Hanoi, Vietnam – Vuong Cam Van, a marketing manager at a private food company here, could receive four months’ paid maternity leave after giving birth in a few weeks.
But the 28-year-old says she will rush back to her job after a month.
Blame it on the WTO.
With Vietnam expected to join the World Trade Organization in the fall, companies and individuals are scrambling to prepare for economic upheaval. Some enterprises, such as Vietnam’s state-owned telecommunications giant, are gearing up for mass layoffs.
But many Vietnamese see a golden opportunity ahead. They are polishing their résumés and taking crash courses in hopes of contending – and flourishing – in a more open economy.
Vuong’s employer, Trung Thanh Co., for the first time sent managers abroad to learn how Chinese and Japanese companies distribute their food products nationwide. Vuong recently completed six months of studies on business law.
There’s too much to do to take a longer leave, Vuong said.
“The WTO forces us to compete,” she said, moving gingerly in the company’s office on the southern outskirts of the city.
For this nation of 84 million people, the WTO could provide the biggest economic test since Hanoi introduced doi moi in 1986. That policy of “renovation” dismantled collective farms and opened up trade, setting the socialist country on a path toward market reforms much like its northern neighbor, China.
Vietnamese leaders want to secure their WTO bid by November, when they host President Bush and Asian leaders for this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Together, APEC and WTO are seen here as Vietnam’s coming-out party.
Although membership in the 149-nation trading body will open up markets for Vietnam, it also will require the nation to remove barriers to foreign companies in banking, retail and other industries.
“My single biggest fear is Vietnamese competitiveness,” said Tran Dinh Thien, associate professor at the Vietnam Institute of Economics, a state-run think tank. “The problem is, how do we compete with other, stronger countries? How do we take advantage of the opportunities?”
Despite problems with corruption and political restrictions, Vietnam’s economy expanded by 8.4 percent last year, the best growth rate in Asia behind China. Private enterprises are rising rapidly, and the country is racing to build roads and airports.
Vietnam has a highly educated workforce and a large pool of young workers. Six out of 10 Vietnamese were born after 1975.
