The Curious Case of Vietnam

In 2003, when SARS, a fatal infectious disease, became a global emergency, Vietnam was the first country to halt the SARS spread successfully.

Nearly two decades later, the entire globe has been on the battle against SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. The novel coronavirus has crept its way across the globe for just over a year, resulting in almost 64 million cases and just under 1.5 million deaths. And yet, with a population of nearly 100 million, there have been 1850 cases and 35 deaths in Vietnam. In the research by Lowy Institute, Vietnam ranks 2nd (after New Zealand) in successfully managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, what’s the deal? A big deal.

In Edelman Trust Barometer 2021, the report shows that the pandemic has put trust to the test; “trust bubble bursts and most powerful countries around the world have lost their trust capital”. However, it’s not the case in Vietnam. Were it not for the people’s trust, the nation’s ability to deal effectively with the global pandemic would have not been possible.

The public trust in the government to handle the global crisis has never been higher and it plays a pivotal role in the success of controlling COVID-19 in Vietnam. The government closed the border with China, cancelled all the flights and a lot of actions were put in place right after the first case appeared. We considered the COVID-19 pandemic as a serious concern from the very beginning. Overreact? I don’t think so.

“When you’re dealing with these kinds of unknown novel, potentially dangerous pathogens, it’s better to overreact,” says Dr. Todd Pollack of Harvard’s Partnership for Health Advancement in Vietnam in Hanoi.

Public trust in the media has also changed. The media landscape in Vietnam is very complicated. In Vietnam, where independent media outlets are routinely closed or journalists hounded by authorities, and state-run newspapers dominate the media landscape, there are strict instructions on what journalists could and could not say and coverage certainly reflected the leanings of the state-run newspaper. Not surprisingly, Vietnam ranks 175th out of 180 countries in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

However, during these trying times in the middle of the pandemic, the media has proved to be this authority in Vietnam, and probably because of the government’s tight control of the media, there’s less likely mis(dis)information about the coronavirus. It has been essential to preventing the spread of COVID-19 by providing trustworthy and detailed information daily on new COVID-19 cases from the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.

For example, one of the biggest mainstream media channels, Tuoi Tre launched the news section Fake-True to fact check accurate and untrue information being circulated on social media platforms. YouGov found that 90% of its Vietnamese respondents trust their country's COVID-19 coverage, though that high figure is likely linked to the country's harsh and unforgiving media landscape. (Forbes, 2020)

Fighting COVID-19 is not only the sole duty of the Vietnamese government or just some mere tricks of politicians to enhance their public images, it’s the war that the whole nation combat. This is the first time since the unification after the Vietnam War that the whole Vietnamese community, including military, scholars, businessmen, and many different classes in our society, have participated in different types of contributions. The value of public trust in the community and the government has given Vietnam a competitive edge in successfully dealing with the pandemic.

What’s next?

The country is Asia’s shining star during the COVID-19 pandemic and is the only country in South East Asia on track for growth this year. Vietnam has an opportunity and an imperative to consider its longer-term economic aspirations (McKinsey, 2020). For years, Vietnam has received billions of dollars of foreign direct investment, the economy is booming and FDI data shows steady economic growth. It’s been one of the most promising markets in the world. Once one of the world’s poorest countries and only opening its door to world trade in 1986, Vietnam has a story to tell and it has so much potential.

What about PR and Communications - the industry where we should never underestimate the power of storytelling? Since PR only appeared in the 90s after the country had opened its doors to world trade 25 years ago, there are still a lot of not-so-good assumptions about the PR industry. "It’s not perceived fully and correctly, being confined to a narrow, spontaneous business environment, being considered as a marketing or brand's image polishing tool to achieve pragmatic goals”. Working in PR means you work with the media, but the media landscape in Vietnam is so complicated that people should be mindful of what to do and whatnot.

Vietnam is a gift-giving, envelope culture, where strong personal connections with journalists should be established and (sometimes) it’s a common practice to pay them to deliver the news, and sometimes it transitions into bribery or corruption to “effectively do the work”. In its very infancy, there's a lack of consensus regarding what constitutes ethics in PR in Vietnam. We don't have any professional body, codes of conduct, or an ethical framework and by an ethical framework, I mean one of CIPR or PRCA (or a professional body). The conversation about personal morality and standard ethical framework is for another time. There’s still a lack of professionalism, honesty, and a legal framework as industry limitations. I think it’s because PR is new and people are confused about what to do with it. The practices applied in western countries cannot be used the same in Vietnam where the culture or the structure of the society is completely different, so it might take time to figure out what works best and what the right things to do are.

But we have a story to tell. When people think of Vietnam, they think of the Vietnam War, but it’s a long time ago and we’ve moved on from that. We had our past and we also have our future. They think of this Communist Party where people are restricted, controlled, and manipulated or living in this Dark Ages where there is no access to the world (As if we’re in North Korea; at least that’s what I thought!) but do you know it’s the Socialist Republic of Vietnam? It’s not the best system in the world, but I’m sure it’s not the worst either. Or do you know what else when they think of Vietnam?

-       Ni hao (“Hello” in Chinese)

-       Sorry, I don’t speak Chinese

-       Where are you from?

-       I’m from Vietnam

-       Vietnam, like China?

-       No, Vietnam, like Vietnam.

And don’t get me started on how many times people here (in the UK) think there are Asian people (which means South Asian people) and there are Chinese people. Well, surprisingly for you, I’m also Asian.

We have the food, the people, the culture, the history, and a future. We do have a story to tell. As long as we figure out our own paths and find a way to apply professionalism, honesty, the ethical framework, in a country where there’s so much potential, then it should be winning.