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Principal Investigators
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Research Associates
Johannes Loh
Taufik Indrakesuma
Nicola Pocock
Production
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Image credits, with thanks
All the images in this issue were taken by the ATM team during their Hanoi trip of May 2012,
except for the following images on:
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• page 14, copyrighted by Dave_B_
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Hands of a Vietnamese woman making biomass briquettes
Hanoi’s poor: how do we empower them? 3
Poverty and public services in 4 rapidly growing Vietnam
Large-scale assistance through 12 empowerment efforts
Future outlook: entrepreneurship 17 among the urban poor in 2035
References 22
Contents
3
The Asian Trends Monitoring team continues its reporting on the state of
urban poverty in Southeast Asia. After the first two issues on Jakarta and
Manila, the team now releases a bulletin on a city that is markedly different
from the first two: Hanoi, Vietnam.
Unlike the more developed economies of Indonesia and the Philippines,
Vietnam is very much an economy in transition. With its recent rise into
the cluster of middle income countries (countries with a GDP per capita of
US$1,000 or more), Vietnam has an opportunity to adjust its growth strat-
egy to become more inclusive and lift millions of its people out of pov-
erty. One of the best places to start would be its capital city. Hanoi, unlike
Jakarta and Manila, is not quite a megacity, but it is definitely heading in
that direction. Thus, Hanoi must rethink its strategies and models for ser-
vice provision in order to remain inclusive and accessible throughout this
period of growth.
This issue of the Asian Trends Monitoring Bulletin analyses the living con-
ditions that Hanoi’s poor residents must contend with, and the services
that are in place to assist them. More specifically, we look into the poten-
tial roles of empowerment strategies such as microfinance and social busi-
nesses as viable ways to close service gaps in cities like Hanoi.
This issue also features primary data from our Urban Poverty and
Service Provision dataset. The data we present will hopefully paint a
clearer picture about the state of public services in the city, as well as which
problems most urgently require solutions.
In the final part of this bulletin we provide four alternative future sce-
narios for Hanoi 2035. Will the city choose a new direction and head towards
“vibrant self-reliance” or will it end up in the “inevitable breakdown” sce-
nario? Read about these and two more scenarios in the new future outlook
section.
Throughout 2012 the team has conducted the survey in a total of four
cities: Jakarta, Manila, Hanoi, and Vientiane. Future issues of the ATM Bulletin
will include cross-city comparisons in key areas such as health, water and
access to finance.
We invite you to share the ATM Bulletin with colleagues interested in pro-
poor issues in Southeast Asia. The Bulletin is also available for download
at www.asiantrendsmonitoring.com/download, where you can subscribe
to future issues. We encourage you to regularly visit our website for more
updates and recent video uploads in our blog. Thank you again for support-
ing the ATM Bulletin, and as always, we gladly welcome your feedback.
Taufik Indrakesuma
Johannes Loh
Hanoi’s poor: how do we empower them?
Small business owners like this require much training and assistance to become competitive
Suggested citation
When citing individual articles
• Indrakesuma, T., & Loh, J. (2012). Poverty and public
services in rapidly growing Vietnam. In Asian Trends
Monitoring, Bulletin 18: Empowering Hanoi’s Poor
(pp. 4-11). Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy,
Singapore.
When citing the entire bulletin
• Asian Trends Monitoring (2012). Bulletin 18:
Empowering Hanoi’s Poor. Lee Kuan Yew School of
Public Policy, Singapore.
When citing our survey data
• Asian Trends Monitoring (2012). A dataset on urban
poverty and service provision. Lee Kuan Yew School
of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
4
Vietnam is the country with the highest urbani-
sation rate in Southeast Asia—just a decade
ago only 24% of its population lived in cities,
with 65% of the labour force employed in rural
agriculture. Today, already more than 30 mil-
lion people live in urban areas, accounting for
approximately 34% of Vietnam’s total popula-
tion. The country is witnessing a speedy prolifer-
ation of urban areas, with the number of towns
or cities at 755 and rising. Planners estimate that
Vietnam’s cities will be home to more than 46
million people by the year 2020.1 The largest of
these cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, are the
growth engines of the country, supported by
relatively low urban unemployment at 4.6%. In
contrast, rural unemployment is reported to be
over 20%.2
With its newly attained status as a middle
income countrya and its ambitions to achieve
higher levels of human development, the coun-
try needs to address challenges in basic social
service provision for both rural and urban popu-
lations. In particular, Vietnam will have to cope
with rural-urban migration, a global megatrend
that will continue to trouble city planners for the
forseeable future. Many poor rural Vietnamese
will try their luck in the thriving urban centres,
perceiving them to be full of job opportunities
for both skilled and unskilled workers. Urban
planners need to find a way to accommodate
this influx of migrants and account for the fact
that most of them are ill-equipped to participate
in the urban economy.
In Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines,
agriculture accounts for 42%, 41% and 35%
of the total labour force, respectively. This
means that their transitions into a service sec-
tor-led economy are well ahead of Vietnam’s.
According to official statistics, Vietnam’s agri-
culture sector still employs just over half of the
total labour force.3
Data from several reputable sources indi-
cates that Vietnam has been successful in
pairing economic development with poverty
alleviation in its growing urban areas. This is
evident from the progress in its Millennium
Development Goals and Human Development
Index indicators. For example, Vietnam’s provi-
sion of improvedb water and sanitation sources
in urban areas compares favourably to its
“more developed” ASEAN neighbours such as
Indonesia and the Philippines. Reports about
Vietnam’s progress towards the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) document tremen-
dous achievements against the baseline data
from 1990. Compared to all other ASEAN coun-
tries Vietnam’s poverty reduction record stands
out—from a poverty rate of 58.1% in 1990, the
country managed to lift millions of people out
of poverty by 2008, which showed a rate of only
14.5%.4
While progress on MDG 1 (Eradicating
extreme poverty and hunger) is focused mainly
on income levels, “new forms of poverty” such
as urban slums and service deprivation repre-
sent challenges that require targeted and cross-
sector solutions. In light of the pace of urbanisa-
tion in Vietnam, specific interventions and solu-
tions to alleviate urban poverty will become
increasingly important.
The emerging trend of urban poverty
has been neglected in transitional Vietnam.
