บทบาทของทุนจีนในการขยายความสัมพันธ์แบบทุนนิยมในระบบเกษตรกรรมของประเทศลาว: กรณีศึกษาสวนกล้วยขนาดใหญ่

Abstract

The objectives of this study were: (1) to examine the roles of Chinese capital in capitalist expansion among agriculture systems in Lao PDR; (2) to investigate the determinants influencing the roles of capitalist expansion among agriculture systems in Lao PDR; and (3) to discover the effects of capitalist expansion among agriculture systems in Lao PDR. The results showed that:

The roles of Chinese capital among agriculture systems in Lao PDR could be outlined within 2 domains. Push Factors involved Going Out Strategy and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and Food Security prescribed by the Chinese government. These strategies were internal factors driven by policy planning and legal systems to promote the role of Chinese state-owned enterprises and private sectors in foreign investment. Pull Factors involved internal factors from the Lao PDR government in drawing economic, industrial and agricultural investments from China on the basis of geopolitics, political relationship and economic cooperation factors. This capitalist expansion among agriculture systems was operated by the Chinese government who mobilized this concept by means of state capitalism through State-owned enterprises (SOEs) as the key determinant for investment expansion in the foreign lands in order to succeed the economic superpower position, and this corresponded with the needs of Lao PDR government in uplifting the country from poverty by relying on foreign investment and natural resources commoditization.

The Chinese capital investments among large-scale banana cultivations in Lao PDR were sectioned into 2 groups. Large conglomerates required a huge cultivation area which needed land concession approval by the central government. Small entrepreneurs using low labor and land costs operated the cultivation by leasing land from local villagers. Banana cultivation by the Chinese funding may bring high revenue from banana export. However, behind this economic growth figure, the real beneficiaries were Chinese entrepreneurs who monopolized holistic processes ranging from seed control, cultivation, labor force determination and products distribution to China. The banana plantation did not transfer the knowledge or create careers for the community. The villagers earned little income from leasing lands and labor wages. In addition, Chinese capitals exploited the production surplus for their own wealth creation while Lao PDR lost its surplus in capital accumulation for development and fell deeply in relying on investment from Chinese capitals. Moreover, banana plantation created problems and negative effects on the community from subsistence farming to commercial cultivation that triggered land enclosure and labor exploitation in the farming sector. The negative impacts also penetrated into health issues and environment pollution as a result of heavy use of chemicals in cultivation which affected the farming lifestyle of villagers and communities in the long term.