Obstacles in the Sustainable Development of Industry in Ethnic Minorities’ Areas of Vietnamese Mekong Delta (Kien Giang and Can Tho)45254

Obstacles in the Sustainable Development of Industry in Ethnic Minorities’ Areas of Vietnamese Mekong Delta (Kien Giang and Can Tho) Tham Trinh Chi1, Nhuong Le Van1, Kha Huynh Hoang1, Hieu Le Van1, Phuc Nguyen Thi Ngoc1, Tran Ngo Ngoc1 School of Education, Can Tho University, Can Tho, Vietnam * Correspondence: tctham@ctu.edu.vn Abstract: Promoting the development of industrial economies sustainably in the areas where ethnic minorities are living is one of key goals in Vietnam as this supports to create a balanced development amongst ethnic groups as well as regions During industrialization era, combining sustainable industrial engagement with the development of ethnic minority can be considered as indispensable need This study has analyzed some main obstacles in the sustainable development of industry in the localities where ethnic minority people have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province and proposed some solutions Based on the mixed method, the research data was collected through studying documents, conducting survey, carrying out interview and taking field trip The research results have shown three major issues that were concluded from data analysis Firstly, although it is much potential, the industrial activities in some areas where ethnic minorities have been living in selected localities are still underdeveloped Secondly, some obstacles including low in literacy rate and labor qualification, lack of capital and technology investment, limitation of infrastructure, lack of market information and government policy; and the dispersion of industries were analyzed in order to judge how challenging in developing industrial economies in the localities Finally, a number of solutions have been proposed to support the development of industry in the local areas consisting of training some appropriate professions to the local situation, giving loan with low interest rates, advising on local industrial development, upgrading transportations system and disseminating and enforcing government policies Keywords: Ethnic minority; industry; obstacle; sustainable development; Can Tho; Kien Giang Introduction Vietnam has 53 different ethnic minorities with 13.4 million people It accounts for 14.6 % of the Vietnamese population in 2018 (GSO Vietnam, 2018) Ethnic minorities in Vietnam mainly live in the Northwest part, Central Highlands, Mekong Delta region and Central Coast (Pham, 1973) Since 2016, Vietnamese Party and Government have had many policies on socio-economic development in places where ethnic minorities have been living Specifically, the Prime Minister has issued 41 documents mentioning the priority of socioeconomic development for ethnic minority and mountainous areas Amongst them, there are 15 projects and policies exclusively for ethnic minorities Currently, there are still 54 effective policies in supporting and prioritizing the development of some areas where ethnic minorities are living (Institute of Ethnology, 1984) Through the above policies, ethnic minority people in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province are concerned with many specific and preferential policies However, the socioeconomic activities in ethnic minority areas are still undeveloped This makes a big gap in 78 the development and life quality between ethnic minorities and the remaining population in Vietnam Especially, the development of industries in the area is quite limited and faces a lot of difficulties It is believed that to develop the industrial economy in the area where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho and Kien Giang sustainably, it is necessary to identify the causes of limitations and difficulties in industrial development in these areas Base on identifying reasons, solutions that are valuable and appropriate to the actual situation will be proposed to solve the problems Methodology 2.1 Research questions a How was the industrial economies developed in some areas where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province? b How challenging developing industrial economies sustainably in the localities where ethnic minorities have been living? c What are solutions that can be proposed to support the development of industry in the local areas sustainably? 2.2 Data collection Can Tho city and Kien Giang province were selected as research areas because these are two provinces/cities in the Mekong Delta region which are quite crowded with ethnic minorities Besides, these two areas respond well and more appropriately to specific criteria (different in potentials and economic background, Can Tho is a big city in the region central and Kien Giang is a coastal province), so Can Tho and Kien Giang have been selected as research areas Additionally, we clearly identify the specific locations in each place to collect data including the districts of Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy, Cai Rang, O Mon, Thoi Lai, Co Do (Can Tho city); Rach Gia, Giong Rieng and Go Quao (Kien Giang privince) To have a theoretical basis for this study, academic documents in the field were collected and studied Specifically, the documents on economic activities of ethnic minorities in Vietnam and the Mekong Delta region, planning for socio - economic development in areas where ethnic minorities live, socio-economic development in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province was studied by the authors Understanding the theoretical background of the research issue helps the authors to