I was struck by a recent article on VietnamNetBridge here which noted how the Bong Mieu Gold Company’s mine in Quang Nam province was attacked by over 500 people from the surrounding villages.  According to the short article online, the incident started when a young man (aged 19) tried to sneak into the dumping ground to collect some ore.  He was handed over to local police by security guards and was then taken to hospital for injuries from an electric taser stick.  This sparked off more widespread unrest and the story notes that ‘hundreds of extremists used the case as a pretence to attack and rob five tons of ore from the Bong Mieu Gold Company’.  Vietnam is a country endowed with magnificent natural resources.  While the country has benefited from fast paced growth, prosperity is not even and a great deal of poverty is concentrated in rural and remote areas.  Vietnam has only recently opened up to foreign investment in the mining sector.   I was struck by this article and concerned that unless companies find meaningful ways to engage with the surrounding community and find ways to make sure that remote communities also prosper, I fear we will be seeing many more such stories in the future. Photo from VietnamNetBridge.

In the first half of 2008, there were 330 'illegal strikes' in Vietnam (see more here). And now comes news that up to 10,000 workers "have walked off the job to protest low salaries and lousy meals" a shoe factory in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province. The factory is owned by Pou Chen Vietnam, which is in turn owned by the Taiwanese-based Pou Chen Group (whose subsidiary Yue Yuen is the world's largest branded footwear manufacturer). According to the report linked above, workers on the "the picket line threw mam tom (shrimp paste) and pig blood pudding on other workers for not joining the strike". Pou Chen has agreed to raise wages by 5%, but workers have rejected the offer saying that the US$70 per month they earn is not enough to meet rapidly rising living costs.

In last week's CSR Asia Weekly, Rob Hanlon and I argued that "the portrayal of Google as a socially responsible business standing-up for human rights in China is a theatrical performance". Now comes news that Google said last week "Vietnamese computer users have been spied on and political blogs hacked into [and] infected machines had been used both to spy on their owners as well as to attack blogs containing messages of political dissent".

There is no word that the company intends to withdraw from Vietnam, despite "[a]nalysts, rights groups and diplomats say[ing that] the human rights situation in Vietnam has been worsening."

A new report says the illegal killing of rhinos for their horns is increasing in Asia. Rhinoceros poachers are killing an estimated two to three of the rare animals each week. Experts say demand in Asia, especially Vietnam and China, currently drives most trade in rhino horns. The horns are often used to make traditional medicines. The report is from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. So I am looking for a pharmaceutical company who could put some money into proving that Rhino horn has no medicinal value and crushing stupid superstitions that are putting such wonderful animals in danger. That sounds like a worthwhile CSR project. Any takers?

A very interesting article from the VietNamNet Bridge describes a clothing business in Ho Chi Minh City, where most child workers have to work 14 hours per day in small, hot, gloomy rooms. Employers openly admit they don’t have work contracts and have to work the whole week. They explain away their use of child workers by various means, saying it is difficult to hire adult workers or more honestly that they employ children to cut labour costs. One factory owner says "we have run this business for eight years. We only earn enough to live on so we don’t have a business licence. Nobody comes here for labour inspections and nobody tells me about how many working hours are set for workers at what age. We work until 12pm here, no problem.” Another owner is reported as saying "it is the same everywhere, all clothing enterprises in the city use child workers who work until 12pm". Another says "it is normal for them (children) to work until 12pm. When I was a child, I also worked like this".