Lee Kuan Yew warns Vietnam about reforms<\/p>\n
HANOI (AFP): Singapore's senior minister Lee Kuan Yew strongly
\nwarned Vietnam about reversing its economic reforms Saturday and
\nsaid there was an urgent need to give better treatment to foreign
\ninvestors.<\/p>\n
The former Singaporean prime minister cautioned Vietnam
\nagainst isolationism and said during a news conference here he
\nhad told Vietnam's leaders that \"if you try and reverse, then you
\nare pulling the plug out from the international economy and you
\ngo back to the old Vietnam.\"<\/p>\n
He held up his own nation, the largest foreign investor in
\nVietnam with five billion dollars worth of projects, as a model
\nto emulate.<\/p>\n
\"I have explained that in Singapore we made sure that
\ninvestment doesn't fail, we make sure there are good industrial
\nconditions, good workers, power, infrastructure, shipping,
\ntelecoms, in order that it would succeed, and that is how we
\ngrew.\"<\/p>\n
If Singapore decided to isolate itself, \"we would go back to a
\nfishing village, it is as simple as that,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Lee, on a four-day visit, said \"you can't be a member of ASEAN
\nand try to run a different kind of economy, you would be left
\nbehind.\"<\/p>\n
Singapore and Vietnam are both members of the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which also groups Brunei, Burma,
\nIndonesia, Laos Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.<\/p>\n
\"Investors have not come here to reconstruct Vietnam, they
\nhave come here risking their capital, and they may lose all, on
\nthe expectation that the Vietnamese government will provide
\n(favorable) conditions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
As an example, he said Singapore investors should be able to
\n\"convert their profits into Singapore dollars, repatriate them,
\npay for various debts and raw material.\"<\/p>\n
If the Vietnamese continue economic policies that don't
\nencourage foreign investors, \"the exterior economy will come to a
\ngrinding halt.\"<\/p>\n
Lee said foreign investors in Vietnam should not be considered
\n\"hostages\" and added, \"they are killing them and this is bad news
\nfor future investment.\"<\/p>\n
Using Singapore's telecommunications industry as an example,
\nLee said, \"we have not only privatized, but invited foreign
\npartners to inject higher technology and better management.\"<\/p>\n
But Vietnam \"is going the other way, taking over the joint-
\nventures for Vietnam telecoms to own it themselves... they have
\nto look at the rest of the world.\"<\/p>\n
Lee also said the biggest problem for Hanoi \"is what they will
\ndo with their loss-making enterprises, how do they rid themselves
\nof this problem, privatize, get rid of all or part.\"<\/p>\n
\"There are two schools of thought within the government, I am
\nnot sure that they have resolved their problem,\" he added.<\/p>\n
He also counseled Vietnam's leaders \"to make sure they don't
\nincur more foreign debt than they can service\" and to \"create
\nconfidence in the Vietnamese in the stability of the dong and
\nthen mobilize the savings.\"<\/p>\n
Concerning the advice he gave during his meetings with
\nCommunist Party head Do Muoi, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and
\nPresident Tran Duc Luong, Lee said, \"they have listened to me,
\nbut I am not sure they have agreed with everything I said.\"<\/p>\n
Referring to the monetary crisis that has been sweeping
\nSoutheast Asia since the summer, Lee said countries such as
\nVietnam and Singapore, which have not suffered as much as their
\nneighbors, must nevertheless \"put their house in order.\"<\/p>\n
Lee, who has made a speciality of counseling emerging Asian
\neconomies, goes to Beijing after leaving Vietnam Saturday.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lee-kuan-yew-warns-vietnam-about-reforms-1447893297",
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