have an initial view about the research object This also supports the researchers to carry out the study easier and more oriented 2.2.1 Survey Survey was considered as a main data collection type which has supported to collect wide range information from 130 households, 150 workers, 50 Entrepreneurs and 50 local leaders It is believed that this helps the researchers to gather broad and comprehensive 79 information (Creswell, 2014) as the survey subjects were different in ages, races, incomes, academic background, occupations, etc Furthermore, a large number of samples as above are enough to ensure the reliability, accuracy and objectivity for the research results The survey helps the researchers to know about which industries are developing, what difficulties in industrial development in ethnic minority areas are and how these difficulties impact on the sustainable industrial development 2.2.2 Interview To collect profound information as well as increase the reliability for the research, in-depth interviews have been selected Through this data collecting way, the study have selected ninety different interviewees including 30 households, 30 workers, 15 entrepreneurs and 15 local leaders Those subjects were different in occupations, ages and experience; therefore, they have provided the authors with comprehensive and diverse information This can support to improve the study results’ reliability (Creswell, 2014; Montello and Sutton, 2013) Through the interview, the authors can further understand about the obstacles in industrial development in the selected area as well as the participants’ suggestions on how to improve the sustainable development in the local industry 2.2.3 Field trip A fieldwork was conducted to actively explore the research subjects In particular, we had field days in two provinces/cities mentioned above Through fieldwork, we have observed our research object in detail as well as collected a lot of authentic data for the study For instance, the authors focused their attention on people's housing, transportation system, operation status of factories, and the lives of local residents to better understand the current situation of industry development and the quality of life in the localities It can be said that fieldwork helps us proactively evaluate and assess the development of industrial economies in many different localities Moreover, the information collected from the field trip supports us compare and contrast with what was collected through surveys and interviews (Denscombe, 2010) 2.3 Data recording In order to collect, store and prove the research results, a number of data collection tools such as notebooks, recorders, cameras and telephones were used in this study It is true that the questionnaires and interview questions are important to guide the data collection as well as to assist the authors collecting comprehensive information Notebooks, cameras, voice recorders and telephones are tools that can help the researchers to store collected data (Creswell, 2014) Data recording helps the researchers not only to prove their research results but also increase the research results’ credibility 2.4 Data analysis In order to analyze the collected information, 23rd version SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) has been used In particular, SPSS supports the authors to revise information systematically as well as put data into different themes and explain the research 80 results After that, the authors aggregate data and present it in a tabular form The analysis of data from SPSS software also provides the researchers with important and necessary information to create a practical basis for this study The researchers have based on following process and technique that were suggested by Creswell (2014) in order to analyze collected data: Step 1: Prepared and organized the data; Step 2: Read through all data of interviews; Step 3: Organized the material into segments of text before interpreting the meaning of data; Step 4: Coded the data based on the meaningful segments and sort them into some different categories; Step 5: Described the theme with typical meaning of each data sort The researchers have focused on the main message of the category in each description; Step 6: Analyzed and concluded on the research results Results 3.1 Majoy industries in the local areas The research results have shown that there are a few industries that have been developed in selected localities; however, most of them are small scale industries In particular, industrial companies with modern technology and big scale are located in industrial zones Small scale industries are developed in the rural areas where ethnic minorities are settling Amongst 50 industrial factories that were surveyed, there are 13 enterprises of confectionery processing and 11 enterprise of rice milling In addition to this, ice processing is the next most popular industrial activity in the research area with seven factories working in this field Besides, industry of boat/canoe building is quite common in the selected localities; but its scale is quite small with building small boats Although seafood processing, wood and shoe production are industries that bring high profit, they are not popular in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province with the corresponding number of five, three and two enterprises Especially, those industries are mainly located in district central where not a lot of ethnic minorities are living In other words, small scale industrial economies are more popular in the local areas where ethnic minorities are settling (table 1) Table Major industries