VietNamNet
Bridge – Vietnam, the country which has
been proud of the great economic achievements it gained in the last 26 years
since the doi moi (renovation) initiated by the Communist Party, has been
warned about the rising social and environmental challenges, called the
“natural resource curse.”
The
phrase “natural resource curse” first was used by Richard Auty in his book
titled “Sustaining Development in Mineral Economies” published in 1993. The
author pointed out that the natural resource-rich nations may not only fail to
benefit from the “godsend,” but they may also lag behind the other countries
which are not favoured by the nature.
Nigeria
has been cited as the typical example of suffering the natural resource curse.
The country rich in oil reserves had the oil income per capita at 33 dollars in
1965 and the GDP per capita at 245 dollars. The income per capita then
increased to 350 dollars in 2000, while the GDP per capita was nearly the same.
However,
the percentage of people living in poverty and hunger (with less than one
dollar per day) rose sharply from 36 percent in 1970 to 70 percent in 2000,
from 19 million to 40 million people.
Meanwhile,
the gap between the rich and the poor incomes has increased rapidly.
In
1970, the income of the upper class which accounted for two percent of the
total population was equal to the total income of poor and miserable people
accounting for 17 percent. Meanwhile, in 2000, the income of the upper class
was equal to that of the poor people accounting for 55 percent of the
population.
Oil
products brought 80 percent of the total revenue of the country, 95 percent of
export turnover and 90 percent of foreign currencies earned. Since Nigeria
cannot overcome the natural resource curse, it remains one of the 15 poorest
countries in the world.
One
year ago, in May 2011, the phrase “natural resource curse” or “mineral curse”
was also mentioned at the conference on preventing and fighting corruption in
the mining industry in Vietnam--held by Vietnamese government agencies, foreign
embassies and international institutions.
The
natural resource curse is the “paradox of abundance,” as 1.5 billion people in
the world, who bear the poverty with two dollars earned every day, live in the
most natural resource-rich countries. Twelve countries, depending on minerals
and six relying on oil, have been listed as the poorest countries in the World
Bank’s report.
Experts
pointed out that the countries which possess many natural resources do not
always prosperous nations. In Indonesia, the natural resource rich provinces
are the localities with the highest percentages of people living in poverty and
social conflicts.
Corruption,
mismanagement, overexploitation, natural resource waste have been cited as the
basic reasons that cause the paradox of abundance.
Vietnam
has been warned about the waste, embezzlement in the natural resource
management, exploitation and use.
A
survey conducted by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry VCCI showed
that Vietnam has 60 kinds of minerals situated in 5000 mines. The mining
industry has contributed 10-11 percent to the GDP over the last decade.
In
2009, the revenue from mineral exports reached 8.5 billion dollars, including
the 6.2 billion dollars’ worth of crude oil exports.
Nevertheless,
the mismanagement over natural resources has led to the embezzlement and big
waste of the resources. VCCI has pointed out that the natural resources have
benefited some groups in the society, not the whole community.
It is
estimated that some 2000 enterprises from different economic sectors have got
involved in the mineral exploitation, 90 percent of which are small and medium
businesses. A lot of them do not fulfill financial duties and avoid natural
resource tax.
Source:
Dai Doan Ket
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