Government programmes prioritise rural pov-
erty alleviation programmes, while city admin-
istrations are more concerned with generat-
ing and sustaining the booming economic
growth. But for the marginalised and vulner-
able in Vietnam’s urban areas, problems of
depressed housing conditions, poor water and
Poverty and public services in rapidly growing Vietnam
Table 1. Access to improved water and sanitation in the urban areas of Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam
Access toUrban
IndonesiaUrban
PhilippinesUrban
Vietnam
Improved water 89% 93% 99%
Improved sanitation 67% 80% 94%
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators and Global Development Finance Database (2010 data)
by Taufik Indrakesuma & Johannes Loh
a Above US$1,000 GDP per capita b An improved drinking-water source is one that, by nature of its construction or through active intervention, is likely to be protected from outside contamination. An improved sanitation facility is one that hygienically separates human excreta from human contact.
5
sanitation facilities and health risks due to pol-
lution can have devastating impacts, if not dealt
with quickly.
Service deprivation in Hanoi: evidence from the field
In order to assess the severity of the problems
that the urban poor face, the Asian Trends
Monitoring team conducted a survey among
Hanoi’s poor population between 18–24 May,
2012. We collected a total of 351 responses
from four different neighbourhoods with the
help of 12 field interviewers from the Centre
for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender in
Hanoi. We used the random walk method to
sample respondents from every third house or
shelter.
The survey had a “perception of difficulties”
section comprising ten categories, each to be
rated on a 5-point scale (from “easy” to “impossi-
ble/unable to do”). The survey results show that
the greatest self-reported challenges among
the urban poor are “accessing health services”,
“finding work opportunities”, “saving money”
and “finding good schools” for their children
(see Figure 1). In each of these four categories
more than 40% of respondents answered with
very difficult or unable to do.
Our sample included 225 women and 124
men because the survey was conducted during
the day, when most of the men are at work.
Heads of household and spouses comprised
93% of respondents in total, with 171 and 153
responses, respectively. The average age of
these respondents was 47 years. The house-
holds had an average size of 4.02 members,
and migrant households accounted for 73.4%
of the sample.5
It is striking how prominently so-called “new
forms of poverty” feature among the major
issues indicated by the survey respondents.
While income (reflected by the inability to save
money) is represented in the top four issues,
access to health services, education and finding
employment are equally difficult.
Figure 1. Perception of difficulty among Hanoi’s poor
Source: Asian Trends Monitoring. (2012). A dataset on urban poverty and service provision. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
6
The ten categories presented in Figure 1
were compiled into a “Life difficulty index”
through direct summation. A breakdown by
education group reveals large differences in
perceived life difficulty across all levels of educa-
tion (see Figure 2). However, group comparisons
are only significant between those with school-
ing up to grade 9 and those with high school
degrees or more.
Life in the city is especially tough for
migrants. With no official residence in Hanoi,
migrant households are categorically excluded
from the “poor list” of eligible recipients for gov-
ernment services. This means no subsidies, no
free healthcare, and no other form of govern-
ment support for them. In fact, the city gov-
ernment tries to avoid slum upgrading and fre-
quently raids illegal settlements, pushing the
poor beyond the city boundaries and out of
sight from the public. Thus, Hanoi’s labourers
and micro-entrepreneurs, drawn from migrant
populations, are faced with the daunting task of
commuting great distances from the city centre
to their homes in the outskirts. A recent UNDP
report euphemises the situation in stating that
“government policies and expenditure have,
at times, tended to prioritise achieving higher
rates of economic growth over broader human
development outcomes”.6
Based on the above findings, it is clear
that Hanoi’s development is not yet inclu-
sive. The services available to Hanoi’s poor
are extremely limited and often inaccessible
to those most in need. Migrants and seasonal
workers, often among the city’s poorest resi-
dents, are by default not eligible for the Poor
List (see page 8, “The Poor List”) because they
are not official Hanoi residents. Furthermore,
they are unable to access decent housing and
financial services.
As most of Hanoi’s poor are self-employed
in the informal sector, they often require loans
for working capital and consumption smooth-
ing. Unfortunately, microfinance services in
urban areas are rarely available. In urban areas
there are two major players: the Vietnam
Bank for the Poor and the Women’s Union. In
order to get a loan from these organisations, a
household needs to be listed on the Poor List.
In the case of the Women’s Union, an official
membership is also required. Revolving funds
and self-organised savings groups can only
be run illegally, according to our NGO source.
Consequently, scaling and replication of those
highly effective financial services remains
blocked by law.
The survey data confirms the lack of choices
when Hanoi’s poor are in need of credit. The
overwhelming majority of respondents (73.9%)
take private loans from relatives or friends. Even
the services of informal money lenders, often
the next most popular alternative when the for-
mal financial system is inaccessible (compare
this to ATM Bulletin 17 “Manila’s Poor”), are only
used by 7.8%.
The poor are also deprived when it comes
to health services. If they are unable to afford
health insurance at market rates, they are
forced to pay out-of-pocket for every treat-
ment. An ongoing commercialisation of health
services has further worsened the gap between
the affluent and the poor. The UNDP Human
Development Report notes that attempts to
ensure sustainability of social service funding
have led “to the increasing commercialisation of
public social services, and over-reliance on user
fees by service delivery organisations”.7 As evi-
dent in Figure 4, more than 50% of respondents
have difficulties in paying for health treatments.
As a result, many choose to self-medicate or
leave their ailments untreated. Moreover, a third
(36%) of those who make use of locally available
clinics are dissatisfied with the service quality
(see Figure 5).
Figure 2. Life difficulty index, by the level of education obtained, as a percentage of maximum difficulty
7
Figure 3. Response to the question: Where do you primarily borrow money?
Figure 5. Response to the statement: I receive good service at my local health centre
Figure 4. Response to the statement: I have enough money to pay for health services
8
Several NGO representatives we inter-
viewed in Vietnam confirmed the observation
that urban life has become more challeng-
ing due to rising food prices and costs of liv-
ing. Hong, born and educated in Hanoi, tells
us that “it takes a minimum of VND1,000,000”
(approximately US$50) for a person to survive
for a month in Hanoi, while the current urban
poverty line is set at VND653,000 (US$32.65).11
From the perspective of the poor, government
support is difficult to get and, when available,
remains limited. Moreover, the financial cri-
sis has impacted assistance from overseas—
relatives and friends have lower savings and
remittances have gone down. The crisis has
also impacted the local economy, drying up
employment opportunities that were already
quite scarce before the crisis.
