Social paths of economic development

Social paths of economic development

Reflections on Vietnam vis-a-vis Bangladesh

Monirul I Khan
The Daily Star
Asia News Network
Dhaka, Bangladesh

Achieving respectable living is a goal universally acclaimed.
This is truer for a country like Bangladesh beset with chronic
poverty. The question is how to go about it. Certainly the smart
economists have never shied away from grappling this question and
come up with some brilliant ideas. We are familiar with the names
of theories and models that prescribe different paths and
strategies to reach the goal of desirable economic development.

In my mind the inclination in the given models is towards
highlighting the parameters that are exclusively 'economic' in
their constitution. Let us assume the ideas of Keynes who
dominated the parleys of the American economists for a long
period where he exclusively laid emphasis on creating demand in
economy to propel the wheel of growth. In course of time it was
also found that the Keynesian recipe also stumbled with
stagflation hitting the American economy critically.

In this respect the situation of backward economies is more
complicated where the economic tools do not operate in an
autonomous manner. By autonomous manner I mean a process where
the non-economic factors interfere with the economic process in a
minimum scale and the 'economic system' has a status of
disciplined mechanism. However, the disciplined economies are
also not inured to the effect of non-disciplined factors. Think
of the aftermath of power failure in New York city -- looting
spree and devastation of unknown degree.

It is now a long history that Bangladesh has been struggling
to achieve economic uplift. Different economic strategies and
policies have been tried and tested towards the goal but the
success has not been of significant order. We tested immediately
after the liberation the policy of nationalization and later on
the principles of free market economy. Still we have not crossed
five-percentage point in economic development in a sustainable
manner. It means if it is achieved in one year, it falters the
subsequent year.

In this piece I would report some of my reflections gathered
through my recent visit to Hanoi by way of participating in a
workshop for two days. In total I stayed there for four days. Of
course such a short period of stay is hardly adequate to make
justifiable comments on the issue like the process of economic
development, but it will at least identify some key factors.

The very first thing that will catch your sight is the
discipline in the movement of the people and the vehicles. We
landed at Hanoi airport in the evening and while moving to the
city streaming through hundreds of motorbikes and paddled-cycles,
we watched the condition. It is about an hour's drive but we did
not come across the batches after batches of traffic police
visible in Dhaka roads sweating enormously to bring under control
the unruly traffic (think of the revenue saved through a small
contingent of traffic police). You would not see a speeding bus
defiantly ignoring the traffic signal. More interestingly,
traffic signal posts exist in a selected manner.

For example, we stayed in a hotel overlooking the Hanoi Lake.
In front of the hotel there was a busy crossing through which
roads pass to five directions. There is no traffic signal on the
intersection, but there occurs no jam nor any accident. Most
vehicles are moving at a moderate speed and allowing others to
move safely. You can cross a road without taking a big amount of
risk. Motorbike is the main transport of the middle class
irrespective of sex segregation.

Girls are riding at ease increasing my level of awe. Perhaps
one would only dream that Dhaka girls would move by motorbikes in
hundreds on the roads! One should also notice the scale of
security in the movement of women at late night. Certainly you
would not be contemplating a gun pointed to snatch your mobile
and purse.

Another important event that pinned my attention is the
cleaning exercise of the municipal workers. Once it is eleven at
night big trucks begin moving slowly in different directions. You
find uniformed workers piling the waste bags onto the truck. Thus
cleaning is completely done at nighttime. All these are happening
in a society, which the other day was branded as poverty stricken
and backward.

I went to visit the mausoleum where the body of Ho Chi Minh is
kept preserved for the posterity. It is another feat of
disciplined respect. You might mistake the standing sentries for
statues. In a very large square people throng everyday to spend
some time.

In the morning there is service ritual. I met a young boy
studying at school final level, whom I asked about the great
leader. His eyes glowed to explain the history, replete with the
resistance against the two Western powers, the French and the
Americans. It was perfectly conveyed to my mind how much proud
the Vietnamese are about the history and the present time.

Now what are there that is special about the Vietnamese and
their social paths of advancement? It is their patriotism and
dedication. Who says that social solidarity is not possible in a
short spell of time? It is belied in Vietnam. What you need for
making great economic strides is less of big loans from the
multilateral agencies and more of sincere committed leadership
and disciplined population.

Talking to the academics assembled in the workshop one came to
know about the educational achievement in the rural areas.
Certainly it is a trying time for Vietnam where they are mingling
the forces of market with the infrastructure of socialist party,
but do not forget that they are expecting double digit growth in
near future. There the people and the entrepreneurs are not
grilled with the fear that some notorious extortionists blessed
by the leaders of the political parties would soon swoop on them!

Monirul I. Khan is a Professor at the Department of Sociology,
University of Dhaka.