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A boy with bagettes on a bike in Hanoi |
Vietnam is the 13th most populous country in the world with a population of over 87 million and is among one of south-east Asia’s fastest growing economies. The one-party communist state has targeted becoming a developed nation by 2020 and according to government figures, it is listed among the “Next Eleven” economies.
Vietnam boasts a booming tourist industry, recording a steady increase of visitors over the past ten years. The country is investing capital into the coastal regions that are already popular for their beaches and boat tours. Foreign investment has also grown and America is Vietnam’s main trading partner. The middle class and younger generation’s demand for electronic and luxury goods have fuelled the country’s consumer market.
This comes after the country battled almost three decades of harsh independence wars which the communists fought first against the colonial power France and then against US-backed South Vietnam, which gripped the world’s attention. The US intervention in the wars was to stem the problem of successive nations falling to communism. In 2002, then US President Bill Clinton visited Vietnam to normalise relations with the former enemy.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Institute identified in a recent report that
Vietnam needed to build infrastructure like transportation and telecommunication facilities. They also need legal, judicial and governance systems and a skilled work force.
The gap between the rich and the poor remains wide. Some Communist Party leaders also fear that the economic liberalisation will weaken their power and that the ‘decadent’ ideas of the Vietnamese urbanites will be passed on to the rural class. Vietnam is also known for its suppression of political dissent.
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