One of the very few studies monitoring
Vietnam’s urban poverty is led by ActionAid
and Oxfam. Through questionnaire-based
interviews, group discussions and in-depth
interviews, their research team tried to deepen
their understanding of urban poverty and
identify the most needed social services. The
study found that poor human resource quality,
an inability to find alternative livelihoods, and
a lack of social capital are major disadvantages
for poor urban residents.12 The study’s results
are very similar to what our interviewees on
the ground named as their major challenges.
According to the study, urban migrants face
additional challenges such as limited access to
public services, uncomfortable and unsafe liv-
ing conditions, high costs of living, and lack of
social integration.
Without a comprehensive social protection
policy, this group of urban migrants and the
next generation of urban poor could constitute
a ticking time bomb for city planners. If the ser-
vice gap keeps growing, it will further aggravate
the social and economic inequality in Vietnam’s
cities and become a major threat to social and
political stability.
“The Poor List”
The Vietnam government’s provision of services for the poor utilises a targeting system
based on household income levels. The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs
(MOLISA) constructs the list of poor households based on a poverty line of VND653,000
(US$32.65) per person per month in urban areas and below VND400,000 (US$20) in rural
areas (as of 2012)8, and household income is assessed based on household surveys and
community discussions. The list of poor households is updated annually.9
In every interview regarding government services in Hanoi, our sources never failed
to mention this infamous “poor list” and what they believed were its flaws. The main
concern is that many consider the poverty line to be set unrealistically low. The "poor
list" threshold of US$32.65 per month is barely above the US$1 per day poverty line
used a decade ago. Locals argue that there are a large number of households that are
unable to meet their basic needs despite having a household income that is too high for
poor list eligibility. The 2011 Human Development Report argues that Vietnam needs to
expand its coverage for social services in order to achieve higher levels of human devel-
opment. It states that the “the system of subsidies and benefits available to the poor and
disadvantaged is not yet sufficient to ensure universal access to social services”.10
The seemingly obvious solution to this flaw is to raise the threshold, granting more
households access to government assistance. However, this solution entails either an
expansion of the government budget for poverty alleviation efforts or a smaller share of
the pie for each household. As government budgets are unlikely to grow so significantly,
the most likely outcome of expanding the “poor list” is that each household will receive
reduced benefits, which can severely lessen the impact of the assistance on the whole.
Thus, a more sustainable solution would be for other organisations to step in and
cater to the other needs of the in-betweens—those too wealthy for Vietnam govern-
ment assistance but still too poor to sustain a decent living. It is important to consider
that the “in-between” households have more resources at their disposal than the “poor
list” households. They can be assisted in other targeted ways such as better employ-
ment opportunities or skills training, which are more viable for smaller organisations
compared to efforts like building free water pumps or free health clinics.
A traditional market in Hanoi.
9
Migrants versus residents: yet another disparity?
A comparison between rural-urban migrants
and established Hanoi residents shows large
differences in perceptions of difficulty.13 The
migrant group rates access to a number of ser-
vices as significantly more difficult than the resi-
dent group. Clean water is perceived as very
difficult to access by 28% of the migrant group
compared to only 8% of the residents (See
Figure 6). One possible explanation would be
that the “residents” were settled at a time when
the city was less crowded, enabling them to live
close to clean water sources.
Differences in access to modern health ser-
vices are less pronounced, but follow the same
pattern. Once again, the migrant group has a
significantly more difficult time gaining access
to modern health treatments than the resident
group (See Figure 7).
Hanoi street vendors sell meat in the open.
Figure 6. Ease of access to clean water
10
Figure 7. Ease of access to modern health treatments
Figure 8. Ease of access to toilets
Figure 9. Ease of finding good schools for children
11
With regards to accessing sanitation facili-
ties, 14% in the migrant group have expressed
difficulty compared to only 4% in the resi-
dent group. This discrepancy becomes more
pronounced when we look at the other end
of the spectrum, where 92% of the residents
found accessing sanitation facilities to be easy
or fairly easy, as opposed to only 69% in the
migrant group.
By just looking at the data, one could
get the impression that migrant children
are discriminated against when applying for
schools. 15% more migrants than residents rate
it as very difficult to find good schools for their
children. One of our interviewees pointed out
that it is not uncommon to pay bribes upwards
of a couple of hundred US dollars to “buy”
admission to decent primary schools. If it is
true that migrants, on average, earn less than
the longer established urban populace, ability
to pay this expensive bribe could explain the
results (See Figure 9).
The results from these four categories are a
clear indication that exclusion from basic facili-
ties and services is more severe for rural-urban
migrants. Interestingly, the questions on work
opportunities and regular savings do not show
significant differences between these two
groups. From the survey results, it appears that
finding work and saving money is equally diffi-
cult for both migrants and Hanoi residents,
regardless of how long they have been living in
the city.
Trash collection, a livelihood of last resort
The team travelled to the Nam Son landfill and solid waste treat-
ment in Soc Son, Northern Hanoi. The main purpose of the visit
was to interview trash pickers earning their living at the landfill.
However, at the time of our visit, the landfill was not open to the
trash collectors, as they are only allowed in the area very early in the
morning, before the garbage trucks arrive. This is one of the major
differences when compared to Jakarta’s Bekasi landfill or Manila’s
harbour landfill. The operator’s strict rules significantly reduce the
danger for trash pickers in the vicinity of the trucks, dumping fresh
garbage. In Jakarta and Manila, the most profitable items can only
be snatched away while the trucks are still unloading and thus the
work has to be done precariously close to the moving trucks.
We interviewed a family who has earned their living in the “recy-
cling” business for the past thirteen years. Hanh, her husband and
their three kids live in a village of about 500 people. Their home is a
simple housing complex with five families, each owning their own
room and a shared outdoor toilet. Even though their area is con-
nected to the water network, the pipe ends at the main road a few
hundred metres away. So, they built a community well.
Rice farming used to contribute about 50% of their monthly
income. However, a few years ago, one family started a brickmak-
ing business that was so profitable that most other families followed
suit. The resulting boom in the number of brickmaking ovens com-
pletely dried up and damaged the soil, rendering it unusable for
commercial farming. Today, they can only use the land for subsis-
tence farming, leaving the landfill as their only source of income.
Hanh’s family acts as a “distributor” in the middle of the supply
chain for recyclable goods. Rather than collect the garbage directly,
the family buys plastic bags, old clothes and sometimes human hair
from other collectors. Subsequently, they clean and dry the mate-
rial and resell it to larger recycling operators. This unique position
means that Hanh’s family members are not put at risk of physical
harm from being in the landfill, making them better off than the
families who collect trash directly.
