Skyscrapers, high-speed railway, high-speed road, high-speed internet, large data center, and AI factories. Surplus in energy supplies, global trade, and deep integration with technology. Connected with the world.
That’s what I think on top of my head, where Vietnam should become. I believe Vietnam can be a part of the big four East Asian nations: China, Korea, and Japan. I’m not sure why, Vietnam, with a population of over 100 million, a long coastal line, and 331 thousand square kilometers, cannot become an economic powerhouse. If we compare Vietnam to Korea and Japan, we are no small nation compared to them; the only difference is the people. Vietnamese people are smart and hardworking, and it’s evident that one day, everybody’s life will be wealthy and happy. We just need to study harder, work harder; it’s always the sacrifice of generations to make the country better. I just want my people, my leaders, and myself to know that we are building and we are growing. This belief is not coming from nowhere. I just observed the GDP growth of Vietnam over time. I just see roads and buildings are emerging in every corner of Vietnam, people are getting more well-educated and smarter, and adapting to new technologies. And the governments and business leaders are caring a lot about changing, adapting, and innovating. Vietnam is not going to lag behind forever. I don’t mean Vietnam to compete with other nations, but rather to become one of the most beautiful kinds of flowers in this world. China is beautiful, Korea is beautiful, Japan is beautiful, and soon Vietnam will bloom too. Our Easy Asian nation is helping us a lot in development; they invested in our country, and they are helping us grow like brothers and sisters. We must welcome them and trust them; they are not here to abuse us or take advantage of us. They are here for cooperation, to convert our farmers into industrial workers, and sooner or later, our people will become designers and skilled technicians.
Moving up in the production value chain means that we are doing more complex work, from designing to researching, not just assembly, like most of us do nowadays. We want to be able to do complex systems and tasks like any other nation can. We want to be able to build things fast and develop things fast. Like building houses, highways, infrastructures, data centers, and software. As humans are developing, I rarely think of a case where Asia is going to be unstable, but of course, it really depends on the leaders; if in the next generations our elected leaders or our neighbors’ elected leaders think differently, then there will be regional instability. Just think of a day, all of a sudden, the USA builds its nuclear sites in Taiwan, then it’s difficult to think that it’s the world without peace.
So we have to think that the regional and global dream is the Vietnamese dream and vice versa. We dream about a peaceful, developed world. People want and need challenges to grow, but I don’t think challenges in modern day should involve conflict, but rather economic competition.