Vietnam's Cooperative Model and the Philippine Challenge
What Vietnam's cooperative model and the kibbutz can teach Filipinos about discipline, honesty and the common good. Written by Glenn Junsay Pansensoy · Economy · 11 min read Vietnam’s economic transformation offers an important lesson for the Philippines: a poor, largely agrarian society cannot leap directly into a fully communist society. It must first develop productive forces, modern institutions, industrial capacity, technical skills, and a disciplined work culture. Vietnam’s Communist Party recognized this reality during its Đổi Mới (Renovation) reforms. In 1986, it shifted from a centralized, bureaucratic, and subsidized planned economy toward a socialist-oriented market economy that prioritized commodity production, private and collective enterprises, and foreign investment. This did not mean Vietnam abandoned its socialist goals. Instead, it accepted that communism cannot be created by decree alone. A society must pass through stages of economic develo...