Vietnam at the Crossroads by Gregory Mantsios

 Post-War Setting
 Saigon – Coca-Cola billboard
 Paula Rothenberg: “I thought US capitalism lost the war in Vietnam”
 World Bank: Vietnam had a higher level of foreign investment than in any Asian country
 Nike (Philip Knight) – it went to Vietnam instead of Indonesia
 Mantsios as a traveler/scholar/member of delegations hosted by VGCL
 VGCL – Vietnamese General Confederation of Labor
 Chau Nhat Binh – a war veteran, deputy director of international affairs in VGCL
 French Indochina War – North (communist) and South
 Americans as interventionists and disruptor of the unification of the North and South
 War torn Vietnam (Agent Orange and landmines)
 Pragmatism
 Doi – Moi = Renovation
 China Plus One
 High Gini Coefficients in Vietnam (indicates inequality)
 Single-Party State
1. President
2. Communist Party Leader
3. Prime Minister
4. National Assembly
 Significance of the Vietnamese Labor Association

Navigating the Economic Reform Process by Nick Freeman

 Myanmar – the last major “frontier” market in the South and Southeast Asia
 Low Hanging Fruit: initiatives that can easily be attained with benefits
 Dutch Disease: when a country suddenly encounters a large inflow of capital, whether from
resource exploration and production, or other forms of foreign investment, a booming sector,
or even development spending, which then renders other important parts of the economy
uncompetitive.
 UNDP – United Nations Development Programme
 UNDP’s Human Development Index
 Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom
 World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index
 Myanmar Inc.
 Biz-15 – Earlier practices of allocating businesses licenses in particularly lucrative sectors to
a relatively small number of well-connected companies and individuals
 Biz-15 – well established patronage networks
 Thein Sein – President of Myanmar 2011
 Kyat – the currency
 UMEHL – Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd.
 UMEHL – a monopoly on edible oil and vehicle imports (this is one of the dismantled
monopolies for economic equality)
 National League for Democracy (NLD) – this is where the former elite made gentle
introductions to find a re-positioning by gaining seats in parliament and hedging their bets.
 Stuart Larkin – the Biz-15 could play a key role in lifting the rate of change that is acceptable
to the ruling class of serving and retired military officers without precipitating disastrous
reversals.
 Long-term interest of Biz-15: to support and not to oppose the economic reform and business
liberalization efforts
 Reforms (themes):
1. Tackle corruption
2. The need for wide-ranging and substantial institutional capacity-building, which
requires time and a multidimensional approach (extends beyond agencies and envelop
professions and service providers needed by the citizen and the business community)
3. The need to improve a host of physical infra, utilities and public services.
4. Keep up the reform momentum
5. The process of legislative and regulatory revisions will need to continue, including an
updated company law as well as new laws currently being drafted for consumer
protection, intellectual property, labor, business competition, contracts and
arbitration, etc.
 6. The vast majority of business conducted in Myanmar emanates from small and
medium sized enterprises (SME) – a common phenomenon in transitional countries
 CSR – corporate social responsibility