in areas where ethnic minorities have been living Can Tho Types of Industry A number of Kien Giang Percentages enterprise Confectionery processing Boat/canoe building A number of Percentages enterprise 32.0 8.0 81 20.0 16.0 Furniture wood processing 8.0 4.0 Ice processing 12.0 16.0 Rice milling 16.0 28.0 Seafood processing 12.0 8.0 Shoe processing 4.0 4.0 Others 8.0 4.0 Total 25 100 25 100 (Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 50) It is indicated that basically there are similarities in industrial development in Can Tho and Kien Giang In general, the types of industries that are developed in these localities are totally the same However, there are differences in the popularity and scale of industries Specifically, the confectionery processing industry is most popular in ethnic minority areas in Can Tho while the rice milling industry is the most popular in Kien Giang The next popular industries in Can Tho are rice milling, seafood and ice processing Although the confectionery processing industry is also quite popular in Kien Giang, it is much less common in Can Tho Following industrial economies that are quite famous in Kien Giang are boat/canoe building and ice processing The shoe manufacturing and furniture wood processing industries are not well known in both Can Tho city and Kien Giang province It can be seen that Industry in both Can Tho city and Kien Giang province needed a lot of labor but it has not require high technology In specific, only seafood processing and shoe manufacturing industries have been requiring advanced technology, but such industries are less popular in the localities Based on the research results, it is asserted that some industries with modern technology such as the seafood processing and shoe manufacturing industries are usually developed and located in industrial zones where are planned and invested by government and local authorities In addition to investment funding, these places have developed infrastructure and abundant labor with relatively high qualifications Specially, there are few ethnic minorities living in these places In contrast, in rural areas with underdeveloped infrastructure, low literacy rate and labor qualification as well as lack of investment capital, only small-scale industries can be developed A leader of a rural commune in Kien Giang province have shared that "Although operating big companies and enterprises will create more jobs as well as increase the local citizens’ income, nobody knows how to open more businesses because of lacking of capital, technology and infrastructure Especially, no one has consulted on such issues yet" This is explained that the national and local government policy and investment directly influence on the socio – economic development in areas where ethnic minorities are living (BraunholzSpeight, 2008) 3.2 Obstacles in the sustainable development of industry in ethnic minority areas Based on surveying 50 industrial entrepreneurs, the research results have shown that there were different factors affecting sustainable development of industry These factors have affected the sustainable development of the industry differently in terms of level and nature as described in table 82 Table The proportion of entrepreneurs who face difficulties according to seriousness Difficulties Low in literacy rate and labor qualification 0.0 4.0 28.0 26.0 42.0 Lack of capital and technology investment 0.0 8.0 32.0 18.0 42.0 Limitation of infrastructure 4.0 4.0 48.0 20.0 24.0 Shortage of information and policy 4.0 4.0 52.0 12.0 28.0 The dispersion of industries 0.0 20.0 42.0 18.0 20.0 (Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 50; Note: = absolutely not serious; = not very serious; = serious; = very serious; = absolutely serious) In this part, all such factors can be analyzed as below: 3.2.1 Low literacy rate and labor qualification The survey result of 150 ethnic minorities in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province has indicated that the educational level of ethnic minorities is very low and lower than that in Vietnam as well as in the Mekong Delta region (figure 1) Specifically, in the Mekong Delta region only 7.0 % of the total population is unlettered This figure for Vietnam is only 2.0 % Based on figure 1, 14.0 % of the population is ethnic minority who was illiterate The highest proportion belonged to the ethnic minority group with primary education level, with 47.0 % Besides, there were 38.0 % of minority people who have reached secondary school On the contrary, there was an extremely low rate of minority people with higher education level, with 1.0 % only Figure Educational level (Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 130) In the table 2, it was indicated that low in literacy rate and labor qualification was the most influencing factor on the development of industry sustainably In particular, 68.0 % of businessman found that that lack of literacy and professional qualifications affect both industrial productivity and quality very serious and absolutely serious Additionally, there were also 28.0 % of entrepreneurs believed that literacy rate and labor capacity can affect 83 industrial development Obviously, only 4.0 % of participants asserted that the development of industry was not very seriously affected by educational level and labor quality Considerably, educational/intellectual level and professional qualification have made negative effects on the sustainable development in the localities where ethnic minorities have been living in both Can Tho city and Kien Giang province Low in literacy rate and labor qualification was identified as