However, being part of a long, inefficient supply chain also
means that profit margins for the family remain small. Hanh’s
monthly household income is about VND3,000,000–4,000,000
(approximately US$144–191) which translates into less than US$1.30
per person per day. Consequently, they have no safety cushion in
cases of medical emergencies, and even the school fees for their
children are a big burden. To make matters worse, their income level
is deemed “too rich” for government assistance, and when we asked
them about NGOs in their area, we drew only blank looks.
The family would like to scale its business and open a grocery
store, but the loan conditions are not worth the risk. While the bank
asks for collateral which they do not have, the loan shark (usually
one of the local brick producers) asks for outrageous interest rates.
They are left with no real alternatives aside from saving up little by
little from their recycling activities.
Having seen inspiring examples of social businesses based in
trash-picker communities in Manila and Jakarta, we are left wonder-
ing what it would take to mobilise Nam Son’s villagers to get started
and gain access to access to markets for products from recycled
materials.
12
In cities where government services are inacces-
sible for the poor, NGOs would typically step up
and act as a substitute provider for the people.
However, in a city like Hanoi the service gaps are
so large that direct provision from NGOs is not
a viable alternative. Most pro-poor NGOs are
small and have limited resources, meaning that
they can only serve one community at a time.
Additionally, the evidence from the field in
Jakarta and Manila suggests that these small
NGOs that engage directly with the commu-
nities are more successful than large NGOs
that adopt the “assistance from above” pro-
vision models of the government. However,
mimicking the direct engagement service
model on a larger scale is difficult and requires
sizeable expenditures for human resources.
These expenditures will only get larger with
time, due to the anticipated growth in the num-
ber of poor urban residents.
Thus, NGOs working in Hanoi are faced with
two choices: be content with providing services
to a limited number of people (perhaps one
neighbourhood or ward), or adopt a different
strategy that can be scaled up while retaining
financial sustainability. Two such strategies that
have found success in other cities are social busi-
nesses and microfinance.
Before discussing the details of these strate-
gies, it is important to note their common char-
acteristics that may have contributed to their
success. First, both of these strategies focus
on empowerment rather than direct provi-
sion of services. Although building clinics and
schools for the poor can be effective at times,
Large-scale assistance through empowerment efforts
by Taufik Indrakesuma & Johannes Loh
Stuck in Hanoi.
13
it also requires a constant stream of resource
to be poured in. This means that the services
are often at the mercy of donor funding and
will have to cease operations when the money
runs out. On the other hand, social businesses
and microfinance institutions choose instead to
provide the poor with jobs or the capital to start
their own businesses. The resulting improve-
ments in household income will, in the long run,
enable the beneficiaries to access and pay for
existing services, without depending on hand-
outs from the providing organisations.
Secondly, both of these strategies are finan-
cially sustainable because they are run on a for-
profit basis. Social businesses and microfinance
The micro-entrepreneurs of Hoan Kiem Lake
From a quick walk around Hanoi’s popular tourist areas, the tourism-
related economic activity is striking. Souvenir shops, restaurants,
cafes, and hotels have popped up almost everywhere to accom-
modate the increasing numbers of tourists. However, these busi-
nesses generally require a significant amount of capital to set up;
their business models have only limited benefits for the poor. Micro-
entrepreneurs with access to small amounts of capital to support
their endeavours have not been able to capitalise on this growing
tourist market.
The team interviewed a number of micro-entrepreneurs who
worked around Hoan Kiem Lake, a popular tourist spot in Hanoi.
We wanted to know how their businesses have fared in the last few
years, when Hanoi’s tourism sector grew significantly.
Our first interview was with a rickshaw driver, who moved to
Hanoi 21 years ago and has worked as a rickshaw driver ever since.
Over that time, he has seen a shift in how his services are used.
Initially, rickshaws were a primary method of transport, which
meant that his services were in demand and his income was high.
Then, motor vehicles grew quickly in popularity and rendered rick-
shaws obsolete, except as a tourist attraction. However, the recent
growth in tourism has not translated to increased earnings for rick-
shaw drivers. “We’re just not popular anymore,” our interviewee
said. When asked whether the government has attempted to pro-
mote rickshaws as a tourist attraction and help improve their condi-
tions, he answered, “No. Why would they?”
Other vendors around the area felt the same way. A woman who
sold Vietnamese cakes shared, “I usually don’t get many foreign
customers, only locals. The foreigners don’t want to try my cakes.”
Our interpreter added that foreigners are generally unwilling to buy
food from street-side vendors because of hygiene concerns. This has
left many small-scale food sellers unable to tap into the growing
tourist market.
These anecdotes are examples that Hanoi’s micro-entrepreneurs
need assistance. The rickshaw drivers, toy sellers, and food vendors
of Hoan Kiem Lake are stuck with the same jobs and/or business
models as ten years ago. A lack of capital limits their ability to adapt
to the changing markets and adjust their services accordingly.
Microfinance may be the best way to provide this helping hand.
Having some extra capital will allow rickshaw drivers to set up a
proper tour guide business using their rickshaws or to switch to
a motorcycle taxi service. The same applies to food vendors who
would be able to clean and upgrade their stalls to make them more
attractive to foreign tourists.
However, it would be wrong to perceive these micro-entrepre-
neurs simply as people who need handouts. These small-scale busi-
nesses have potential for untapped profits, due to the aforemen-
tioned rapid growth of Hanoi’s tourism industry. Thus, microfinance
institutions would not just be filling a gap in service provision and
helping to lift communities out of poverty—they would be tapping
into a profitable market as well.
This old man makes US$2 a day selling toys.
14
organisations are both strategies that seek a
return on investment. Successful social busi-
nesses are profitable enough to be able to
employ workers at fair wages, while microfinance
organisations establish good rapport with local
communities and generally keep non-perform-
ing loans to a minimum. This element of financial
sustainability allows the organisations to expand
their services both in reach and in duration.
Effective empowerment through social business
Social business is a development buzzword that
has grown in popularity in recent years. The con-
cept and term were popularised by Muhammad
Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and founder
of the Grameen Bank. Loosely defined, any pri-
vate entreprise with poverty alleviation as one
of its objectives can be considered a social busi-
ness. A more specific definition given by Yunus
involves his seven principles14:
• [the] business objective will be to over-
come poverty, or one or more prob-
lems (such as education, health, tech-
nology access, and environment) which
threaten people and society, not profit
maximisation;
• [the business is] financially and economi-
cally sustainable;
• investors get back their investment
amount only, [without dividends] given
beyond investment money;
• when investment amount is paid back,
company profit stays with the company
for expansion and improvement;
• [the business is] environmentally conscious;
• workforce gets market wage with better
working conditions; and
• do it with joy.
