I am not sure why it is up to "rich countries" to fix Vietnam's pollution problem. Do not allow the building of factories that pollute a lot and it will get better. This is something Vietnam can do on it's own. Absolutely zero foreign interference required.
That's a bit simplistic... "Mr. Tim Apple, we have 2 options to build the next iPhone factory, Vietnam and Laos. They're almost identical, except Vietnam will cost 5% more because of their anti-pollution laws.". What would you do in Tim Apple's position?
Nike stopped using child labour because of (Western) public outcry, without it they'd go for the factory offering the cheapest price. Next you'll say, then it's up to the Vietnamese to have a public outcry about pollution. But corrupt governments seem to have a way to get away with anything, just look at the Dakota pipeline, or arctic drilling...
Easy for you to say. Not so easy for really poor people.
Rich countries can help: for example Western companies can mandate that all their suppliers, for their entire chains, down to natural resources, have low levels of pollution.
Vietnam and other countries like it will have to comply, in order to sell their products.
