My first impression of Hanoi was that it was a charming city with its the French Asian fusion architecture, cafes and tree lined streets. Yet, it's also very confusing. Traffic laws don't seem to matter, cars and motorbikes come within inches of each other regularly and the sound of the city is a cacophony of car horns. Hanoi is also confidential and secretive. There are private courtyards, high walls and hushed conversations. Why does this matter? Because while these attributes describe the city, they also describe my experience investigating FDI here.
I have met with many government officials, business leaders and company advisors. They were all very kind to spend time with me before the Vietnamese holiday and shared a lot with me about their jobs. They were very nice, charming even, but I found many of the conversations confusing. One conversation began not with a discussion about Vietnam, but a long speech about why Singapore's success was not sustainable. Another told me I really needed to spend a lot more time studying the last twenty-five years of Vietnam's economic history to be able to understand FDI in Vietnam. Still another spent over thirty minutes of our hour together trying to get the most specific details about who funded the Eisenhower Fellowships. I later found out from a long term foreign resident of Vietnam that this individual was actually in the secret police. Almost every meeting had a person in attendance, typically not introduced, whose sole job seemed to be to take copious notes. In one meeting, anytime I asked a "tougher" question, like about what hasn't worked in Vietnam, the note taker would grin widely while the person answered. Most important, unfortunately most of those with whom I met asked that I not attribute any comments to them. So my discussions were also confidential. Thus, my blog entry today is unusually brief, but i'll conclude by including a photograph of a charming building in Hanoi. It may be confusing as to whether it's a private residence or government office, but I won't tell -- it's confidential.
I have met with many government officials, business leaders and company advisors. They were all very kind to spend time with me before the Vietnamese holiday and shared a lot with me about their jobs. They were very nice, charming even, but I found many of the conversations confusing. One conversation began not with a discussion about Vietnam, but a long speech about why Singapore's success was not sustainable. Another told me I really needed to spend a lot more time studying the last twenty-five years of Vietnam's economic history to be able to understand FDI in Vietnam. Still another spent over thirty minutes of our hour together trying to get the most specific details about who funded the Eisenhower Fellowships. I later found out from a long term foreign resident of Vietnam that this individual was actually in the secret police. Almost every meeting had a person in attendance, typically not introduced, whose sole job seemed to be to take copious notes. In one meeting, anytime I asked a "tougher" question, like about what hasn't worked in Vietnam, the note taker would grin widely while the person answered. Most important, unfortunately most of those with whom I met asked that I not attribute any comments to them. So my discussions were also confidential. Thus, my blog entry today is unusually brief, but i'll conclude by including a photograph of a charming building in Hanoi. It may be confusing as to whether it's a private residence or government office, but I won't tell -- it's confidential.
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