For all the things we can criticize Biden about, deservedly. I really truly believe Vietnam is very important.
They are relatively small, it is pretty darned crowded here, but there is something just …. nice about Vietnam, and Vietnamese.
It is like the smaller, nicer, friendlier … China.
We should work hard at building our relationship with them.
I believe they are the single country in the entire world, which most likes America.
#1
They haven't been important since the day my only brother was shipped there in 1966 with the U.S. Army. He spent a year in the jungle fighting an enemy he could not see, and trying not to be shot by his own people. Two of my high school friends were killed there. We've still have war dead in Vietnam that have not been repatriated. The war in Vietnam was just another proxy war we fought against Russia and China. Nothing's changed since then. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. China and Vietnam are both communist countries, and the only people who will get rich off of trade deals with them, are the same people who get rich off of wars: Politicians on both sides of the aisles, their family members and friends, and their big donors. I hope you're not planning on Vietnam choosing the U.S. over China, because it will never happen. In December, just three months after Joe's visit, China and Vietnam agreed to build a better relationship based on trust and cooperation.
China’s Xi pushes more trust with Vietnam after Hanoi’s move closer to Washington
:My wife and I spent 2 months in Vietnam (late 2022) awaiting immigration papers to move to Japan where we now live.
We spent time in both Ho Chi Minh (former Saigon) and spent most of our time in Hanoi. My opinion is also informed by lengthy conversations with my brother who was an English school teacher in Ho Chi Minh for 10 years and recently left to retire in the U.S.
The word the story never mentions but is a huge component of transportation in Vietnam is "motocycle". In fact, it's easy to believe that 90 to 95% of vehicles on the road today in Vietnam are motocycles -- most of them sold by Honda.
If you ride the streets of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh, there are a few taxis and private vehicles, but the city streets are "owned" -- big time -- by motorcycles.
Any market where electric cars will sell must first have a thriving market for ICE cars. But if you look at international stats, Vietnam is way down the list of motor vehicles per capita. See the Wiki statistics.
Motor vehicles per 1,000 people are shown below with a focus on Southeast Asia (for in-region comparisons):
America - 908 MV per 1,000 people
Italy - 755
Japan - 661
Malaysia - 542
South Korea - 526
Taiwan - 365
Thailand - 280
China - 221
Singapore - 149
Myanmar - 138
Philippines - 120
Hong Kong - 109
Indonesia - 82
Vietnam - 53
Cambodia - 27
Laos (not listed)
Papua New Guinea - 14
North Korea - 1 MV per 1,000 people
So if you're looking for "hot markets" for electric vehicles, Vietnam is pretty far down the checklist of likely winning markets.
The other thing to look at is infrastructure. Yes, Vietnam is still a communist country. My brother was afraid to put his money in a Vietnamese bank because they don't play by global banking rules. Tomorrow all your assets could be seized.
In Ho Chi Minh city we used to walk by the subway entrance to a planned advanced Japanese-built subway/train for the city. But apparently the project has been at a standstill for years. Meanwhile Taiwan, a far more advanced country has a high-speed rail system based on Japan's Shinkansen (bullet train) system.
Finally, Vietnam has severe public infrastructure problems, as is the case with all so-called "third world" nations. So if you think charging stations are hard to find in America...