Social businesses tend to achieve their
social objectives in two main ways. Some
social businesses help the poor by providing
goods or services at affordable prices. Some
notable examples around the world include
A tough life hidden from view
Ngoc is a 54-year lady who runs a micro-business in Hanoi. She runs a “shop on wheels”,
a bicycle used as a pushcart packed with second-hand clothes, household linens, and
other assorted trinkets. She is also a seasonal migrant—for three months in a year, she is
a farmer, and for the other nine months, she becomes part of Hanoi’s poor population.
She is a registered resident in a village 60km outside of Hanoi, but moved to the city
looking for opportunities to earn additional money. Her family barely owns enough
land to feed themselves and their children dropped out of high school to contribute
as bread-winners.
When Ngoc came to Hanoi (alone, as the rest of her family chose to remain in the
village), she did not know anyone and came with little money, barely enough to start
a business. Luckily, she was able to find a group of migrants who came from the same
province. This gave her both companionship in the city and a way to communicate with
her family back home. Since she cannot afford a mobile phone, she has to rely on people
travelling through her village to relay news to and from her family.
Because she returns to her home during harvest season, she needed a business with
non-perishable goods and low investment costs. Without the skills to secure a job in a
factory, she settled for trading and selling second-hand clothes from a bicycle. “I know
my business is not very profitable,” says Ngoc, “but it’s still better than in my village,
where I have no work for most of the year”. She earns about US$1 on bad days and
maybe US$2.50 on good days. However, half of her profits go for the rent (US$25 per
month) of her sleeping place. After factoring in other costs of living, there isn’t much
money left to be sent back home.
This situation is typical for thousands of poor people in Hanoi: little working capital,
no access to finance, no access to subsidised public services due to non-eligibility, and
poor health due to their living conditions with bad or little sanitation facilities. Ngoc’s
case illustrates how Vietnam’s city planners need to rethink their approach to public
service provision for the urban poor.
Life is tough for Hanoi's street hawkers.
15
Grameen Danone, a joint venture between
Grameen and DANONE to market cheap, nutri-
tious yogurt (called Shokti+) to solve child
malnutrition in Bangladesh. The product was
developed to meet child nutritional require-
ments and was marketed at 6 Bangladeshi
Taka (~US$0.07) for a 60g cup in rural areas and
12 Taka (~US$0.14) for a 80g cup in urban areas.
Due to its affordability and nutritional content,
the product grew popular very quickly, with a
sales level of 95,000 cups per day in April 2010.
A report released in May 2010 detailed the
following social and economic impact of the
venture15:
• 1-out-of-4 children in the marketed areas
eats at least one cup of Shokti+ per week;
• 700 door-to-door sales ladies are get-
ting additional income of 50-100 Taka
(US$0.60–1.20) per day; and
• 370 micro-farmers are also adding 40%
to their daily income from selling to
the Grameen Danone production plant
instead of going to the market.
However, it is worth noting that despite all
of its positive impacts, Grameen Danone and
other similar social businesses require large ini-
tial capital investments, and can take much lon-
ger than conventional business models to reach
the break-even point (in the case of Grameen
DANONE, it does not foresee reaching full
repayment even by 2015, or ten years of opera-
tion). Thus, this particular model of social busi-
ness can run into the same financial constraints
that limit the reach and impact of traditional
NGO provision schemes.
One final point to consider about social busi-
nesses is the quality of the products. The goods
and services should be able to improve the cus-
tomers’ lives, and should thus be of a reason-
ably high quality. This is in stark contrast to the
typical government service provision model,
especially programmes that use self-targeting
schemes. Self-targeted programmes attempt
to circumvent the time-consuming process of
identifying beneficiaries by providing goods
and services of an inferior quality that would
only be demanded by households or individu-
als that are poor. However, inferior goods lead to
smaller benefits, as well as negative side-effects
on the target communities such as shame
and resentment. In this case, social businesses
become better providers than government
agencies, provided a committed entrepreneur
and an investor can be found to fill a particular
service gap.
The other way in which social businesses
can help the poor is through involvement of
the poor and unskilled in the production side.
This can be through ownership by the poor, fair
employment of the poor, or cooperation with
other poor-owned businesses. In the previous
example of Grameen Danone in Bangladesh, the
company not only produces goods that benefit
the poor, it also employs poor rural women as
door-to-door salesmen with fair compensation
and buys its ingredients from local micro-farm-
ers at higher than market prices.
In Hanoi, poor and unskilled workers do not
have much bargaining power and are typically
A river hawker displays her merchandise in Halong Bay .
16
employed under bad conditions and with mini-
mal compensation. Social businesses can fulfill
their social objective by choosing to pay fair
wages that are sufficient for fulfilling the work-
ers’ needs. Additionally, the entreprises can go
even further and empower their employees
through education and skills training. One nota-
ble example that the team found during the visit
was KOTO, a restaurant that employs poor street
children and also gives them formal training in
the hospitality industry. (See page 16, KOTO: the
right model at the right time)
Aside from KOTO and its model of employing
poor youths, there are also some organisations
that work with existing small businesses to
enhance their profitability and reach. One exam-
ple is Craft Linkc, an organisation that works with
traditional craft artisans in Hanoi and rural
Vietnam. Craft Link fulfils their social objective by
assisting these poor communities that have trou-
ble adapting to Vietnam’s rapid economic
growth and modernisation. It trys to help these
artisans to sell their handicrafts to the modern
market by developing new skills and production
techniques, designing new products, and using
modern marketing techniques. The training and
other assistance programmes are fully funded by
the main business of selling the handicrafts,
both locally and internationally. Craft Link’s
activities count as an effective form of empower-
ment because the knowledge transfer will make
the artisan communities more resilient and
adaptable to future changes in the Vietnamese
and world markets for handicrafts.
KOTO: the right model at the right time
To some, KOTO (visit the website at www.koto.com.au) is just a
fancy restaurant in Hanoi with good food, a good atmosphere, and
a friendly service staff. However, to many of its service staff as well
as the poor communities around Hanoi, KOTO represents an oppor-
tunity to escape poverty and achieve a better life.
