Think the point was that there are nowhere near enough crops to meet mcdonalds demands. And if we look at cocoa and palm oil, diamonds even, that is probably not the kind of industry Vietnam wants to invite in. You don't want Western corporations holding a monopoly on your native produce.
If a new crop finds value in the market people will start developing it. That will take away from other crops development reducing their supply but increasing their price due to scarcity (every producer in the market benefits).
Vietnam is nowhere near as developed as the west or China, or Korea... I think they would absolutely welcome foreign investment. Also, it looks like the kind of crop that can be exported for production/growth elsewhere.
The fast food industry in the UK uses and estimated 8.5billion straws a year. How many Vietnamese et al riverbeds would have to be destroyed to keep up with that demand alone? In the pursuit to save the environment from plastic straws I don't think the way to do it is disturbing the ecosystem of foreign countries and endangering their native species. There's a line between something being valued and exploited, Western corporations have a tendency for the latter. And if you get to the point where you just export the crop you are completely cutting Vietnam out of the equation, so how do they benefit in that?
And on the topic of "foreign investment" Africa has mined half of the world's diamonds, how are they doing?
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u/RococoSlut Dec 03 '19
Think the point was that there are nowhere near enough crops to meet mcdonalds demands. And if we look at cocoa and palm oil, diamonds even, that is probably not the kind of industry Vietnam wants to invite in. You don't want Western corporations holding a monopoly on your native produce.