the most dominant factors which harm on industrial productivity and quality All participants said that “When workers are low in qualification, they cannot create products that are competitive in terms of design, quality and price” Especially, as stressed by businessman that “Workers with low qualification are not capable of applying advanced technology in industry, so the development of industrial economy becomes obsolete with low economic efficiency” This is evident as previous studies have concluded that low literacy and labor qualification are the biggest barriers to the socio – economic development in localities where minority people have been living (Institute of Ethnology, 1984) It is more important that labor quality is a decisive factor for the development of industry in areas with ethnic minorities (Phan, 1973) Hence, in order to develop the industry in the selected areas sustainably, one of the most important priorities is to improve the educational level and employee qualification 3.2.2 Lack of investment capital and technology innovation Being interviewed, 100 % of entrepreneurs said that “We not have enough money to set up our businesses or company; therefore, we must borrow with interest from the government or local authorities” In some cases, households have to borrow money at high interest rates in order to invest in improving their industrial technology (figure 2) In particular, up to 38.0 % of businessman had to borrow from 30.0 to 50.0 % of their business capital In addition, 34.0 % of people who are operating industrial enterprises have borrowed from 50.0 to 70.0 % of their businesses' capital It can be said that the proportion of people who have enough money to their industrial business was very low, with 10.0 % only The surveying results presented in table have shown that 60.0 % of entrepreneurs claimed that capital and technology investment influence on the sustainable development of industry sector in very serious and absolutely serious scales It also means that such business people strongly believed that lack of funding and technology access affect the production scale and quality of the industry sector There were 32.0 % of such entrepreneurs said that capital and technology were influential factors in average However, no one thought that the investment of funding and technology did not effect on industrial sectors’ development Undoubtedly, investment capital and technology innovation were the second most dominant elements that have influenced on the sustainable development in industry sector Being interviewed, 27 of 30 businessman and local administrators have mentioned that “Lack of investment capital and modern technology not only influences on product quality but also affects natural resources in negative ways” Particularly, one of local leader emphasized that a lot of industrial entrepreneurs have no investment in wastewater 84 treatment technology, so they made local water polluted seriously” On the other hand, air pollution was other bid problem to the sustainable development in industry in areas where ethnic minorities have been living Some of business people have admitted that their industrial economy had a great impact on the environment but currently it lacks of investment in technology It means that they have no solution in this situation It can be deduced that although local businessman are aware of how to develop industry sustainably, they have to give up because of limitation of capital and technology investment Thus, it can be seen that capital and technology are factors that have a major impact on the development of industries in the ethnic minority areas (Braunholz-Speight, 2008) Figure The proportion of capital borrowed for businesses (Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 50) 3.2.3 Limitation of infrastructure The next important dominant element to the industrial development was infrastructure, especially transportation system The interviewing results shown that infrastructure in most areas where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province is limited compared with actual demands for industrial development Specifically, some factors including electricity, rural transportation, school and clinic have been noted by all 50 interviewees As stressed by all interviewed people, transportation system can be considered as the most affecting factor to the development of industry sector in areas where ethnic minorities have been living In other words, the local residents found that it is very difficult for them to travel and transport goods because of the limitation of transportation system In regard to the impact of infrastructure on the industry sector in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province, 48.0 % of interviewees asserted that infrastructure has an average impact on industry development Subsequently, 24.0 % of the 50 respondents claimed that the infrastructure limitation affected local industry absolutely serious Similarly, 20.0 % of participants agreed that this factor has harmed on the sustainable development of industry on scale of very serious Especially, regarding to traffic limitation 40.0 % of respondents has stressed that the local industry was absolutely influenced (table 2) It can be understood that only 8.0 % of respondents pointed out that limitation of infrastructure has not impacted on the local industrial development seriously It can be concluded that infrastructure shortage has impacted on the sustainable development of local industry in negative ways; therefore, 85 improving infrastructure is an indispensable need for the localities