[Vnbiz] riding roughshod

[Craig Stevenson]

*Section: *FINAL WORD

"Focus on the eyes, make sure they have your attention, then start to move.
Don't blink and they should go around you." This, according to a local based
investment manager, is the secret to crossing a road in Ho Chi Minh City,
the commercial and business hub in the south of *Vietnam*.

Sounds simple enough, but factor into the equation that the city's seven
million inhabitants now own four million mopeds and scooters and it becomes
much more complicated. Add to this the quirky, some would say dangerous,
fact that Ho Chi Minh City's motorised vehicles are also seemingly incapable
of stopping for anyone and anything - red lights, junctions and oncoming
wagons are viewed as mere curiosities rather than actual obstructions - it
makes it just that bit tougher to be able to stroll across the street for a
glance in the new Dolce & Gabbana, Milano and Clariden stores.

"I still don't understand why they can't wait for a red light for 30
seconds," laments one expatriate worker. "They can't all be that bloody
late." In response, a local banker and avid supporter of the moped rider,
being one himself, counters such a naïve view by pointing out that if he
were to stop when riding his bike it would only cause an accident. "If you
are thinking about stopping at traffic lights, then don't. Somebody will end
up ploughing into the back of you because they won't be expecting you to
obey the law," he says.

The traffic is, of course, only going to get worse. *Vietnam's* GDP grew by
an impressive 8.4% during 2005 but the country is chasing even more
aggressive growth, which will put more money in the pocket of the man on the
street "You can see the direction of the country just by looking at the
streets," says one fund manager as he looks down from the swanky new Park
Hyatt Hotel on the jammed roads below.

According to this fund manager the first time the country had a traffic jam
- which was surprisingly recent - it was hailed as a success and proof that
*Vietnam* was moving rapidly along the hallowed expressway of development.
*MEANDERING MOVEMENTS
*<http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/ehost/detail?vid=77&hid=116&sid=42dae0b1-bce7-47c5-9fc5-bd49485f5468%40sessionmgr102#toc>

But not all comparisons between the traffic and *Vietnam's* strong economic
growth story are positive. According to members of the country's small but
developing financial and business consultancy community, the often
directionless way the Vietnamese ride their bikes is a reflection of the way
the government runs some of its companies.

"Talking to the state-owned banks about their business is very difficult,"
says one. "They are only interested in their local market; what their
competitors are up to down the road, copying what their competitor down the
road is doing, and not having any other sense of direction or strategy."

Looking out of a taxi window on a Sunday evening, the mopeds are loaded up
with families taking the night air. And apart from terrorizing the odd
pedestrian, most don't appear to be going anywhere in particular.

>From this huge surge in demand for faster, more powerful transport, however,
there are definite winners. Yamaha and Honda have been quick to take
advantage of Ho Chi Minh City's growing need for speed. They are boasting
record sales for their products and, according to Honda, the Vietnamese
bought just under 400,000 of their bikes in the first half of this year,
with the strong sales set to continue.

The story, however, is not so bullish for some of the manufacturers of the
cheaper two-wheeled family and business carriers. Of the 2.5 million units
sold last year, the lesser valued brands have slumped, in some cases by as
much as 30% on last year. *Vietnam's* consumers, it seems, are finally
getting choosey. They believe the Japanese brands have cache and price is
becoming less of a factor as they turn away from bikes that have a
reputation for breaking down more regularly than Bob Hawk, Australia's
rather emotional ex-prime minister.

Unfortunately for *Vietnam*, with traffic volumes being hailed, so too is
the gunk being chucked into the air. "You call it pollution, we call it
progress," proclaims one Ho Chi Minh City resident.

Luckily for the city's inhabitants, the government is not taking such a
laissez-faire approach to the problem of pollution from its manufacturing
sector. While they aren't actually making a significant effort to reduce the
excretions of filth, they are implementing a very socialist solution; they
are letting other parts of the country share in the dirt.

According to local press reports the Ho Chi Minh City People's committee has
managed to shift 1,190 polluting factories out of the city into the
countryside. Just 208 remain in the city, with 158 of these promising to be
out by the end of this year, and a further 18 out sometime next. Evidently
the city's residents aren't the only people getting on their bikes; the
manufacturers are too.

editorial at asiamoney.com
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