1 Light Manufacturing in Vietnam • http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0034-4
This book aims to answer the following questions:
• What are the binding constraints facing light manufacturing in Vietnam?
• How have firms coped with these constraints?
• Which practical policy reforms would help firms overcome the constraints and jump-start industry to facilitate the transformation of Vietnam into a modern economy?
The book explores these issues at the country, sectoral, and product levels.
Industry and Country Focus
The book focuses on five light manufacturing industries that form the core of the Vietnamese industrial sector: processed foods and beverages (agribusiness), leather, wood processing and wood products, metal products, and apparel.
Because it is the world’s most competitive country in light manufacturing and a fierce competitor in many domestic markets throughout the world, we have chosen China as the benchmark for an in-depth study of the cost structure of production in Vietnam. China is a relevant comparator because, when it emerged in global markets, it had to adapt to compete in manufactured goods that were dominated by others (Hong Kong SAR, China; the Republic of Korea; Singapore;
and Taiwan, China). China successfully moved from cheap, labor-intensive goods to higher–value added goods. It also shared many of the investment climate constraints currently prevailing in Vietnam.
Methodology
The study draws on five analytical tools applied in 2010–11 and presented online:
• New research based on the World Bank Enterprise Surveys.1
• Qualitative interviews conducted by the study team at around 130 formal and informal enterprises of all sizes in China and Vietnam. The interviews were
Overview
2 Overview
Light Manufacturing in Vietnam • http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0034-4
based on a questionnaire designed by John Sutton of the London School of Economics.
• Quantitative interviews conducted by the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Oxford University at around 600 formal and informal enter- prises of all sizes in China and Vietnam. The interviews were based on a ques- tionnaire designed by Marcel Fafchamps and Simon Quinn (2012) of Oxford University.
• In-depth interviews at about 140 formal medium enterprises by Global Development Solutions, a consulting firm, for a detailed comparative value chain analysis (GDS 2011). Data were collected in China and Vietnam between July 2010 and February 2011.
• A Kaizen study on the impact of managerial training among owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) (World Bank 2011). The training, delivered to about 250 entrepreneurs in Vietnam, was led by Japanese researchers at the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, both located in Tokyo.
The analysis in chapters 4–8 is supported by these five data sources, while the analysis in chapters 1–3 relies on country and international data.
Note
1. See Enterprise Surveys (database), International Finance Corporation and World Bank, Washington, DC, http://www.enterprisesurveys.org.
References
Fafchamps, Marcel, and Simon Quinn. 2012. “Results of Sample Surveys of Firms.”
In Performance of Manufacturing Firms in Africa: An Empirical Analysis, edited by Hinh T. Dinh and George R. G. Clarke, 139–211. Washington, DC: World Bank.
GDS (Global Development Solutions). 2011. The Value Chain and Feasibility Analysis;
Domestic Resource Cost Analysis. Vol. 2 of Light Manufacturing in Africa: Targeted Policies to Enhance Private Investment and Create Jobs. Washington, DC: World Bank.
http://go.worldbank.org/6G2A3TFI20.
World Bank. 2011. Kaizen for Managerial Skills Improvement in Small and Medium Enterprises: An Impact Evaluation Study. Vol. 4 of Light Manufacturing in Africa:
Targeted Policies to Enhance Private Investment and Create Jobs. Washington, DC:
World Bank. http://go.worldbank.org/4Y1QF5FIB0.
