How poor is Vietnam compared to the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia?

Bernie Schiemer, CEO at Vincere.io (2011-present)

Updated Mar 15, 2018

I have been living in Ho Chi Minh City for over a year now, and I have been working in Asia for the last 15 years. I think it is too simple just to use a GDP per capita chart to explain wealth of the SE Asian countries.

Vietnam suffers terribly from corruption, as do most SE Asian countries (Lets be honest though, this is a worldwide problem). This has impacted everything, from spending on roads, transport, imports etc. The Govt (on the surface at least) is trying address the graft issues and there is quiet talk of free elections, though we are a decade away from this there is hope.

On the plus side though the Govt has focused on the little things that make life in their urban sprawls of HCMC and Hanoi better than most other Asian countries. They have amazing public parks, which are awesome meeting places for young people. Lots of greenery, trees etc have been planted. They have wide roads (big avenues inspired by the French), and a young population that will not be the social burden soon to be experienced by many other Asian countries (Especially China & Japan). Employment is high, people here are generally very happy, the lack of angry chaos on their busy roads shows their people to generally very peaceful, less inclined to the short fused anger issues so often seen in more ‘advanced’ countries. Also the vietnamese place great emphasis on Schools and education, which combined with their young population, makes the country extremely attractive to external investment.

So if you want to measure poor as the amount of money generated by the economy and stacked against the headcount of the population, yes, they are the poorest. But if you want to measure their wealth by observing their quality of life, the lack of crime, the greenery of their cities and the immediate future of their young population, I would say they are probably the richest of all.

RecommendedAll

Sponsored by Mews

Hospitality tech that's built to help hotels grow.

Generate more direct bookings, manage room reservations and provide a better guest experience.

Answered May 23, 2019

Rule #1: Companies don’t care about you and will always serve their best interests. Rule #2: Because of Rule #1, you should not show loyalty to the company, but serve your best interests. Conclusion:...Read More

100+

56

33

Since Trump can't 'fire' Pence, how would he force his resignation? Would Pence resist this force, knowing that he can't be fired?

Greg Larson, studied at Corvallis High School

Updated Nov 4

Between now and the election of 2020 (...