Week 10 -- Kristina Nguyen

Vietnam's rate of growth (slow for what they produce) and the labor productivity growth is due to three reasons: first, "the presence of surplus labor in the rural sector means that labor can be redeployed from agriculture to higher productivity industrial jobs without decreasing agricultural output." Secondly, "manufacturing is uniquely capable of delivering economies of scale through specialization and technological learning." Finally, "rapid growth of output stimulates the development of downstream industries that process manufactured goods and upstream industries that produce capital goods" (Pincus 27). A term is used to "describe the mobilization of underutilized land and labor for export production" called "vent for surplus" which he deems as "pivotal to Southeast Asian development" (27). I feel this term resonates well with Vietnam because the Vietnamese have a lot of land that can potentially produce many great products. In this article by Pincus, they describe that "coffee and fish export growth ... increase[d] at average annual rates of 15 to 23 percent ... over the twenty year period from 1992," however, "Vietnam's small farmers have proven more adept at increasing volumes than improving quality" (30). To start, I feel that Vietnam's coffee produce and rice produce reflects Vietnam's national aesthetics. Rice and Vietnamese coffee are a staple in every Vietnamese household, and it is a really big let down to know that Vietnam is able to shell out, hypothetically, twice as many rice and coffee products than improve on quality. I know that many people are a big fan of Vietnamese coffee, so to improve the quality of coffee beans is of utmost importance especially because Vietnamese coffee is well-known to other ethnic groups. In general, improving quality of the produce that Vietnam is exporting is a really good start for Vietnam's rebranding because then people who buy the coffee beans or rice will be able to say "This is imported straight from Vietnam!" and people would be glad for it. I feel that the Vietnamese themselves and the overseas Vietnamese would be able to facilitate Vietnam's development, and to also help foresee Vietnam's national branding.

How to traditionally make Vietnamese coffee with a drip-brewer.
Source: https://eatlittlebird.com/how-to-make-vietnamese-coffee/

Works Cited:

Pincus, Jonathan. "Why Doesn't Vietnam Grow Faster?: State Fragmentation and the Limits of Vent for Surplus Growth." Journal of Southeast Asian Economies (JSEAE) 32.1 (2015): 26-51.