Two months after tons of fish died on beaches along the central coast of Vietnam in April, protests are still living. The government hasn’t said why so many creatures died over those 11 days. Instead it has squelched public protesters bent on demanding more transparency and attention to the environment after three decades of breakneck industrialization.
But without answers about the 80 tons of dead fish, a threat to food safety and tourism, anger is expected to resurface in public, frustrating the Southeast Asian government hoping for 6.7% economic growth this year based mainly on export manufacturing. The answer may implicate water pollution and with it some of that manufacturing. Lack of an answer risks more protests, a hit to that social stability that delights Vietnam’s foreign investors.
The country known for cheap labor and pro-investment policies is on a fast course to be the next export manufacturing whale of Asia, diverting business from its historic rival China.
The April 4-15 pileup of large deep-sea fish on Vietnam’s central coast beaches, possibly the result of a red tide algae or water pollution from a Taiwan-invested steel mill, evidently jolted the Communist government. It was used to satisfying big investors such as Intel INTC +0.68% and Samsung as well as local workers wary of being underpaid.
It was less accustomed to culling support across a social media-connected society. In analyzing anger over the fish deaths, some point to a nascent environmental movement, unusual for a relatively poor country where a lot of people still depend on natural resources. Protest-minded Vietnamese also want more guarantees of food safety, assurances that beach tourism will continue on the vast central coast and honest answers about why the fish died.
The ongoing protests in Vietnam have taught the government that without transparency and accountability, trust among its citizens starts lacking, provoking social upheaval and a business environment that is less prone to economic growth, says Oscar Mussons, international business advisory associate with Dezan Shira & Associates in Vietnam. I believe the protests will go on until (an) independent review brings back its results to the cause of the deaths or until the government brings to justice those responsible.
It’s easy to understand the government’s focus on industry. Manufacturing makes up about 30% of the economy compared to farming at 17% and fishing at just 2.4%. People’s fixation on the fish represents more of an environmental concern, not a macro economic issue, says Irvin Seah, senior economist with DBS Bank in Singapore.
Forbes