Founded by Vietnamese-Australian Jimmy Pham in the late 1990s,
KOTO (which stands for Know One, Teach One) is one of the big suc-
cess stories among Hanoi’s social businesses. The success of its model
has inspired imitations in recent years such as STREAT in Melbourne16.
The way in which this restaurant achieves its social objective of
poverty alleviation is by training and employing street children and
other poor youths from the surrounding communities. Their web-
site states:
“Every six months KOTO recruits up to 30 street or dis-
advantaged youth aged 16–22 coming from difficult life
circumstances. These include poverty, abandonment,
orphans, abuse, youth involved in exploitative employ-
ment, neglect, conflict with the law, parents with addic-
tions, parents with mental health problems and a range
of other troubled backgrounds.”17
Successful applicants are then enrolled in a 24-month training
programme which includes extensive training for the hospitality
industry as well as English, computer literacy, and other life skills.
During this time, KOTO also provides accommodation, meals, and
routine health check-ups.
After the training programme, graduates can either work at the
KOTO restaurants in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City or find a hospi-
tality job with other organisations in Vietnam’s major cities. Most
KOTO graduates manage to secure trainee positions in established
businesses in Vietnam, but also abroad. More recently, KOTO has
secured partnerships with hotels, resorts, and restaurants around
the world, giving its graduates even more lucrative opportunities.
Part of the success of the business model can be attributed to the
growth of the hospitality industry in Vietnam’s urban areas. There is a
significant growth in the tourism sector, which means that new hotels
and restaurants will be in need of a larger number of workers. KOTO
succeeds because it fills that labour demand gap successfully by sup-
plying highly trained workers. This leads to organisations being more
likely to invest or donate money into the KOTO training programme,
which will make the operations more sustainable in the long run.
The other part of KOTO’s success as a social business is that its
model truly helps households at the bottom of the pyramid. Aside
from providing its beneficiaries with the short run improvements
in health care and nutrition, KOTO also equips them with the tools
to thrive in an increasingly competitive urban economy. As a
result, the expected earnings of KOTO graduates should be
enough to support their families and allow them to escape pov-
erty. In the long run, this has a much larger and more sustainable
impact than government subsidies for food, healthcare, or educa-
tion ever could.
c For more information about Craft Link, visit their website at www.craftlink.com.vn
17
The Vietnamese capital is undergoing several
drastic changes. The city’s look and feel are
changing, and the city’s inhabitants have evolved
their preferences and demands. This presents
new risks and challenges that policy makers must
juggle. Thus, the kind of choices that city plan-
ners take will heavily influence Hanoi’s aspiration
as a modern and inclusive metropolis.
The ATM survey indicates that health ser-
vices, good schools, work opportunities, and
financial services are the most critical unmet
needs of the poor. Finding solutions is especially
urgent due to the population pressures caused
by growing share of rural-urban migrants try-
ing their luck in the “big city”. Current strategies
will fail: slum clearing and restrictive eligibility
criteria for government benefits are short-term
strategies to drive people away from Hanoi, but
these disincentives are no match for what the
city has to offer.
In order to equip planners with a framework
to base their policy design, we have developed
four alternative futures for Hanoi. They are cen-
tered along two critical junctures:
• pace of rural-urban migration and its con-
sequences for urban infrastructures; and
• service delivery method for the urban
poor.
Both of these issues were discussed at length
in previous sections of this bulletin. The combi-
nation of those critical junctures produces the
following four alternative futures (See Figure 10).
To simplify the comparison of the alternative
futures, three criteria will be used to evaluate
the different outcomes:
• pace of economic growth;
• inclusiveness of the economy for the low-
est income groups; and
• quality of life of the lowest income groups.
Future outlook: entrepreneurship among the urban poor in 2035
by Taufik Indrakesuma & Johannes Loh
A much-needed break from a hard day's work.
18
Figure 10. Which future to choose? Hanoi in 2035…
Pace of economic growth
A development model focused on maximum
productivity and rapid GDP growth often results
in unwanted externalities such as higher social
and economic inequality, environmental degra-
dation or resource exploitation. Choosing more
inclusive alternatives can, but does not have to
slow down economic growth. Therefore, it is an
important criterion when reflecting on future
policy measures.
Inclusiveness
In the context of improving livelihoods for the
urban poor, the inclusiveness of the economy
for the lowest income groups is crucial. They
need to have a support structure for business
development and sufficient training and job
opportunities in order to lift themselves out
of poverty. Historical experiences show that
relying on the “trickling-down theory” will not
work.
Quality of life for the lowest income group
Living conditions for the urban poor in rap-
idly growing megacities in developing coun-
tries are harsh. Entrenched historical patterns
show high degrees of service exclusion and
much lower levels of human development,
particularly in urban slums. This criterion is
linked to and complements the inclusiveness
criterion, but will be affected by different sets
of policy measures.
19
Scenario 1: Controlled and inclusive growth
A decelerated pace of rural-urban migration would allow
urban infrastructure to catch up with population levels.
Additionally, a concerted empowerment strategy would
enable the poor to participate in turning Hanoi into a dynamic
metropolis. The city would have a vibrant economy with
micro-entrepreneurs competing alongside big businesses.
A mix of government and NGO-run training centres would
ensure that micro-entrepreneurs learned the necessary skills
to develop their businesses. A controlled population level
leads to manageable competition and bigger profit-margins
for small businesses such as street-vendors, kiosk owners and
tuktuk drivers. Access to practical training, even for those with
only limited schooling, would improve job opportunities for
the lowest income groups. With the ability to afford basic ser-
vices, these groups would achieve better social integration
and higher social capital in their neighbourhoods.
The “poor” would enjoy good levels of inclusion, socially
as well as economically. However, these benefits come at the
cost of excluding a number of would-be migrants that will be
denied entry to control population levels. Also, the required pol-
icy adjustments would also slow down economic growth due to
the shift away from a strict GDP growth target.
Policy measures
This alternative future requires a way to harness and control
the trend of rapid urbanisation, which is not an easy feat. One
policy, already in place in Laos, is creating secondary cities in
other parts of the country to draw attention away from major
capitals. Policy reforms to attract businesses to small towns,
as well as investments in infrastructure in underdeveloped
areas, could support this move.
This future also requires extensive investment into skills
training and capacity building for the urban poor in addition
to creating a supportive business environment for Small- and
Medium-sized Entreprises (SMEs). For successful examples in
these massive skills training programmes, planners can draw
inspiration from the workfare and retraining programmes in
the USA and European welfare states.