where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province There is no doubt that infrastructure in general and transportation in particular is the third dominant factor to the sustainable development of local industry in this case The influence of this factor on industry was evidenced by the local residents’ typical examples Firstly, the local children cannot go to school as they are living in areas without traffic This explains why in areas with minority groups have been living, the literacy rate and labor qualification were very low as analyzed in the previous section Secondly, due to inadequate shipping, the quality of fruits and seafood is low or agricultural output is significantly reduced This means that the processing industry lacks raw materials Thirdly, the health of local people is not protected due to lack of clinics This is a major obstacle for those areas that are lacking high quality labor A minority said that "I can only let my children finish primary school so that they can read and write My wife and I have to earn for living, so we cannot take them to school Obviously, the local traffic is too bad; therefore, they cannot go to school by themselves " A local leader found that "Although the locality has great potential but due to poor infrastructure, the investors are not interested in this place” It is evident that the infrastructure is a basic condition to exploit the natural potential which support to operate economic activities in general and industry sector in specific in ethnic minority areas (World Bank, 2009) Hence, the limitation of infrastructure, especially transportation system, adversely affects the sustainable development of the industry in the areas where ethnic minorities are located in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province 3.2.4 Shortage of market information and government policy According to the survey results presented on table 3, a lot of respondents were never or rarely provided with market information and government policies In particular, the proportion of local households who never or rarely received market information and state policies was 48.4 % and 26.2 % respectively This percentage for workers is slightly lower than that of local residents with the corresponding ratio of 47.3 % and 18.0 % The proportion of local entrepreneurs and leaders who have got market information and national policies is quite higher than that of other groups Specifically, there were 54 % of businesses man or local leaders sometimes and often have known about market information and related policies Thus, the proportion of residents and workers who were disseminating about trading information and government policies, especially policies related to minorities, is lower than that rate of entrepreneurs and local leaders The research results have also indicated that the shortage of information and policies influenced on the development of local industry sector (table 2) Specifically, 52.0 % of respondents claimed that local industrial development can be affected by information and policy limitation seriously Moreover, as asserted by 28.0 % of respondents such a lack of information and policies absolutely serious affected the development of the industry in the minority locality This is implied that the unsustainable industrial development in the areas where ethnic minorities are located in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province was greatly affected by the lack of market information and government policies 86 Although lack of information and policy was not considered as typical dominant factor, it has made a great impact on the sustainable development of industry in this situation It can be understood that market or trading information and policies supports local residents who have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province to understand about the development trend of industry in Vietnam as well as on over the world In other words, if this lacks of market information and specific policies, it is difficult for both businesses man and local people to decide what should they develop and how can they operate for their companies (Hoang et al, 2007) On the other hand, they cannot understand their rights and responsibilities in industrial development Table Regularity on access to information and policy (%) Objects Residents (n = 130) 48.4 26.2 16.2 9.2 0.0 0.0 Workers (n = 150) 47.3 18.0 16.7 16.0 2.0 0.0 Entrepreneurs (n = 50) 26.0 14.0 32.0 22.0 2.0 4.0 Leaders (n = 50) 16.0 18.0 30.0 24.0 4.0 8.0 (Source: Survey, December 2018; Note: = never; = rarely; = sometimes; = often; = usually; = always) 3.2.5 The dispersion of industries Although being the least dominant factor in industrial development, the dispersion of industry has a certain influence on the sustainable development of this industry In particular, 42.0 % of respondents stated that spatial dispersion affects the industry sector's sustainable development seriously Especially, 28.0 % of respondents said that the spatial dispersion affects the sustainable development of the industry absolutely seriously In general, spatial dispersion affects the sustainable development of the industry from serious to absolutely serious scale as assessed by the majority of interviewees (table 2) It is clear that when the industry is distributed in a dispersed manner, the local or national government must invest a lot of money in building roads/streets Besides, human being has to spend more time and money on shipping raw materials and goods; therefore, both profit and product quality is significantly reduced (Hoang et al, 2007) It should also be noted that the dispersion of