What to do to prosper together with China? - The story of ant and elephant

Published: 20/12/2010 05:00

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The rise of China as the second biggest economy in the
world is really a big challenge, but this also should be seen as the opportunity
fo Vietnam to prosper, many Vietnamese people think

The rise of China as the second biggest economy in the
world is really a big challenge, but this also should be seen as the opportunity
fo Vietnam to prosper, many Vietnamese people think


After VietNamNet published the article “What
should Vietnam do to prosper next to the giant China, a lot of readers have
emailed the editorial board, writing that the rise of China is a big challenge
for Vietnam, but should also be seen as an opportunity. “If Vietnam has both
feet on the ground, it will win,” they wrote.

The story of ants stinging elephant

Commenting on the relation with the neighbouring giant, Nguyen Gia Hao, one of
the readers, recalled the allegory about the ants and elephant.

Despite being small, the ants by crawling into the elephant’s ears were able to
sting it, causing the elephant to growl in pain. The elephant shook the leaves
before eating them, but some ants were still able to sneak into its stomach and
bite it. Normally, the elephant would fight with the monkey over fruit. However,
having been bitten by ants, it had to give up , because only the monkey could
help the elephant to ease the pain by gently patting it on the back.

In the real world, small countries have to continue to exist next to bigger
countries. And they need to make friends and cooperate with many other countries
in order to build their strength and gain the respect from bigger countries. The
cooperation helps the world maintain peace and stability.

Small countries should understand their conditions well, but they should also
understand that they have their own strengths. Small countries should not have
any inferiority complexes. On the contrary, they need to bring up the national
pride and behave wisely.

Agreeing with Nguyen Gia Hao, many other VietNamNet’s readers think that Vietnam
needs to develop key industries and apply the Japanese “flying geese” model.
“The development of key industries will bring about the development of other
industries, thus having positive impacts on the national economy,” wrote another
reader, Dangdinhquynh.

Meanwhile, ToiyeuVN emphasized that Vietnam needs to understand the weak and
strong points of every country, especially of its closest partners.

“China has been studying Vietnam and Vietnamese enterprises very thoroughly. Why
do we still have only a vague knowledge about Chinese enterprises?” he
questioned.

bababa1972, believes that Vietnamese enterprises should make the products that
Chinese consumers need and keep their original values, instead of trying to
compete with China in making cheap products, because when it comes to making low
cost products, no other country in the world can do better than China .

“It is necessary that the exporters unite in order to create reasonable
policies. It is necessary to export processed products instead of exporting raw
material,” he stressed.

Another reader, named Hanh, has suggested that the Government should introduce
non-tariff barriers in order to prevent cheap and low-quality Chinese products
from flowing into Vietnam. At the same time, the Government should strongly
encourage enterprises to boost exports to China (by reducing taxes and assisting
them in popularizing their brands in China).

“China is a big market with 1.3 billion people, with the growing living
standards. Therefore, the consumption demand has been increasing. If Vietnamese
enterprises have reasonable policies, they will be able to take full advantage
of the development of China,” Hanh said.

A “clean” apparatus needed

Most readers agree that the impressive development of China in the last decades
has been the result of many great efforts.

Reader Ninh Khac Thanh believes that China began preparing for its development
right in the early 1970s, and that the country has been following the
development policies based on its people.

“The Government of China encouraged young people to go abroad to study and work.
After that, the country has been encouraging the talented people to return to
the home country to work, by creating best conditions for them,” Thanh said.

In order to do these things, Thanh believes, Chinese government has been trying
to “clean” itself. All officials and people who commit wrongdoings, have been
heavily punished. Many high ranking leaders have been condemned to death or life
sentence for their crimes.

Therefore, Thanh thinks that the important thing Vietnam needs to do now is to
improve the government apparatus. Only talented and virtuous people should be
chosen for the high positions.

Lan Huong

Provide by Vietnam Travel

What to do to prosper together with China? - The story of ant and elephant - International - News |  vietnam travel company

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