[Vnbiz] Vietkieu Policies

Tue Feb 12 11:29:09 PST 2008

Dear Thanh An & CACC,

Thanks for the good posting, Thanh An.  Let's me provide some quick
response, not to form a policy, but to provide an analytical framework for
policy thinking purposes.

1.  Vietkieu salary for government position:  Let's assume that
Vietkieu will have some position with the government and such position may
need acceptable salary to attract Vietkieu.  That means, a Vietkieu will
have a higher payment then a national of the same position?  Say, if the
position of Director of Housing of Hanoi, if a national takes that post, he
will get X dollars per year, but if that the Vietkieu then he will get X
dollars plus Y dollars per year?

That kinds of discriminatory policy will surely break things instead of help
things.  Whoever Vietkieu will take that kind of position is simply stupid,
because he won't be able to work with anyone around him with all the
resentment going on.
But right now there are many positions in many internationally funded
projects that pay higher salary. These positions may be filled by nationals,
or expats, or Vietkieus, depending on experience.  That is the "market" for
skill labor that I alluded to in my previous message. Let's just rely on
this existing market instead of coming up with a discriminatory salary
scheme.

2.  I think if every Vietkieu has the right to buy his own home or rent his
own home without being charged a "Vietkieu price"  (the current policy has
too many requirements for Vietkieu to own a home.  A better policy is to
allow every Vietkieu to own one home whether he is doing anythying in
Vietnam or not, that would eventually take many Vietkieu back to the
motherland).

Every Vietkieu should be able to stay in Vietnam as long as he want and not
worrying about visa (this is now available with the Visa Exemption
Certificate that is good for 5 years).

Vietkieu should be able to go everywhere without being charged a Vietkieu
price, worship everywhere without being harassed.

Vietkieu should be able to stay anywhere without all kinds of reporting.

Vietkieu can talk freely in private without being harass (I love to talk
to my friends about Buddhism and Jesus, and I usually give them a copy of
the Bible or some Buddhist writing, because I just love to share with my
friends what I love, and I don't want some idiot to harass me for "doing
religious propagation without a license").

(Public speaking may face some restrictions or licensing for security
and public order, I agree.  But I am talking about private talk among
friends here).

So when I am talking about "environment" I am talking about the "mental and
spiritual environment."  I am not talking about physical environment.  If a
Vietkieu wants to have a mansion with leading-edge amenities, he just has to
build it himself, the government shouldn't have to worry about it.  If he
stays in Vietnam he just has to put up with the road conditions and zillions
of scooters like everyone else.

So the formula is very simple:  Treat Vietkieu as any Vietnamese citizen,
then they will feel at home.  It is that simple.

Of course, there may be some restrictions of citizen rights for Vietkieu
because of their long-distant status, but the key point is simple:  Treat
them like Vietnamese, and not foreigner.  How much more simple would it
take?

Have a great day!
Hoanh
On Feb 12, 2008 1:34 PM, Pham Thi Thanh An <thanhan2505 at gmail.com> wrote:

> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
>  Dear A. Hoanh and all,
>
>
>
> Just a few quick reactions on your latest post:
>
>
>
>    1. I guess the salary issue is could still be a relevant question
>    for the public sector, since the private sector has definitely been
>    functioning based on the market rules whether employees are local
>    Vietnamese, foreigners or Vietkieu. Now what happens if a Vietkieu wants to
>    work for a Government agencies or a state-funded research institution? To
>    what extent the current salary framework will prevent them from taking the
>    positions could be a relevant GOV policy question.
>    2. Having said this, I think salary is only one among many important
>    issues to be thought through in designing GOV policy to attract Vietkieu
>    talents, including housing, recruitment and promotion policies, inter alia,
>    and all of them have to go together in the same direction. If I was to
>    design such policies, I would start by asking three questions: 1. what are
>    the incentives for Vietkieu to come home and work; 2. what do they need as
>    a.desirable and b.acceptable working and living conditions; and 3.
>    what are the order of importance and priorities for Vietkieu within this
>    broad set of conditions. I guess answering these questions would help the
>    development of a list of things to do for the GOV in various areas in terms
>    of removing current economic, social, administrative and even ideological
>    barriers and creating an enabling environment for drawing home this
>    valuable, yet very much undertapped source of the nation's human capital,
>    ranging from visa, passport to housing, salary, working conditions, among
>    others.
>    3. Even though I am not entirely happy with the current pace of
>    changes in this important area of Vietkieu policy, I guess somehow we need
>    to acknowledge the long way the GOV has gone through in being where it is
>    today. A couple of days ago, I heard from one senior MOFA member that the
>    dual citizenship for Vietkieu had been put on the table for discussion. In
>    the areas of housing, moving from allowing Vietkieu to buy houses might be
>    just one initial step to further future liberalisation in this sphere.
>    4. All changes in behaviours need to come from changes in mindset. I
>    guess we have gone through the most difficult stage in that process of
>    digging away the elements of doubts and untrust burdening on both sides by
>    the historical contexts. Whilst even this step can be arguably not yet fully
>    complete, the trend is clearly irreverable. Now the question is more how to
>    translate such momentum of changes in the mindset into practical effective
>    policies that can fuel the homebound inflows of Vietkieu intellectual
>    resources for the economic and social development of the nation.
>
>
>
> I will be curious to learn from some Vietkieu brothers and sisters on this
> forum on some of these thoughts of mine, especially the 3 questions that I
> raised earlier.
>
>
>
> Happy New Year to you all!
>
>
>
> Thanh An
>
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
> Washington DC
>
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