Ironically, COMMUNIST Vietnam Continues Improving FDI Conditions, vs. DEMOCRATIC Philippines

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Vietnam National University

It's crazy how people don't realize the bigger picture between Communist Vietnam and the democratic Philippines (read here). It's really crazy how Senator Joseph Victor Gomez Ejercito apparently thinks that delayed proceedings to Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio's impeachment trial could scare away FDIs. Meanwhile, Atty. Renee Louise Co of Kabataan Partylist could talk about economics, all the while Kabataan Partylist is still against open FDI. It's amazing how Raoul Abellar Manuel, a cumlaude in applied mathematics, still believes in #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics!

Meanwhile, the biggest picture is that Communist Vietnam, while it's under a One-Party State of the Communist Party of Vietnam, is has the better picture of how to invite FDIs. In fact, the Constitution of Vietnam is rather silent on economic restrictions. The CPV chooses to impose economic restrictions through legislation rather than enshrining them in its Constitution. A far cry from the Philippines, where Article XII of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines has hard-coded economic restrictions, making it more difficult to make adjustments. Sometimes, you need a certain degree of protectionism when the economy overheats. It's like pass a temporal measure to slow down an overheating economy. Remove said restriction when necessary. Why make it so difficult?

From the Vietnam Investment Review, this is the next plan by the CPV, to increase FDI, something that apologists for the Communist Party of the Philippines are doing:
According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), in order for Vietnam to become a developed nation by 2045, the country will “carry out selective mobilisation of FDI, with priority placed on bringing in ventures involving high-end technologies and innovation, embracing added value and environmental sustainability, rather than focusing on numbers alone”.

FDI from Vietnam’s strategic partners, including the G7, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the US, and the EU, will be a key target, and these sources will be closely tied to industries that Vietnam is prioritising, Minister Thang stressed at a recent Q&A session at the National Assembly (NA).

“Amid intense strategic competition among global economies, Vietnam is formulating a new strategy for aligning this capital with sustainable development,” he said.

Vietnam’s strategy for competing internationally will shift from offering tax breaks to enhancing the overall quality of the domestic business climate and its supporting sectors, placing strong emphasis on infrastructure for industrial zones and economic areas.

Furthermore, the government will also provide foreign-invested enterprises with stable power supply, available land, and a highly skilled workforce, while streamlining procedures after licences are granted. These efforts aim to reduce the lead time for implementation.

“In addition, the MoF is drafting new regulations to establish a number of specialised industrial areas dedicated to AI development and some smart complexes, in order to improve the level of technical sophistication in FDI sectors and generate spillover benefits for domestic businesses,” Minister Thang stated.

Several incentives have been introduced for such investors. For example, on June 14, the NA adopted the revised Law on Corporate Income Tax (CIT), which was prepared by the MoF, offering preferential treatment to a range of enterprises and initiatives.

The revised law stated that professions and sectors eligible for a 10 per cent CIT rate within the first 15 years from launch include application of advanced technologies listed in the government’s priority portfolio, high-tech incubation, and construction and operation of related incubator facilities.

Also eligible are the development of software and critical IT products; cybersecurity goods and services; construction of AI data hubs; and research and design as well as production, packaging, and testing of semiconductor chips.

Incentives also apply to output from supporting industries for textiles and garments, leather and footwear, electronics and informatics, vehicle manufacturing and assembly, and precision engineering.

The mere mention of Singapore could trigger Flor Contemplacion Crybabies (read here). Migrante International still holds on the old narrative that Flor was a victim of injustice in Singapore. It's probabe that these groups are against FDIs merely out of a Guilt by Association fallacy. It's to say something is evil just because someone does it, rather than because it's evil. Probably, groups like Migrante International, Kabataan Partylist, and the League of Filipino Students are against open FDI, as Singapore practices it. There's still all that sentimentalism over Flor's death, never mind that the Singaporean courts are far more effective than the Philippine courts!

This would be in contrast to the flat-out lie made by the Gen-Z administrators of the defunct Philippine Anti-Fascist League Facebook page. They say they're simply "forced to participate in capitalism" to survive. The claim was this:

Vietnam won the revolution, and they had a national industrialization and agrarian reform. What Vietnam's "Open FDI" means that the koriktor (a mockery of Corrector) actually means is that, those are finished products that are sold in the world market.

Meanwhile, in the Philippines, we don't have industries meaning that if it's open FDI here in the Philippines, our raw materials will be consumed by the greedy foreigners.

As always, I will apologize in advance if I ever put anything that's not in English. As a Filipino, I would learn Tagalog by default! Back on topic, it reminds me of some talk that Kathy Yap Yang of ABS-CBN. If I'm not wrong, Kathy raised the question of why investors prefer to invest in Vietnam when the Philippines is freer. True, the Philippines has more freedom of speech compared to Vietnam. Vietnam is run by a One-Party State, which is run by the CPV. A Communist party always carries a negative vibe to people living in free countries. One could think of Ho Chi Minh, who was documented to have had a brutal regime. One could think of the Tiananmen Square Massacre in Beijing. However, think that Vietnam is still getting more FDI, despite the Philippines being a supposedly freer country!

One must always ask, "Why is Communist Vietnam ironically economically freer than the Philippines?" Has the Philippines overly prioritized economics over freedom and discipline over democracy? Democracy and freedom are good. However, what's the use of the Philippines celebrating itself as a bastion of democracy, when its economic policies, barely give economic freedom?! 

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