This document summarizes a presentation on remaking historical memory in Vietnam's coffee trading industry. It discusses: 1) The structure of Vietnam's coffee industry and production. 2) An economist's perspective on Vietnam's economic transformation from a centrally-planned to market-oriented economy between 1979-1986. 3) How memory has been remade around coffee trading in Vietnam's Central Highlands, from state-owned enterprises to private agents and global commodity-backed bonds. 4) Concluding remarks that contrast the views of a private enterprise owner wary of futures contracts versus a foreign company CEO who sees their benefits.

1. THE 5TH THAI-MALAYSIAN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON SOUTHEAST ASIAN STUDIES
RE-MAKING HISTORICAL MEMORY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
MAHIDOL University - February 16 – 17, 2012
AN ENCOUNTER WITH INVENTED MEMORY
IN MAKING OF ECONOMIC POLICY
THE CASE OF COFFEE TRADING IN CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF VIETNAM
Nguyen Hoang My Phuong – Vietnam
Main content:
1. Vietnam coffee industry
2. Economy from the historical standpoint in Dang Phong’s
perspective
3. Remaking memory of coffee trading in Vietnam
4. Concluding remarks

2. VIETNAM COFFEE INDUSTRY
Structure of the coffee industry in Central Highlands (2007)
94% AGENTS/ 6% DOMESTIC
COMPANIES ROASTERS
GROWERS
94%
6% 94%
INTERNATIONAL
EXPORTERS
TRADERS/ROASTERS/EXCHANGES
Vietnam coffee production
Main solution in MA thesis
Using financial instruments
• Derivatives
• Commodity-backed bonds

3. ECONOMY FROM THE HISTORICAL STANDPOINT
IN DANG PHONG’S PERSPECTIVE
•No chronology
•Finding out fundamental causes
•Multi-disciplines (Economics, History, Politics, etc.)
•Various sources (interviews, newspapers, governmental documents, etc.)
=> Dang Phong: an Economist – not a writer
NEW UNSOLVED INFORMATION
CENTRALLY-PLANNED ECONOMY MARKET-ORIENTED ECONOMY
ECONOMIC MINDSET
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION IN VIETNAM
1979 - 1986

4. RE-MAKING MEMORY OF COFFEE TRADING IN
CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF VIETNAM
EXPORTING FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
TRADITION INVENTED TRADITION NEW ARRIVAL CUSTOM
COFFEE TRADING
LIBERALIZATION GLOBALIZATION
STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES
/BANKS + PRIVATE AGENTS, COMPANIES + COMMODITY-BASED BONDS
CREDIT PHYSICAL COFFEE
PHYSICAL COFFEE
# FUTURES CONTRACT
FLOWS OF PHYSICAL & PAPERS

5. CONCLUDING REMARKS
an owner of a Daklak-based a Vietnamese CEO of a 100%
private enterprise foreign-owed company in Daklak
‘So many companies and ‘LIFFE and ICE* are the
people in Daklak lost hundreds biggest markets on the world.
of billions VND because of using You therefore have a wide
futures contract in LIFFE or range of choices once
ICE*. It is bad! I never use it’ entering into it’
* LIFFE or ICE: the two main futures exchanges of trading coffee

6. Q&A
Thank you
Nguyen Hoang My Phuong
menfuong@gmail.com