industry also makes it difficult to exploit natural resources and labor force A local leader shared that “We have proposed to build more roads in order to connect some small industrial areas However, the government claimed that it has to invest too much money on building while the profits will be low” On the other hand, many workers complained that “I not want to work in industrial zone as it is too far away from my house” The above analysis demonstrates that industrial dispersion has seriously affected the development of this industry sustainably 3.3 How local residents expect in order to develop the industrial economies sustainably? To further understanding the participants’ expectations towards how to develop the local industry more sustainably, 180 people including 60 local residents, 60 workers, 30 entrepreneurs and 30 leaders in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province were selected for an individual interviewing task Amongst them, there were 80 participants who are ethnic 87 minorities The research results have indicated that the participants seriously concerned about a lot of different issues in regarding to developing local industry sustainably Among all issues that they have mentioned, there were eight typical ones as presented in table Table The local people’s expectations on development of industry Local residents’ Can Tho expectations A number of Kien Giang Percentages residents (n = 90) A number of Percentages residents (n = 90) Get more funds 83 92.2 87 96.7 Develop transportation 71 78.9 75 83.3 Train a vocation 71 78.9 72 80.0 Know more state policies Build more factories Provide market information Simplify administrative procedures Advice on industrial development 81.1 73 66 73.3 76.7 69 70.0 63 65.6 59 69 72 65 67 51 76.7 80.0 72.2 74.4 56.7 (Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 180) Based on the research results, local people in both Can Tho city and Kien Giang province have concerned most about funds, especially the funds from national government with 92.2 % and 96.7 % respectively In other words, they want to get low-interest loans to carry out various tasks including opening businesses, improving technology, taking part in career training course The next three typical expectations include developing transportation system, attending to job training without fee, and receiving more local and national policies As presented in the table 4, the local people in Can Tho city are more interested in getting and understanding local and government policies while the local citizens in Kien Giang province have much worried about developing the transportation system This is explained by the fact that Can Tho is a developed city located in the center of the Mekong delta region, so the local people are highly educated In other words, people with good knowledge and awareness are more interested in understanding information and policies In contrast, because Kien Giang is a small province with difficult travel conditions, people intend to pay their attention to developing transportation system Although advising on industrial development is the least mentioned expectation by the participants, there were 65.6 and 56.7 % of local people in Can Tho and Kien Giang paid their attention to this aspect corresponding 88 Figure Local residents’ expectations (Source: Survey, December 2018, n = 180) In comparison to the participants’ expectations between Can Tho city and Kien Giang province, generally the proportion of participants in Kien Giang have expressed their expectations was higher than that in Can Tho city; however, this also depends on specific situations More specifically, in regards to government policy, market information and advice on industrial development, the respondents in Can Tho city have paid more attention to such expectations compared with the participants in Kien Giang province For instance, if 65.6 % of Can Tho participants were interested in consulting for industrial development, this percentage in Kien Giang was only 56.7 % In contrast, for the other expectations, the respondents in Kien Giang have more concerned For example, up to 80.0 % of Kien Giang respondents wished to have more companies to look for jobs while only 73.3 % Can Tho people have expressed on that hope Similarly, the participants in Kien Giang province have more concerned about investment capital and fund compared with the respondent in Can Tho city, 96.7 and 92.2 %, respectively 3.4 Some solutions to the problems Sustainable development may be defined as the development to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of the future generations (Sharachchandra, 1999) It is a process whereby the development can be sustained for generation It affords the future generation the same, if not more, capacity to prosper as the present generation It also means that sustainable development needs to bring high economic efficiency, ensure social security and protect the environment According to Erling et al (2014), economic development is not a blessing for the human beings No doubt, it brings higher material welfare by increasing national output of goods and services on one 89 hand and on the other hand it pollutes the environment badly by overuse and misuse of natural resources The research results on the current situation and obstacles in industrial development in area where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho and Kien Giang have indicated the same things as above It is obvious that low in education, awareness and qualifications is the cause for the exhaustion of natural resources, environmental pollution and low economic efficiency