VietNamNet Bridge – International “crocodiles” are waiting for Vietnamese businesses to weaken and are ready to “take actions” to buy the businesses at a reduced price, said Professor Phan Van Truong, a world renowned economist and businessman.

A Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) intellectual, Professor Phan Van Truong, shared his worries about socio-economic problems in an interview with to Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon,. Truong is the international trade advisor to the Government of France, and once undertook the posts of the Asian President of GEC - Alsthom International, President and CEO of Lyonnaise - des - Eaux SEA in Malaysia.

The national economy needs growth to develop. Doing business not only can enrich individuals but also an entire society. What do you think about this viewpoint?

I think that we are living in a “period of growth”, but we are not actually developing. Some communities are degrading and they are not progressing. When I say that I’m thinking about rural areas and the agricultural economy. It is clear that the growth has benefited some groups of interests. As a result, within one minute any one in the specified groups of interests can spend assets that rural residents have to save for years. That’s not good.

I don’t think that people all need to be equally poor or rich. I wish to see many rich people. However, the humongous gap between the rich and the poor will lead to disunity. Our society needs to be united and unity does not mean “divided equally”, but “fair”

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Over the past 40 years you were managing many big corporations around the world. What do you think about Vietnamese enterprises?

When I askVietnamese enterprises where their enterprises will go after they attain such growth rates, they say that the stable annual growth will be enough to make them happy. Risk proves to be an equivocal concept for Vietnamese enterprises, while 99 percent of companies in developed economies always pay attention to this in a scientific and objective way.

So, do you think that Vietnamese enterprises are capable enough to make right and reasonable decisions before “international crocodiles”?

I have to say that international “crocodiles” are waiting for Vietnamese businesses to weaken and will “take actions” to buy the businesses at a reduced price. When I managed a big French group, I swallowed many companies from Spain, Belgium, the US, the UK, Republic of Korea and Thailand. So this behavior is not strange to me at all.

Therefore, I think that we should still develop Vinashin into one of the biggest corporations in the world. However, the problem is that we still cannot find the persons who can lead Vinashin on the path to internationalization.

Why do we need to develop Vinashin into one of the biggest corporations? Is it because of the national pride?

No, it is anindustrial strategy. Only when we have corporations ranked first or the second in the world can we be firm on our feet and gain the confidence of international clients. If so, we will not be swallowed and will be able to dominate the market. However, in order to do that, we need to find world class personnel, from Presidents to engineers, not just Vietnam’s first class personnel.

Vietnamese enterprises should have long term vision, and should not be satisfied just with annual growth. For example, we should set a goal that we need to rank fourth after two years, and second after five years.

You once worked in many countries and you interacted with different economies and cultures. What do you think about the gap between other countries and Vietnam?

When I was in Singapore, I was asked why Vietnam is still on ranked low in the world, even though Vietnam is rich in natural resources. They said 60 years ago, their country was just a fishing village, while Vietnam was a powerful nation.

When I was in South Korea, I heard that in 1950s, Vietnam and South Korea were at the same level of development, but Vietnam was richer than South Korea in natural resources.

I say that it is because Vietnam spent many years fighting a war for independence. However, my argument doesn’t seem to be convincing enough.

Source: Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon