Obstacles in the Sustainable Development of Industry in Ethnic Minorities’ Areas of Vietnamese Mekong Delta (Kien Giang and Can Tho)45254

Obstacles in the Sustainable Development of Industry in Ethnic Minorities’ Areas of Vietnamese Mekong Delta Kien Giang and Can Tho Tham Trinh Chi 1 , Nhuong Le Van 1 , Kha Huynh Hoang 1

Obstacles in the Sustainable Development of

Industry in Ethnic Minorities’ Areas of Vietnamese Mekong Delta (Kien Giang and Can Tho)

Tham Trinh Chi 1 , Nhuong Le Van 1 , Kha Huynh Hoang 1 , Hieu Le Van 1 , Phuc Nguyen Thi Ngoc 1 , Tran Ngo Ngoc 1

1 School of Education, Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam

* Correspondence: tctham@ctu.edu.vn

Abstract: Promoting the development of industrial economies sustainably in the areas where ethnic

minorities are living is one of key goals in Vietnam as this supports to create a balanced development amongst ethnic groups as well as regions During industrialization era, combining sustainable industrial engagement with the development of ethnic minority can be considered as indispensable need This study has analyzed some main obstacles in the sustainable development of industry in the localities where ethnic minority people have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province and proposed some solutions Based on the mixed method, the research data was collected through studying documents, conducting survey, carrying out interview and taking field trip The research results have shown three major issues that were concluded from data analysis Firstly, although it is much potential, the industrial activities in some areas where ethnic minorities have been living in selected localities are still underdeveloped Secondly, some obstacles including low in literacy rate and labor qualification, lack of capital and technology investment, limitation of infrastructure, lack

of market information and government policy; and the dispersion of industries were analyzed in order to judge how challenging in developing industrial economies in the localities Finally, a number

of solutions have been proposed to support the development of industry in the local areas consisting

of training some appropriate professions to the local situation, giving loan with low interest rates, advising on local industrial development, upgrading transportations system and disseminating and

enforcing government policies

Keywords: Ethnic minority; industry; obstacle; sustainable development; Can Tho; Kien Giang

1 Introduction

Vietnam has 53 different ethnic minorities with 13.4 million people It accounts for 14.6 % of the Vietnamese population in 2018 (GSO Vietnam, 2018) Ethnic minorities in Vietnam mainly live in the Northwest part, Central Highlands, Mekong Delta region and Central Coast (Pham, 1973) Since 2016, Vietnamese Party and Government have had many policies on socio-economic development in places where ethnic minorities have been living Specifically, the Prime Minister has issued 41 documents mentioning the priority of socio-economic development for ethnic minority and mountainous areas Amongst them, there are 15 projects and policies exclusively for ethnic minorities Currently, there are still 54 effective policies in supporting and prioritizing the development of some areas where ethnic

minorities are living (Institute of Ethnology, 1984)

Through the above policies, ethnic minority people in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province are concerned with many specific and preferential policies However, the socio-economic activities in ethnic minority areas are still undeveloped This makes a big gap in

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the development and life quality between ethnic minorities and the remaining population

in Vietnam Especially, the development of industries in the area is quite limited and faces

a lot of difficulties It is believed that to develop the industrial economy in the area where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho and Kien Giang sustainably, it is necessary to identify the causes of limitations and difficulties in industrial development in these areas Base on identifying reasons, solutions that are valuable and appropriate to the actual

situation will be proposed to solve the problems

2 Methodology

2.1 Research questions

a How was the industrial economies developed in some areas where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province?

b How challenging developing industrial economies sustainably in the localities where ethnic minorities have been living?

c What are solutions that can be proposed to support the development of industry

in the local areas sustainably?

2.2 Data collection

Can Tho city and Kien Giang province were selected as research areas because these are two provinces/cities in the Mekong Delta region which are quite crowded with ethnic minorities Besides, these two areas respond well and more appropriately to specific criteria (different in potentials and economic background, Can Tho is a big city in the region central and Kien Giang is a coastal province), so Can Tho and Kien Giang have been selected as research areas Additionally, we clearly identify the specific locations in each place to collect data including the districts of Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy, Cai Rang, O Mon, Thoi Lai, Co Do (Can Tho city); Rach Gia, Giong Rieng and Go Quao (Kien Giang privince)

To have a theoretical basis for this study, academic documents in the field were collected and studied Specifically, the documents on economic activities of ethnic minorities in Vietnam and the Mekong Delta region, planning for socio - economic development in areas where ethnic minorities live, socio-economic development in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province was studied by the authors Understanding the theoretical background of the research issue helps the authors to have an initial view about the research object This also supports the researchers to carry out the study easier and more oriented

2.2.1 Survey

Survey was considered as a main data collection type which has supported to collect wide range information from 130 households, 150 workers, 50 Entrepreneurs and 50 local leaders It is believed that this helps the researchers to gather broad and comprehensive

information (Creswell, 2014) as the survey subjects were different in ages, races, incomes, academic background, occupations, etc Furthermore, a large number of samples as above are enough to ensure the reliability, accuracy and objectivity for the research results The survey helps the researchers to know about which industries are developing, what difficulties in industrial development in ethnic minority areas are and how these difficulties impact on the sustainable industrial development

2.2.2 Interview

To collect profound information as well as increase the reliability for the research, in-depth interviews have been selected Through this data collecting way, the study have selected ninety different interviewees including 30 households, 30 workers, 15 entrepreneurs and 15 local leaders Those subjects were different in occupations, ages and experience; therefore, they have provided the authors with comprehensive and diverse information This can support to improve the study results’ reliability (Creswell, 2014; Montello and Sutton, 2013) Through the interview, the authors can further understand about the obstacles in industrial development in the selected area as well as the participants’ suggestions on how to improve the sustainable development in the local industry

2.2.3 Field trip

A fieldwork was conducted to actively explore the research subjects In particular,

we had 6 field days in two provinces/cities mentioned above Through fieldwork, we have observed our research object in detail as well as collected a lot of authentic data for the study For instance, the authors focused their attention on people's housing, transportation system, operation status of factories, and the lives of local residents to better understand the current situation of industry development and the quality of life in the localities It can be said that fieldwork helps us proactively evaluate and assess the development of industrial economies

in many different localities Moreover, the information collected from the field trip supports

us compare and contrast with what was collected through surveys and interviews (Denscombe, 2010)

2.3 Data recording

In order to collect, store and prove the research results, a number of data collection tools such as notebooks, recorders, cameras and telephones were used in this study It is true that the questionnaires and interview questions are important to guide the data collection as well as to assist the authors collecting comprehensive information Notebooks, cameras, voice recorders and telephones are tools that can help the researchers to store collected data (Creswell, 2014) Data recording helps the researchers not only to prove their research results but also increase the research results’ credibility

2.4 Data analysis

In order to analyze the collected information, 23rd version SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) has been used In particular, SPSS supports the authors to revise information systematically as well as put data into different themes and explain the research

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results After that, the authors aggregate data and present it in a tabular form The analysis

of data from SPSS software also provides the researchers with important and necessary information to create a practical basis for this study

The researchers have based on following process and technique that were suggested

by Creswell (2014) in order to analyze collected data:

Step 1: Prepared and organized the data;

Step 2: Read through all data of interviews;

Step 3: Organized the material into segments of text before interpreting the meaning

of data;

Step 4: Coded the data based on the meaningful segments and sort them into some

different categories;

Step 5: Described the theme with typical meaning of each data sort The researchers

have focused on the main message of the category in each description;

Step 6: Analyzed and concluded on the research results

3 Results

3.1 Majoy industries in the local areas

The research results have shown that there are a few industries that have been developed in selected localities; however, most of them are small scale industries In particular, industrial companies with modern technology and big scale are located in industrial zones Small scale industries are developed in the rural areas where ethnic minorities are settling Amongst 50 industrial factories that were surveyed, there are 13 enterprises of confectionery processing and 11 enterprise of rice milling In addition to this, ice processing is the next most popular industrial activity in the research area with seven factories working in this field Besides, industry of boat/canoe building is quite common in the selected localities; but its scale is quite small with building small boats Although seafood processing, wood and shoe production are industries that bring high profit, they are not popular in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province with the corresponding number

of five, three and two enterprises Especially, those industries are mainly located in district central where not a lot of ethnic minorities are living In other words, small scale industrial economies are more popular in the local areas where ethnic minorities are settling (table 1)

Table 1 Major industries in areas where ethnic minorities have been living

Types of Industry

A number of enterprise

Percentages A number of

enterprise

Percentages

Confectionery

32.0

Furniture wood

8.0

(Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 50)

It is indicated that basically there are similarities in industrial development in Can Tho and Kien Giang In general, the types of industries that are developed in these localities are totally the same However, there are differences in the popularity and scale of industries Specifically, the confectionery processing industry is most popular in ethnic minority areas

in Can Tho while the rice milling industry is the most popular in Kien Giang The next popular industries in Can Tho are rice milling, seafood and ice processing Although the confectionery processing industry is also quite popular in Kien Giang, it is much less common in Can Tho Following industrial economies that are quite famous in Kien Giang are boat/canoe building and ice processing The shoe manufacturing and furniture wood processing industries are not well known in both Can Tho city and Kien Giang province

It can be seen that Industry in both Can Tho city and Kien Giang province needed a lot of labor but it has not require high technology In specific, only seafood processing and shoe manufacturing industries have been requiring advanced technology, but such industries are less popular in the localities Based on the research results, it is asserted that some industries with modern technology such as the seafood processing and shoe manufacturing industries are usually developed and located in industrial zones where are planned and invested by government and local authorities In addition to investment funding, these places have developed infrastructure and abundant labor with relatively high qualifications Specially, there are few ethnic minorities living in these places In contrast, in rural areas with underdeveloped infrastructure, low literacy rate and labor qualification as well as lack of investment capital, only small-scale industries can be developed A leader of a rural commune in Kien Giang province have shared that "Although operating big companies and enterprises will create more jobs as well as increase the local citizens’ income, nobody knows how to open more businesses because of lacking of capital, technology and infrastructure Especially, no one has consulted on such issues yet" This is explained that the national and local government policy and investment directly influence

on the socio – economic development in areas where ethnic minorities are living (Braunholz-Speight, 2008)

3.2 Obstacles in the sustainable development of industry in ethnic minority areas

Based on surveying 50 industrial entrepreneurs, the research results have shown that there were different factors affecting sustainable development of industry These factors have affected the sustainable development of the industry differently in terms of level and nature as described in table 2

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Table 2 The proportion of entrepreneurs who face difficulties according to seriousness

Low in literacy rate and labor

4.0

28.0 26.0 42.0 Lack of capital and technology investment 0.0 8.0 32.0 18.0 42.0 Limitation of infrastructure 4.0 4.0 48.0 20.0 24.0 Shortage of information and policy 4.0 4.0 52.0 12.0 28.0 The dispersion of industries 0.0 20.0 42.0 18.0 20.0

(Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 50;

Note: 1 = absolutely not serious; 2 = not very serious; 3 = serious; 4 = very serious; 5 = absolutely

serious)

In this part, all such factors can be analyzed as below:

3.2.1 Low literacy rate and labor qualification

The survey result of 150 ethnic minorities in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province has indicated that the educational level of ethnic minorities is very low and lower than that

in Vietnam as well as in the Mekong Delta region (figure 1) Specifically, in the Mekong Delta region only 7.0 % of the total population is unlettered This figure for Vietnam is only 2.0 % Based on figure 1, 14.0 % of the population is ethnic minority who was illiterate The highest proportion belonged to the ethnic minority group with primary education level, with 47.0 % Besides, there were 38.0 % of minority people who have reached secondary school On the contrary, there was an extremely low rate of minority people with higher education level, with 1.0 % only

Figure 1 Educational level (Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 130)

In the table 2, it was indicated that low in literacy rate and labor qualification was

the most influencing factor on the development of industry sustainably In particular, 68.0

% of businessman found that that lack of literacy and professional qualifications affect both industrial productivity and quality very serious and absolutely serious Additionally, there were also 28.0 % of entrepreneurs believed that literacy rate and labor capacity can affect

industrial development Obviously, only 4.0 % of participants asserted that the development

of industry was not very seriously affected by educational level and labor quality Considerably, educational/intellectual level and professional qualification have made negative effects on the sustainable development in the localities where ethnic minorities have been living in both Can Tho city and Kien Giang province

Low in literacy rate and labor qualification was identified as the most dominant factors which harm on industrial productivity and quality All participants said that “When workers are low in qualification, they cannot create products that are competitive in terms

of design, quality and price” Especially, as stressed by businessman that “Workers with low qualification are not capable of applying advanced technology in industry, so the development of industrial economy becomes obsolete with low economic efficiency” This

is evident as previous studies have concluded that low literacy and labor qualification are the biggest barriers to the socio – economic development in localities where minority people have been living (Institute of Ethnology, 1984) It is more important that labor quality is a decisive factor for the development of industry in areas with ethnic minorities (Phan, 1973) Hence, in order to develop the industry in the selected areas sustainably, one of the most important priorities is to improve the educational level and employee qualification

3.2.2 Lack of investment capital and technology innovation

Being interviewed, 100 % of entrepreneurs said that “We do not have enough money

to set up our businesses or company; therefore, we must borrow with interest from the government or local authorities” In some cases, households have to borrow money at high interest rates in order to invest in improving their industrial technology (figure 2) In particular, up to 38.0 % of businessman had to borrow from 30.0 to 50.0 % of their business capital In addition, 34.0 % of people who are operating industrial enterprises have borrowed from 50.0 to 70.0 % of their businesses' capital It can be said that the proportion

of people who have enough money to do their industrial business was very low, with 10.0

% only

The surveying results presented in table 2 have shown that 60.0 % of entrepreneurs claimed that capital and technology investment influence on the sustainable development

of industry sector in very serious and absolutely serious scales It also means that such business people strongly believed that lack of funding and technology access affect the production scale and quality of the industry sector There were 32.0 % of such entrepreneurs said that capital and technology were influential factors in average However, no one thought that the investment of funding and technology did not effect on industrial sectors’ development

Undoubtedly, investment capital and technology innovation were the second most dominant elements that have influenced on the sustainable development in industry sector Being interviewed, 27 of 30 businessman and local administrators have mentioned that

“Lack of investment capital and modern technology not only influences on product quality but also affects natural resources in negative ways” Particularly, one of local leader emphasized that a lot of industrial entrepreneurs have no investment in wastewater

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treatment technology, so they made local water polluted seriously” On the other hand, air pollution was other bid problem to the sustainable development in industry in areas where ethnic minorities have been living Some of business people have admitted that their industrial economy had a great impact on the environment but currently it lacks of investment in technology It means that they have no solution in this situation It can be deduced that although local businessman are aware of how to develop industry sustainably, they have to give up because of limitation of capital and technology investment Thus, it can

be seen that capital and technology are factors that have a major impact on the development

of industries in the ethnic minority areas (Braunholz-Speight, 2008)

Figure 2 The proportion of capital borrowed for businesses (Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 50)

3.2.3 Limitation of infrastructure

The next important dominant element to the industrial development was infrastructure, especially transportation system The interviewing results shown that infrastructure in most areas where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province is limited compared with actual demands for industrial development Specifically, some factors including electricity, rural transportation, school and clinic have been noted by all 50 interviewees As stressed by all interviewed people, transportation system can be considered as the most affecting factor to the development of industry sector

in areas where ethnic minorities have been living In other words, the local residents found that it is very difficult for them to travel and transport goods because of the limitation of transportation system

In regard to the impact of infrastructure on the industry sector in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province, 48.0 % of interviewees asserted that infrastructure has an average impact on industry development Subsequently, 24.0 % of the 50 respondents claimed that the infrastructure limitation affected local industry absolutely serious Similarly, 20.0 % of participants agreed that this factor has harmed on the sustainable development of industry

on scale of very serious Especially, regarding to traffic limitation 40.0 % of respondents has stressed that the local industry was absolutely influenced (table 2) It can be understood that only 8.0 % of respondents pointed out that limitation of infrastructure has not impacted on the local industrial development seriously It can be concluded that infrastructure shortage has impacted on the sustainable development of local industry in negative ways; therefore,

improving infrastructure is an indispensable need for the localities where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province

There is no doubt that infrastructure in general and transportation in particular is the third dominant factor to the sustainable development of local industry in this case The influence of this factor on industry was evidenced by the local residents’ typical examples Firstly, the local children cannot go to school as they are living in areas without traffic This explains why in areas with minority groups have been living, the literacy rate and labor qualification were very low as analyzed in the previous section Secondly, due to inadequate shipping, the quality of fruits and seafood is low or agricultural output is significantly reduced This means that the processing industry lacks raw materials Thirdly, the health of local people is not protected due to lack of clinics This is a major obstacle for those areas that are lacking high quality labor A minority said that "I can only let my children finish primary school so that they can read and write My wife and I have to earn for living, so we cannot take them to school Obviously, the local traffic is too bad; therefore, they cannot go

to school by themselves " A local leader found that "Although the locality has great potential but due to poor infrastructure, the investors are not interested in this place” It is evident that the infrastructure is a basic condition to exploit the natural potential which support to operate economic activities in general and industry sector in specific in ethnic minority areas (World Bank, 2009) Hence, the limitation of infrastructure, especially transportation system, adversely affects the sustainable development of the industry in the areas where ethnic minorities are located in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province

3.2.4 Shortage of market information and government policy

According to the survey results presented on table 3, a lot of respondents were never

or rarely provided with market information and government policies In particular, the proportion of local households who never or rarely received market information and state policies was 48.4 % and 26.2 % respectively This percentage for workers is slightly lower than that of local residents with the corresponding ratio of 47.3 % and 18.0 % The proportion

of local entrepreneurs and leaders who have got market information and national policies

is quite higher than that of other groups Specifically, there were 54 % of businesses man or local leaders sometimes and often have known about market information and related policies Thus, the proportion of residents and workers who were disseminating about trading information and government policies, especially policies related to minorities, is lower than that rate of entrepreneurs and local leaders

The research results have also indicated that the shortage of information and policies influenced on the development of local industry sector (table 2) Specifically, 52.0 % of respondents claimed that local industrial development can be affected by information and policy limitation seriously Moreover, as asserted by 28.0 % of respondents such a lack of information and policies absolutely serious affected the development of the industry in the minority locality This is implied that the unsustainable industrial development in the areas where ethnic minorities are located in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province was greatly affected by the lack of market information and government policies

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Although lack of information and policy was not considered as typical dominant factor, it has made a great impact on the sustainable development of industry in this situation It can be understood that market or trading information and policies supports local residents who have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province to understand about the development trend of industry in Vietnam as well as on over the world In other words, if this lacks of market information and specific policies, it is difficult for both businesses man and local people to decide what should they develop and how can they operate for their companies (Hoang et al, 2007) On the other hand, they cannot understand their rights and responsibilities in industrial development

Table 3 Regularity on access to information and policy (%)

Residents (n = 130) 48.4 26.2 16.2 9.2 0.0 0.0 Workers (n = 150) 47.3 18.0 16.7 16.0 2.0 0.0 Entrepreneurs (n = 50) 26.0 14.0 32.0 22.0 2.0 4.0 Leaders (n = 50) 16.0 18.0 30.0 24.0 4.0 8.0 (Source: Survey, December 2018; Note: 1 = never; 2 = rarely; 3 = sometimes; 4 = often; 5 = usually; 6 = always)

3.2.5 The dispersion of industries

Although being the least dominant factor in industrial development, the dispersion

of industry has a certain influence on the sustainable development of this industry In particular, 42.0 % of respondents stated that spatial dispersion affects the industry sector's sustainable development seriously Especially, 28.0 % of respondents said that the spatial dispersion affects the sustainable development of the industry absolutely seriously In general, spatial dispersion affects the sustainable development of the industry from serious

to absolutely serious scale as assessed by the majority of interviewees (table 2)

It is clear that when the industry is distributed in a dispersed manner, the local or national government must invest a lot of money in building roads/streets Besides, human being has to spend more time and money on shipping raw materials and goods; therefore, both profit and product quality is significantly reduced (Hoang et al, 2007) It should also

be noted that the dispersion of industry also makes it difficult to exploit natural resources and labor force A local leader shared that “We have proposed to build more roads in order

to connect some small industrial areas However, the government claimed that it has to invest too much money on building while the profits will be low” On the other hand, many workers complained that “I do not want to work in industrial zone as it is too far away from

my house” The above analysis demonstrates that industrial dispersion has seriously affected the development of this industry sustainably

3.3 How local residents expect in order to develop the industrial economies sustainably?

To further understanding the participants’ expectations towards how to develop the local industry more sustainably, 180 people including 60 local residents, 60 workers, 30 entrepreneurs and 30 leaders in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province were selected for an individual interviewing task Amongst them, there were 80 participants who are ethnic