in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province Moreover, the limitation of qualifications, backwardness in technology and market information, lack of investment capital, lack of understanding of state policies has made the economic value of the industry really low Based on the definition of sustainable development, it is clear that industrial development in areas where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province is not sustainable Firstly, economic efficiency in industry is not high due to shortage of technology, limitation of labor productivity, and low of product quality, so industrial products are unable to be competitive in the international market Secondly, many local residents are unemployed due to small industry size which cannot create enough jobs for people This makes the life quality in the local is low Finally, the environmental pollution and resources exhausting are major problems not only in the present but also in the future In other words, the industrial development in the study space not only does not meet the needs of the present generation but also threatens the benefits of future generations Based on the research results on the current situation and obstacles in industrial development in the area of ethnic minorities living in Can Tho and Kien Giang, a number of solutions were proposed as following: 3.4.1 Training some appropriate professions to the local situation Currently, one of the most difficult problems in some places where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province is the limitation of labor in both quantity and quality Especially, the biggest obstacle is that local residents not have opportunity to take part in service and professional training, so they cannot find good jobs In some situations, as the local human are still out of work; therefore, they lack of money to pay for such training course/program To further support them, the local leaders or national government need to provide them with free training courses or low fee training courses which can enable local people to get a job and earn for their living Another essential thing that can be considered is that local citizens can be lent money with low interest from the local banks which can help them to attend to vocational training courses However, to enhance such training course to be more effective the local authorities and governments need to link or cooperate with businessman to introduce suitable jobs to the local employees 3.4.2 Giving loan with low interest rates Not only local people but also entrepreneurs in the area are also short of capital to improve equipment and technology Many business men have not improved their production technology for a long time so that their products cannot compete with other national and international businesses in trade in terms of design and quality In other words, 90 those products are only sold to local residents or some neighboring provinces Thus, in addition to giving local people loans to participate in vocational training courses, the government or local authorities should also allow local businesses man to borrow money which can enable them to upgrade technology as well as expand business scale The most important thing in this case is that the local and national government must issue specific laws or regulations on the use of loans Besides, the local government needs to support local businesses to understand how to use capital effectively For example, some new business models need to be introduced to local businesses so that entrepreneurs can understand the international development trend On the other hand, the government leaders should introduce new technologies in industry that can support local businesses to develop industry more sustainably 3.4.3 Advising on local industrial development The research results have shown that many local businesses are still confused in choosing which industry to develop or how to operate it Many local businesses shared that they only focus on producing traditional goods as they not know which products are appropriate to the current international market This means that local governments and large enterprises should support local small businesses in areas where ethnic minority have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province so that local companies can have better and more reasonable orientations in trading In addition to advising on choosing industry/products, the local government also needs to help local businesses understanding about potentials/strengths of the locality as well as how to exploit those potentials Obviously, this helps local entrepreneurs to better exploit natural resources, protect the environment and develop local industrial sector sustainably 3.4.4 Upgrading transportation system In this study, the limitation of transportation system was one of factors that seriously influence on the development of industry as well as the improvement of life quality for local people in general and for ethnic minorities in specific So, to better develop the industrial sector in areas where minority people are located in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province it needs to pay more attention to providing fund as well as high technology in the localities More importantly, the local government should firstly focus on improving transportation systems in rural areas where has high illiteracy rates This not only enhances educational standard but also helps to transport agricultural products quickly so that local people can simultaneously improve their education and income In addition, improving transportation should