An Examination of Entrepreneurial Relationships Between the State and Nonstate in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract

Using evidence from the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam tourism industry, this study critiques the entrepreneurial city model on the grounds that it posits a normative argument separating the governance practices of the urban state from the for-profit activities of the private sector. This division masks the long-standing encroachment of the public (or state) sector into "private" (or nonstate) arenas, and limits the nonstate sector's role in forging entrepreneurial schemes. Using interview data that illustrate the ambiguous relationships between the state and nonstate, I will analyze entrepreneurial cities based on the blurriness of the boundaries between the state and nonstate sectors as they negotiate their charges and collaborate for purposes entrepreneurial. [Key words: urban entrepreneurialism, public-private, Ho Chi Minh City, doi moi, Vietnam.]

Rethinking Whiteness and Masculinity in Geography: Drinking Alcohol in the Field in Vietnam

“…Second, I question how non‐state players in the tourism industry work with and alongside the state in developing their businesses. This involves an examination of the entrepreneurial characteristics and spaces that are generated by non‐state tourism actors in the 20 years since Vietnam “renovated” its economic policies and began to encourage private sector economic development (eg Gillen ). I use semi‐structured interviews with business leaders and tour guides, focus groups and small group meetings, participant observation on tours, analyses of news, social media sites, and documentation of tourism offerings in Ho Chi Minh City to answer my research questions in this avenue of inquiry.…”

Fieldwork Unbound: Spaces of Association in Postconflict Vietnam

“…My introduction to Vietnam in 2002 had no link to the war beyond the imaginative geographies I had drawn from the media and popular culture: I have no relatives who served in Vietnam and my motivation to visit and subsequently study the country is based on what I see is the entrepreneurial spirit of Vietnamese society (Gillen 2010). My research continues in this vein and centers on the tourism industry.…”

“…In particular, my studies revolve around interviews with tour guides and employees in medium-sized tourism companies in Ho Chi Minh City. Many of the major tourism attractions in south Vietnam have to do with the war (most prominently the War Remnants Museum and the Cu Chi Tunnels), and tour guide narratives of pain, remembrance, and progress inform the experiences of the Western tourist consumer at these sites (Gillen 2011). I am not immune to feeling, on the one hand, guilty, regretful, and frustrated about the actions of the U.S. military in Vietnam when visiting war tourism sites and hearing the stories of the guides who grew up and lost loved ones during the war.…”

Tourism and Entrepreneurialism in Southeast Asian Cities

“…By way of a Vietnamese example, the department of tourism in the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has adopted a rosy message with its current slogan, ‘Ho Chi Minh City‐(A) Destination of Safety and Friendliness’ (Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Board 2009). Tours of the countryside and home stays – which promote the idyllic, slow‐paced life of traditional Vietnam – is a new option in the Ho Chi Minh City tourism industry (Gillen 2010).…”

“…Some contemporary research in Southeast Asian urban entrepreneurialism challenges the strong state model of urban governance by assessing how the urban cultural–economy is produced by relationships between the state and non‐state, groups who share similar interest in developing a distinctive and robust tourism industry. These relationships can be of a formal or informal nature and are often project driven rather than oriented around long‐term economic goals and shared ‘Asian’ values (Gillen 2010). Writing about the budding ‘boutique’ or vernacular hotel business in Singapore, Chang and Teo (2009, 345) recognize that ‘the multiple voices of entrepreneurs, residents, and visitors’ must be considered in analyses of Singapore.…”