a branch campus.

Junki Kim, Seoul National's dean of international affairs, pointed to the experience of South Korea, a nation with few natural resources, in making education a cornerstone of economic growth.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development forecasts that by 2025, South Korea will have the highest proportion of university graduates in the world - about 80 per cent of the population aged 25 to 44.

"When many of the developing nations are looking for ways in which they can improve through the learning process, we can provide that knowledge," Professor Kim said.

"When less developed nations are looking to drive their economies, where are they going to look? At the US and the UK? No, the gap is too huge."

He added that countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia needed "different patterns of growth. What they are looking for is an example like South Korea - where the state provides guidance and capital - and ways in which they can guide or develop a market economy."

Professor Kim said Vietnam had been "searching for ways to develop human resources in areas in which we have done relatively well", citing industries as diverse as medical services, IT, engineering and shipbuilding.

"In order to do so it needs human capital," he said. "We have been doing that - we have been providing very able people over the years."

He added that Seoul National would like to start the campus "modestly" by offering courses in development, public administration or public policy, and then gradually develop a full-scale outpost.

Professor Kim said that at South Korean universities, the rate at which tuition fees can increase is capped by the government, a rule that applies to both domestic and overseas students. This leaves little scope for charging overseas students higher fees, he added.

By contrast, he recalled a representative of the University of California, Los Angeles discussing the recruitment of overseas students to "fill the gap" left by California's budgetary crisis and declining state funding.

"We can't do that," he said. "Also, our business model is different. We are attracting overseas students as part of our obligation and responsibility to developing nations."

Professor Kim added that in terms of links with overseas universities, "the UK is the area in which we are lacking". His comments coincided with a visit to South Korea by pro vice-chancellors from five UK universities, organised by the British Council.

Vietnam's Saint Giong Festival receives UNESCO cultural heritage status

Vietnam’s Saint Giong Festival was among 46 other candidates recognised as world intangible cultural heritages on November 16.

By now Vietnam has had 6 world intangible cultural heritages.

The Saint Giong Festival is a unique tradition in Vietnam, held annually from the 6th-12th of the fourth lunar month at Phu Dong Temple (in Gia Lam District) and Soc Temple (Soc Son District) in Hanoi. The festival commemorates the legendary folk hero who grew from a three-year-old child into a giant overnight to help drive out invaders from the country.
The festival is a chance for visitors to watch the performance of traditional rituals and artistic activities which have been handed down from generation to generation.
The list of 47 new world intangible cultural heritages were announced at the 5th section of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritages in Nairobi, Kenya.
Among 147 nominations from 32 countries for recognition as world intangible cultural heritage status were submitted to UNESCO in 2010, 54 were selected for the 2nd round.
However, at the meeting held in Nairobi from November 15-19, only 47 nominations from 29 countries won the recognition. These new world intangible cultural heritages include 6 traditional handicrafts, 12 festivals, 6 traditional know-hows, 20 performing arts, and 3 traditional cuisines.
By now, 212 heritages from 106 countries have been recognised as world intangible cultural heritages. Vietnam has 6 heritages on this list. They include: Hue royal court music, Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) gong culture, the Bac Ninh love duet singing, the Thang Long Royal Citadel, the 82 doctoral stone steles in the temple of literature and now, the Saint Giong Festival.