Scenario 2: Vibrant self-reliance
In this future, the city planners embrace both trends. Planners
see rapid rural-urban migration as a chance to transform their
city into a vibrant marketplace and an engine of economic
growth. Public institutions realise the need to respond to
the urban poor’s needs while minimising the risk of depen-
dency. Extensive programmes to facilitate social integration
of rural-urban migrants into Hanoi’s economy and broad-
based support for initiatives to train and work with the poor
will be put into place. The city’s growth strategy will be based
on start-ups, social entreprises and a diverse range of afford-
able or free training opportunities for Hanoi’s poor. Rather
than providing hand-outs, the support for the urban poor
will be focused on enhancing productivity and self-reliance.
While slums and poor living conditions are likely to occur in
the short term, over time they will organically improve due to
the increased income levels of the poor. Quality of life would
be slightly lower due to effects of crowding, pollution and dif-
ficult living conditions, but improvements will come as the
infrastructure catches up with population trends.
Policy measures
In order to shift the entrenched historical pattern—poor ser-
vice delivery, high social exclusion and lack of opportunities for
the urban poor—towards a scenario of vibrant self-reliance,
Hanoi’s policy makers must step into uncharted territory, as
this model in its entirety has never been seen before.
Planners must improve the business environment for
SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs, representing a significant
shift from the dominant paradigm of economic growth led by
big businesses. This may antagonise big businesses to some
extent, so the political fallout must also be addressed.
Empowering the lower income groups towards self-reli-
ance is neither cheap nor easy, since it would require setting
up and scaling training opportunities and inviting social busi-
nesses to employ large numbers of new migrants. This aspect
of the plan can emulate the Bangladesh model, where social
businesses are thriving and are a large source of employment
for the poor.
20
Scenario 3: Improvement through exclusion
The third scenario sees rural-urban migration slowing down
through policies of control and exclusion. This would increase
the quality of life for Hanoi’s established residents, due to a
preservation of population density and lower competition over
scarce resources. However, this will further maarginalise the
urban poor. The deficits in service provision would be tackled
through extensive direct service provision and social welfare
programmes. There would be an expansion of government
services such as water, health care and electricity, both in quan-
tity and quality, with NGOs providing services to the remain-
ing gaps. In the short run, this would result in quality of life
improvements for all of Hanoi, especially the poor. However,
preserving these outcomes puts a strain on public budgets.
Overall, the quality of life would be acceptable for the
lower income groups. Although Hanoi’s poor would be able
to survive off these services, they would still experience social
exclusion, a growing dependency on the government, and no
real prospects of improving their livelihoods. A comprehen-
sive social protection system cushions some of the negative
impacts, but would not address the issue of rising social and
economic inequality over the long run. Finally, with a priority
on big businesses and the traditional economic development
model, economic growth would be high, but would not be
inclusive and would result in social stratification.
Policy measures
This model of development resembles the China model for
rapid growth. Rural-urban migration would be discouraged
with tight eligibility criteria and bureaucratic hurdles to set-
tle within the city boundaries. The China example, however,
shows that there is the risk of creating a large class of illegal
migrants.
The economic approach would continue to focus on large
scale investments and a favourable environment for big busi-
nesses. The government would be willing to invest into direct
service provision and improve access and quality for those
falling under the eligibility criteria.
Scenario 4: Inevitable breakdown
The final scenario comes into effect if rapid urbanisation con-
tinues and the government continues its traditional approach
of service provision in Hanoi. This is a ‘business-as-usual’ and
‘do nothing new’ scenario which underscores the unsustain-
ability of present policies in the context of key trends, issues
and trajectories. Existing challenges such as poor urban liv-
ing conditions, service deprivation and economic exclusion
would worsen over time as the infrastructure development
struggles to keep pace with the rising population. Frequent
bottlenecks and breakdown of infrastructure in the transport,
health, sanitation, and education sectors would drive a shift
towards private service provision reserved for the affluent res-
idents of Hanoi. Living conditions in poorer neighbourhoods
would worsen and slum-like settlements would form. Public
services available to the poor would be difficult to access and
mostly of low quality due to overcrowding effects.
Overall, the quality of life would be low across different
income groups, even for the more affluent due to bottlenecks
in transport, higher pollution and increasing crime rates.
The city would become more and more divided, economi-
cally, politically and socially. In the medium run, the econ-
omy would enjoy high growth rates, but eventually issues
with infrastructure would negatively affect the city’s growth
potential. In essence, this scenario is the current condition of
most poorly-planned megacities such as Mexico City, Jakarta,
and Manila.
Policy measures
The government will continue to push for urban moderni-
sation, often at the expense of the less educated and mar-
ginalised urban constituencies. Crowding effects will be
addressed “after-the-fact” in a reactionary way through
slum clearance and gentrification. Service provision will shift
towards further commercialisation leaving the less prosper-
ous with insufficient low quality service infrastructure in a city
bursting from its seems.
21
Towards a desirable outcome
It is clear that planners are under immense pres-
sure to make decisions that could change the
current trajectory of Hanoi’s development. Of
these four scenarios, only one scenario is clearly
undesirable: the breakdown scenario. The other
three scenarios have their own merits and weak-
nesses. “Controlled, inclusive growth” damp-
ens the growth potential of the city, “vibrant
self-reliance” requires the most effort from the
part of the government, while “improvement
through exclusion” can be politically complex.
Choosing between these scenarios requires
extensive dialogue and strategic cooperation
with the relevant stakeholders, including the
poor. Unfortunately, the voices of the urban poor
are usually among the least prominent in the dis-
course over choosing future development paths.
We hope that these scenarios will inform the pub-
lic and initiate new dialogue on which future
Hanoi’s policymakers and inhabitants envision
and seek to realise for themselves.
Urban slums in Hanoi, a challenge for city planners.
22
References
1. Vietnam Investment Review (2006, March 15). “Planners dig themselves out of a hole”. Accessed July 3, 2012 from http://www.intellasia.net/planners-dig-themselves-out-of-a-hole-59400.
2. Giang, T. (2012, April 14). Poverty Deduction Remains a Daunting Challenge. Saigon Times. Accessed July 10, 2012 from Factiva Inc.
3. World Bank (2006). Employment in agriculture (% of total employment). World Development Indicators Database. World Bank.
4. UN Vietnam (2008). Achieving the MDGs with Equity. MGD 1 Progress Report.
5. Asian Trends Monitoring. (2012). A dataset on urban poverty and service provision. Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.
6. UNDP Vietnam (2012). Social Services for Human Development. Vietnam Human Development Report 2011. United Nations Development Programme, p.2.
