RMG: Vietnam overtakes Bangladesh but the game is not over

[Viet]

Agreed on some of your points, and I want to interject too, for specific reasons, you can see below.

You are right on some of these points, but the whole story is a bit different.

- On some points Vietnam is strong, on some we are as well. But industrial scenario in Vietnam and Bangladesh are different.

- We have a larger population (170m vs. 98m for Vietnam) and a huge internal market and labor pool (even for apparel). That is the reason why we have a large backward integration factor (AFAIK), making inputs like fabric cheaper and quicker to produce for apparel (no need for 3 weeks sea freight or opening a back-to-back L/C).

- Environmental protection is indeed lax in Bangladesh for some sectors, but EU markets will not accept products from apparel factories which discharge effluents directly into groundwater or river water. As a result, most washing and dyeing equipped factories in Bangladesh have to have ETP or Effluent Treatment Plants. This is a prerequisite and a must for exporting to EU buyers (like H&M for example).

- Bangladesh boasts LEED certified eco-friendly green-building factories. Seven out of ten of the world's best LEED factories are located in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a leader in this area and newer factories all have solar roof installations for captive power supplying their partial needs.

- Business environment is constantly improving. All you have to do nowadays is contact BIDA (with one stop service), they will do the rest. http://bida.gov.bd/

- Regarding power, Bangladesh national grid has an installed capacity of 21,419 MW as of September 2019. The total installed capacity is 20,000 MW (combining solar power) and we are a power surplus nation by far. Bangladesh's energy sector is booming, by 2025 we will have half a dozen large plants with 2500 MW+ capacity, which should meet any industrial needs we come up with. We were just informed (see the thread here on top) by the Bangladesh power ministry that 100% of rural Bangladesh should have electrical connectivity by year-end. Per capita electricity consumption is however low because Bangladesh has not gone into power hungry industries (steel and aluminum smelters, forging, glassmaking etc.) like some neighboring countries, we import most of those items for our needs.

- Most of the industrial investment in Bangladesh so far has been floated by internal Bangladeshi investors and conglomerates, although some FDI has come in. The govt. floated a plan for Asia's largest free trade zone recently (At a place called Mirsarai and 30,000 acres in area), and over 60% of the investors in that zone (land allottees) are local conglomerates, and most of those are non-apparel investments, such as auto parts, light engg. etc.

bangabandhu sheikh mujib Shilpa Nagar Master Plan « BEZA

Making ICBM is a dead-end. ICBM's cannot be broken up and eaten like rice....

Vietnam has ballistic missiles similar to North Korea some years ago. But you are right we can’t eat them when hungry. I rather want to see us to make industrial goods. To say bluntly we want to flood the world with cheap “made in VN” products similar to the way the chinese flood with cheap “made in CN” products.
Competition is good.

 

[Bilal9]

Vietnam has ballistic missiles similar to North Korea some years ago. But you are right we can’t eat them when hungry. I rather want to see us to make industrial goods. To say bluntly we want to flood the world with cheap “made in VN” products similar to the way the chinese flood with cheap “made in CN” products.

Good point, but If you don't mind my suggestion, I would not use the word 'cheap', it has bad connotation in English. Means shoddy product not worth buying.

I'd use the word 'inexpensive', which means good/reasonable quality item still priced reasonably.

 

[IblinI]

Vietnam has ballistic missiles similar to North Korea some years ago.

To be exact, "Vietnam has Soviet scud missiles", and no, there is no comparison between Vietnam ballistic missile force which only possessed some two dozen short range scud and NK force with all types of ballistic missiles .

 

[Viet]

To be exact, "Vietnam has Soviet scud missiles", and no, there is no comparison between Vietnam ballistic missile force which only possessed some two dozen short range scud and NK force with all types of ballistic missiles .

Missiles are nothing special it’s just physics. The Hamas can build it. If I am not mistaken Vietnam had it during the war against the Ming. That’s long ago. If we had put money and effort we could do similar to the Koreans. Not good, we would face sanctions. And more tensions with China. Making a car is more difficult.

 

[IblinI]

Missiles are nothing special it’s just physics. The Hamas can build it. If I am not mistaken Vietnam had it during the war against the Ming. That’s long ago. If we had put money and effort we could do similar to the Koreans. Not good, we would face sanctions. And more tensions with China. Making a car is more difficult.

expected replied from a sensational Mr Viet.

 

[MH.Yang]

Missiles are nothing special it’s just physics. The Hamas can build it. If I am not mistaken Vietnam had it during the war against the Ming. That’s long ago. If we had put money and effort we could do similar to the Koreans. Not good, we would face sanctions. And more tensions with China. Making a car is more difficult.

Sometimes we look at the Vietnamese as if they were reflections in the water. The Vietnamese way of thinking is too like Chinese that we can easily guess what they are thinking. Similarly, I think Vietnamese know Han people too much. Frankly, we don't like it.

I believe Vietnam will not make ICBM. You don't need it in the near future, because ICBM can't solve the South China Sea problem. You know China will not invade Vietnam, and ICBM is not needed to defend other neighbors.

Of course you want to make car, because this may be the only way you can avoid the middle-income trap. You will not be willing to be only a middle-income country. and the roads such as electronics, network, artificial intelligence and etc are too crowded. It's practical to learn how to build cars like Korea, ans you can easily get technology and investment from the north.