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HCMC’s football woes mirror its relative decline as economic power
Several years ago, problems with personnel, training and management of HCM City’s football club emerged. Officials failed to recognize the risks involved and now the city’s only team has lost its place in the Vietnam V-League’s premier division. Some say that the team’s relegation is a metaphor for economic problems threatening the southern metropolis.
It was the worst day in HCM City’s football history.
In the past, HCM City’s football club was ranked at the top, with famous coaches and footballers from Vietnam and Southeast Asia. Now the V-League demotion demonstrates that the city has failed in its effort at sports management.
HCM City Football Federation Chairman Le Hung Dung said that he was very sad. Dung admitted this was an embarrassment, but agreed that the HCM City football team was very weak.
When asked why the football team of a big city like HCM City, historically a cradle for young football training in Vietnam with talented coaches, has gone downhill, Dung did not respond.
The failings of HCM City
Many people say that HCM City has become a football “depression” zone, but perhaps HCM City has also contracted a “depression” of conservative thinking. Many worry that the city will lag behind economically because of sluggishness and lack of imagination.
In the period between 1997 and 1999, HCM City was the country’s economic showplace. At that time, economists warned that the city could lose its position and lag behind neighboring provinces owing to issues with economic structures, land leasing prices, administrative formalities, and the labor force.
HCM City has been losing its advantages because of urbanization. Land is scarce while labor costs are increasingly expensive. Investors have gradually moved their projects to neighboring provinces with lower land prices and labor costs, and more responsive bureaucracies.
The neighboring province of Binh Duong, for instance, has rolled out the red carpet to welcome investors and talented individuals. By 2004 foreign investments created 46 percent of the gross domestic production (GDP) of Binh Duong and 36 percent of Dong Nai province. In HCM City, it was only 18.7 percent.
Since then, HCM City has no longer been the main attraction for investors. After losing its market share, the city has found it difficult to rebound.
The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s provincial competitiveness index (PCI) ranking of 2006 ranked HCM City seventh in the country. Binh Duong landed at the top. Since then, Binh Duong has maintained the highest position even though it does not always attract the highest volume of foreign capital.
The HCM City Statistics Office’s data released in June 2009 showed that the city ranked second in luring foreign capital, with nearly $1 billion in 2008, behind the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau. However, of the total 25.6 billion of capital pledged for 3128 foreign-invested projects, only $10 billion has been disbursed.
The low level of disbursement urged the government to question if the city’s administrative red tape was too troublesome.
Economic downturn was predicted a decade ago
Since the late 1990s, many people have argued that the city’s economic structure is not viable. HCM City has based its economy on industry but failed to develop the science and technology sectors.
Some predicted that the city’s economic growth would not be sustainable because industrial production accounted for a low percentage of the city’s GDP.
Experts advised the city to focus on the service sector and consider it as a motive force for the local economy. At that time, HCM City held the upper hand in the service sector compared with other provinces and cities.
The naysayers have been proven correct. HCM City’s service sector grew from 7.4 percent in 2001 to 10.7 percent in 2004. Meanwhile, in the January-July period of 2009, HCM City’s industrial production value grew by 4.6 percent, compared to 6.5 percent in Binh Duong, 7.3 percent in Dong Nai and 10.5 percent and Ba Ria – Vung Tau.
The State-owned sector in HCM City operated weakly during the same months. The industrial production value fell by 3.2 percent, while that of Binh Duong rose by 13.8 percent.
Predictions about the risks to HCM City’s economy have become reality. The failure of its football is a cruel awakening for HCM City, not only in terms of sports.
Duong Trong Dat
vietnamnet
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