Dang Kim Son, director of the Institute on Policy and Strategy, discusses the encroachment of industrial parks (IPs) on farm land with Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam Economic Times).

Is there any connection between the indus-trialisation process in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta with the loss of agricultural land there?

Industrialisation, no doubt, will have positive effects on the country’s economic growth. As the economy develops, the ratio contributed to the GDP by agriculture is getting smaller and smaller in line with the number of farmers.

In developed economies, agriculture usually contributes between 5-7 per cent of a country’s GDP.

Viet Nam is accelerating the process of industrialisation, while up to 70 per cent of the population live in the countryside and between 60-70 per cent of the work force depends on farming for their livelihoods. This is a very low starting point for Viet Nam on the path of industrialisation.

When we talk about IPs, it means the home of advanced technology requiring large capital investment but with few workers. In other words, economic value increases rapidly but it does not generate many jobs.

The majority of farmers will have few employment opportunities other than toiling in the field.

The change of land use to IPs in the Song Hong (Red River) Delta and the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta has become a big problem for the farmers there and for the agricultural sector as a whole.

How can we develop industrialisation without affecting farmers’ livelihoods?

There are two possible solutions to this problem.

The first option is to develop industries and services that need intensive labour in the first stage of the industrialisation, which was done by developed countries when they began industrialising. In such a scenario farmers who lose land to IPs would become workers there.

The second option is to build IPs in less fertile land in the midlands, mountainous regions and alluvial land or localities with irrigation difficulties. Of course, this latter option would be more expensive for infrastructure construction, but it would have fewer negative impacts on the agricultural environment and farmers’ livelihoods.

Most of the IPs in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta are located alongside rivers but don’t have any plans for waste treatment. What is your response?

Industrial and urban development has destroyed the landscape and caused environmental pollution; this is a common problem for almost all developing countries.

During the development process, politicians and economic managers have a tendency to focus on economic objectives for GDP growth or high productivity without giving proper attention to social or environmental issues.

This mistaken belief may cost the country dear, much more than the benefits gained, leaving the next generation to bear the consequences and find the solutions.

Some people argue the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta is not an idea place to building IPs as the land there is weak and it has no big ports. So why there are so many IPs there?

If we talk about comparative advantages, the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta is endowed by mother nature for eco-agricultural development. Not many other places in the world enjoy such favourable conditions for wet rice cultivation as the delta. In my opinion the natural conditions of many other localities are much worse and therefore more suitable for IPs.

From the economic point of view, I agree that the Mekong region has fewer comparative advantages for industrial development. We should treasure what the mother nature has given us for agriculture, forestry and fisheries development.

How do you comment on the negative impacts of the IPs on the farmers’ lives there?

It is estimated that about 360,000ha have been taken over by IPs in the past five years, of which 89 per cent was agricultural land and the rest residential; it is forecast that land lost to IPs will double in the next five years.

Though the government has issued policies to compensate land owners and relocate them to other areas, the affected people in general are not happy about this, particularly when their land is used for urban development.

I believe that local administrations need to consider the consequences when they make decisions to transfer agricultural land to IPs.

Source:  VNECONOMY