7. UNDP Vietnam (2012). Social Services for Human Development. Vietnam Human Development Report 2011. United Nations Development Programme, p.4.
8. Vietnam News Brief Service (June 20, 2012). Society: Vietnam Poverty Rate 2012 Likely at 20.7% on New Standards: WB. Accessed July 17, 2012 from Factiva Inc.
9. ASEAN Secretariat & World Bank (2009). The country report of the ASEAN assessment on the social impact of the global financial crisis: Viet Nam.
10. UNDP Vietnam (2012). Social Services for Human Development. Vietnam Human Development Report 2011. United Nations Development Programme, p.4.
11. Vietnam News Brief Service (June 20, 2012). Society: Vietnam Poverty Rate 2012 Likely at 20.7% on New Standards: WB. Accessed July 17, 2012 from Factiva Inc.
12. Action Aid (2011). Participatory Monitoring of Urban Poverty in Vietnam – Fourth Round Synthesis Report 2011. A study by ActionAid and Oxfam.
13. We use the 10 year mark to differentiate between “recent migrants” and “established residents”
14. Retrieved and paraphrased from www.yunuscentre.org
15. Yunus, M. (May 2010). Grameen Danone Foods Ltd., a Social Business in Bangladesh. Retrieved July 13, 2012 from http://www.muhammadyunus.org/images/stories/in_the_media/GDFL_BP_210510.pdf
16. Moonee Valley Weekly. Flemington café gives hope for the homeless. http://www.mooneevalleyweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/flemington-cafe-gives-hope-for-the-homeless/2585581.aspx
17. KOTO. KOTO Programmes. https://www.koto.com.au/vietnam-charity/koto-programmes (Accessed on July 9, 2012).
23
24
Johannes Loh is working as a Research Associate at the
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He holds a Master’s
degree in Public Policy from the Hertie School of Public
Policy in Berlin, and a Bachelor of Arts in Integrated
Social Science from Jacobs University Bremen. His previ-
ous research experience includes aid governance, visual
political communication and public sector reform in
developing countries. Prior to joining the Lee Kuan Yew
School of Public Policy he has also worked for the United
Nations Environment Programme in Geneva, Transparency International Nepal, and
the Centre on Asia and Globalization in Singapore. His email is johannes.loh@nus.
edu.sg and you can follow his updates on trends in pro-poor policies in the region on
Twitter @AsianTrendsMon.
Nicola Pocock is a research associate at the LKY School of
Public Policy. She is also the research manager at aidha,
a non profit financial education and entrepreneurship
training school for migrant women, especially domes-
tic workers, in Singapore. She holds a BA from Warwick
University and an MSc from Kings College London. Prior
to joining the LKY School of Public Policy, she interned
as a Fast stream trainee in the UK civil service at the
Home Office and as a research volunteer at Amnesty
International. Nicola has also carried out social work in Marseille, France as a European
Union sponsored youth volunteer. Her research interests span health and social policy,
health systems financing, social impact assessment, gender, migration and financial
behaviours. Her email is [email protected] and you can follow his updates on trends
in pro-poor policies in the region on Twitter @AsianTrendsMon #health
Taufik Indrakesuma is a research associate at the Lee
Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He is a recent gradu-
ate of the Master in Public Policy programme at the
Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He also holds a
Bachelor in Economics degree from the University of
Indonesia, specialising in environmental economics.
Taufik has previously worked as a Programme Manager
at the Association for Critical Thinking, an NGO dedicated
to proliferating critical thinking and human rights aware-
ness in the Indonesian education system. His research interests include behavioural
economics, energy policy, climate change mitigation and adaptation as well as urban
development policy. His email is [email protected]
Darryl Jarvis is an Associate Professor at the LKY School
of Public Policy. He specialises in risk analysis and the
study of political and economic risk in Asia, including
investment, regulatory and institutional risk analysis. He
is an author and editor of several books and has con-
tributed articles to leading international journals. He has
been a consultant to various government bodies and
business organisations and for two years was a member
of the investigating team and then chief researcher on
the Building Institutional Capacity in Asia project commissioned by the Ministry of
Finance, Japan. His current research is a large cross-national study of risk causality
in four of Asia’s most dynamic industry sectors. He teaches courses on risk analysis,
markets and international governance and international political economy. His email
Phua Kai Hong is a tenured professor at the LKY School
of Public Policy and formerly held a joint appointment as
Associate Professor and Head, Health Services Research
Unit in the Faculty of Medicine. He is frequently con-
sulted by governments within the region and interna-
tional organisations, including the Red Cross, UNESCAP,
WHO and World Bank. He has lectured and published
widely on policy issues of population aging, health-
care management and comparative health systems in
the emerging economies of Asia. He is the current Chair of the Asia-Pacific Health
Economics Network (APHEN), founder member of the Asian Health Systems Reform
Network (DRAGONET), Editorial Advisory Board Member of Research in Healthcare
Financial Management and an Associate Editor of the Singapore Economic Review.
His email address is [email protected]
T S Gopi Rethinaraj joined the Lee Kuan Yew School
of Public Policy as Assistant Professor in July 2005.
He received his PhD in nuclear engineering from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before
coming to Singapore, he was involved in research and
teaching activities at the Programme in Arms Control,
Disarmament and International Security, a multi-disciplin-
ary teaching and research programme at Illinois devoted
to military and non-military security policy issues. His
doctoral dissertation, “Modeling Global and Regional Energy Futures,” explored the
intersection between energy econometrics, climate policy and nuclear energy futures.
He also worked as a science reporter for the Mumbai edition of The Indian Express
from 1995 to 1999, and has written on science, technology, and security issues for
various Indian and British publications. In 1999, he received a visiting fellowship from
the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Chicago, for the investigative reporting on South
Asian nuclear security. His current teaching and research interests include energy secu-
rity, climate policy, energy technology assessment, nuclear fuel cycle policies and inter-
national security. He is completing a major research monograph "Historical Energy
Statistics: Global, Regional, and National Trends since Industrialisation" to be published
in Summer 2012. His email address is [email protected]
Principal Investigators Research Associates
The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy is an autonomous, professional graduate school of the National University of Singapore.
Its mission is to help educate and train the next generation of Asian policymakers and leaders, with the objective of raising the
standards of governance throughout the region, improving the lives of its people and, in so doing, contribute to the transformation
of Asia. For more details on the LKY School, please visit www.spp.nus.edu.sg