EWEC: A Growing Gap or Bridge Being Built?

1. EWEC: A Growing Gap or Bridge Being Built? Focus: Infrastructure Development and its Impacts on the Region Tourism and Cultural Impacts Community Development Environment Consequences Reactions and Inputs for Recommendations

2. EWEC The Logic of ADB and EWEC: infrastructure integration economic integration  supports social & cultural integration  poverty reduction in the region

3. Motivating Factors • Push factors (Collapse of Soviet Union, Protectionism fears, US embargo, FDI) • Pull factors (geographical proximities, old trade routes, historical links, cultural and ethnic ties, political tensions & economic reforms) Therefore, Promises are: • Increase market access & promote the gains from trade • Enhance political cohesion • To further other trade and economic policy goals Source: Mya Than, 1997

4. ADB in The Region • Based on a strategy to guide Asian nations on regional cooperation and integration (RCI). • To support poverty reduction through regional collective actions that lead to greater physical connectivity; expansion of trade and investment; development of financial systems and macroeconomic and financial stability; and improved environmental, health, and social conditions. • The RCI strategy aims to build and deepen integration in four interrelated pillars: • regional and sub-regional programs on cross-border infrastructure and related software • trade and investment • money and finance • regional public goods such as prevention of communicable diseases and environmental degradation.

5. New Phase in RCI • EWEC was nearly completed in 2005 as one of the economic transport corridors • Stretching nearly 1,500 kilometers (km) • Across four countries between the Andaman and South China Seas • It will be the only land route crossing mainland Southeast Asia from east to west. • The effort involves harmonizing customs, building bridges, upgrading roads, promoting tourism and investment in once remote areas. Source: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Brochures/InBriefs/Regional-Cooperation-Integration.pdf

6. Objectives of EWEC: • To eradicate poverty and reduce the development gap between EWEC areas and others in the Mekong basin • To fully utilize the cooperative advantages of the EWEC areas in terms of labor and natural resources to contribute to the common development of the whole region • To turn these areas into a gateway for development for the Greater Mekong Sub-region; • Enhanced economic liberalization and facilitation; cultural interaction to contribute to economic integration among ASEAN members; also greater interaction between ASEAN and others countries outside the region.

7. Translation of the Central Vietnamese Government’s Actions : • Vision: Modernized society complete with the development of high technology • Promote deep sea port as a export gateway • Designated industrial areas • Building of local roads to improve connectivity in Danang • Support for second phase of EWEC • The government believes EWEC has boosted development in Danang (infrastructure investment, industry, export-import and Human Dev)

8. Roads

9. New settlements Waiting for investments

10. Sea Port

11. Public space

12. Private Facilities

13. Impacts: • Openness and economic liberalization • Help to increase growth • Focus on industries and services • Conversion of agriculture and other conventional types of development • More public spaces for local people • Convenience for city lifestyles (IT facilities) • Relocation of local people and city re-arrangement (ENDA project)

14. What will happen to agriculture?

15. Further Impacts: • Tourism connectivity and promises • A close examination of community development • Environmental consequences

16. Tourism • Tourism constitutes a significant component of GDP in GMS countries. • The most obvious and tangible benefits of tourism include income, foreign exchange earnings, tax revenue, and the creation of jobs.

17. Tourism is involved with too much public capital – social, cultural, and environmental. Benefits go into the pockets of a few people or groups while costs are borne by the general public • Even with community-based tourism, incomes tends to be more unevenly distributed than with agricultural exchanges, as it requires investment which most of the poor could not afford.

18. Commercial use of culture by tourism may lead to modification and distortion or even lead to practices that show disrespect

19. “…culture will continually change as the society and the beliefs of the people change. Tourism may be just one factor contributing to change. Tourism in itself neither harms or helps the culture: it is how we deal with it that matters. If we are willing to do everything to our culture – modifying it, change it, making it falsely more spectacular in order to attract tourists – then we would damage our culture. We would be prostituting ourselves and selling culture for money from tourists pockets.” (Akin 1992)

20. Questions still needing Answers (Danang, Hoi An & Hue) • Interdependence or Conflict? • Who gets the ‘Lion Share’ of the benefits? • Is there too much exploitation of the local cultural heritage? • Where are the limitations (natural resources & cultural heritage)? • How to rescue the sinking city of Hoi An?

21. Community Development

22. EWEC and Community Development: How are they connected? • Who has been/will be impacted by the EWEC? local communities; labor force; infrastructure; impacts on young/old generation

23. Benefits and Challenges • Opportunity to shift to more skilled labor – capacity to train or ‘bring in’ outside labor? • Creation of new market demand – tourism. • Resettlement: loss of culture; loss of jobs • Exposure to Diseases: HIV/AIDS

24. Is anything being done? Community organizations in Central Vietnam: ENDA – working primarily with displaced communities Women's Union – skilled labor training (garment industry), traffic laws and education SNV – identifying communities “at risk” and honing in on their traditional skills/products, transforming them into marketable products.

25. EWEC: Developing Vietnam’s Economy and Infrastructure for the Community. But at what cost?

26. Challenges: Environmental Perspectives Urbanization for Industrialization People from other regions migrate to central Vietnam given the opportunity to find jobs in emerging industries Unskilled laborers migrate to other areas The growth of Danang City

27. Master Plan of Danang City Good geographical location Coastland ecosystem and mountain forest ecosystems are connected Drainage from commercial agriculture and other industries is a great concern for the coastal ecosystem

28. Natural resources are no longer sustainable when harvesting changes from household consumption to cash-marketing

29. Localization and Globalization Degradation of the environment directly impacts the livelihoods of local people, especially the poor Their survival is based on knowledge which has been practiced and passed-down from generation to generation

30. The healthier the environment, the better the livelihoods and the happier the local people

31. Garbage rapidly follows the rapid development of the area This is an undesirable option to the poor

32. In the new money-oriented society, natural resources are usually privatized by rich people

33. Waiting to go…… Rapid industrialization for the market economy is a great concern for the environment

34. Protection from Increased Pollution

35. Villagers have no option but to adapt to the place where they have been relocated

36. Only a short time to destroy the environment…but a much longer time to recover

37. Recommendations Policy-makers need to facilitate information access to the public EWEC needs to open space for local people in the decision-making process EWEC needs to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment together with local people and publicize the outcome of the report EWEC needs to be accountable for the environmental and social costs of this large-scale development project Who will pay for the price?

38. Inputs and Reactions: • Internal and External Migration • Cross-border issuese.g. diseases, environmental degradation of resources • Political differences among the countries • Three meals (Breakfast in Bangkok, Lunch in Vientiane and Dinner in Danang) local benefits or TNCs? • Loss of culture and change of livelihoods • Unequal level of development among countries in the region • Types of economic cooperation – focus on the joint development of resources and infrastructure rather than on the metropolitan spillover into hinterland and common geo-political interest and geographical proximity

39. EWEC: A Growing Gap or Bridge Being Built? THANK YOU