also be prioritized in areas with potential for economic development as well as in places where many ethnic minorities have been living 3.4.5 Disseminating and enforcing government policies It can be said that understanding market information and government policies can help local people, especially ethnic minority people to be clearly aware of their roles and responsibilities in socio-economic development in the locality In this study, many respondents have stressed that the limitation of information and policies made them difficult to access to new trading markets (entrepreneurs), good job (local residents/minority 91 people and workers), and reasonable orientation for local industrial development (local leaders) It is believed that the local government should build more radio stations or send officials to specific localities to disseminate market information and policies In this task, it needs to focus on some places that there are a lot of poor citizens and minority people have been living Such access to information and policies will assist people in achieving economic orientation towards market trends Certainly, Vietnam's economy in general and the Mekong Delta region in particular are integrating into the world economy, so understanding the market and economic policy plays an important role in the sustainable development of industry sector in selected areas Conclusions Although Can Tho city and Kien Giang province are localities with great potential for economic development, many localities are still underdeveloped, especially in areas where ethnic minorities have been living Specifically, the industry is still rudimentary with a small scale, so there are few goods to export There are a lot of obstacles that are affecting the economic development in areas where ethnic minority areas have been living in general, especially influencing on the sustainable development of the local industry However, all residents, workers, local leaders and entrepreneurs have claimed that there are five most dominant factors that have impacted on the sustainable development of industry including low in literacy rate and labor qualification, lack of capital and technology investment, limitation of infrastructure, shortage of information and policy, and the dispersion of industries Especially, when being asked about their personal view the majority of respondents have assessed that the impact of those five dominant factors on the economic development and the sustainable development of industry in areas where ethnic minorities have been living in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province was very serious or absolutely serious In general, local people are somewhat knowledgeable about the current situation of local industrial development; therefore, they have expressed their expectations on the emerged issues reasonably Although they have expected a lot of things, most of them paid more attention to borrowing money, getting vocational training, seeking a good job, and improving the local transportation system Based on the current situation of industry development, obstacles in developing industry sustainably and the local residents’ expectations, a number of solutions have been proposed in order to promote the development of the local industry more sustainable Acknowledgments The data in this paper are under the project "Research the current situation and propose solutions for industrial development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Vietnam", coordinated to implement between Social and Humanities Research Institute (Thai Nguyen University) and Can Tho University During the process of completing this study, the authors have received great deal of help, guidance and encouragement from a lot of people 92 First of all, we would like to express our sincere thanks to Social and Humanities Research Institute (Thai Nguyen University) due to trusting and funding for us to implement this project It is stressed that all funding to implement this project is provided by the institute Secondly, it is our pleasure to thank Can Tho University for allowing and facilitating us to cooperate and conduct this project The leaders of Can Tho University have consulted and approved administrative formalities for us to carry out the project Next, we would like to thank School of Education (Can Tho University) for considering and approving administrative formalities in implementing this project Especially, the leaders of School of Education have introduced us to some organizations and individuals to collect the study data Last but not least, we sincerely thank all organizations and individuals who have supported and provided us with valuable and helpful information and data for this study Specifically, these are organizations and individuals in the districts including Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy, Cai Rang, O Mon, Thoi Lai, Co Do, Rach Gia (a city of Kien Giang province), Giong Rieng and Go Quao References Baulch, B., Truong, K.C., Haughton, D., and Haughton, J (2007) Ethnic minority development in Vietnam Journal of Development Studies, 43(7): 1151 - 1171 Braunholz-Speight, T (2008) Policies responses to discrimination and their contribution to reducing chronic poverty, Background Paper to Chronic Poverty Report 2007-2008 Manchester: Chronic Poverty Research Centre, 127 pages 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surveying 50 industrial... sustainable development of the industry in the areas where ethnic minorities are located in Can Tho city and Kien Giang province 3.2.4 Shortage of market information and government policy According to the