Thirty years of Ä?ổi Má»›i (economic renovation) reforms have catapulted Vietnam from the ranks of the world’s poorest countries to one of its great development success stories. Critical ingredients have been visionary leaders, a sense of shared societal purpose, and a focus on the future. Starting in the late 1980s, these elements were successfully fused with the embrace of markets and the global economy. Economic growth since then has been rapid, stable, and inclusive, translating into strong welfare gains for the vast majority of the population. But three decades of success from reforms raises expectations for the future, as aptly captured in the Vietnamese constitution, which sets the goal of “a prosperous people and a strong, democratic, equitable, and civilized country.†? There is a firm aspiration that by 2035, Vietnam will be a modern and industrialized nation moving toward becoming a prosperous, creative, equitable, and democratic society. The Vietnam 2035 report, a joint undertaking of the Government of Vietnam and the World Bank Group, seeks to better comprehend the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. It shows that the country’s aspirations and the supporting policy and institutional agenda stand on three pillars: balancing economic prosperity with environmental sustainability; promoting equity and social inclusion to develop a harmonious middle- class society; and enhancing the capacity and accountability of the state to establish a rule of law state and a democratic society. Vietnam 2035 further argues that the rapid growth needed to achieve the bold aspirations will be sustained only if it stands on faster productivity growth and reflects the costs of environmental degradation. Productivity growth, in turn, will benefit from measures to enhance the competitiveness of domestic enterprises, scale up the benefits of urban agglomeration, and build national technological and innovative capacity. Maintaining the record on equity and social inclusion will require lifting marginalized groups and delivering services to an aging and urbanizing middle-class society. And to fulfill the country’s aspirations, the institutions of governance will need to become modern, transparent, and fully rooted in the rule of law.

This book aims to provide knowledge on how infrastructure is planned and built in a typical developing country, and what key variables are there in the system limiting the efficient use of public investments in infrastructure. The book begins with a comprehensive literature review on construction and economic development, and trade and economic development. The focus of the book is on the case of Vietnam, with lessons drawn for other developing economies. The book employs the mixed use of data to provide a stronger basis for analysis and interpretation of related government policies. Based on the research findings, the book recommends significant capacity building work for Vietnam to develop capacities that would remove constraints on the efficient use of public investments in infrastructure. The general principles of significant capacity building work which are useful for policy implications are introduced in the book. Analysts, academics, public and private communities in developing countries can adopt the research findings as guiding principles to bring about changes in their current use of public investments in infrastructure, thus supporting their trade and economic growth in the long term.

Recent Developments in Vietnamese Business and Finance, is the first volume in the series titled Vietnam and the Global Economy. This edited volume is a collection of papers presented at the International Conference on Business and Finance (ICBF) 2019, organized by the Institute of Business Research (IBR), University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and focuses on recent issues in business and finance with Vietnam as the main focus of study. The book covers various issues from innovation to gender equality and the banking sector, with analyses on the policies and managerial implications.

These previously unpublished papers by leading American and Vietnamese economists analyze the dramatic transformation of Vietnam's economy during the 1990s and its prospects for the future. The three main sections of the book discuss Vietnam's turbulent history, recent economic reforms, and the country's emerging role in the world economy and geopolitics. The contributors examine a myriad of issues, including specific reforms in agriculture, banking, and tax policy, as well as the attempts to create a business-oriented legal infrastructure, the development of foreign trade and a viable balance of payments, and U.S. policy reactions to Vietnam's rapid development in the last decade.

Research in this book focuses on the strategic behaviour of the State as a shareholder in businesses, and the implications it has for the other shareholder(s) and business performance. It investigates the institutional characteristics of State-linked and State-owned firms (SIEs & SOEs), in emerging markets using Vietnam as a case study with comparative analysis on China and selected ASEAN countries. In doing so, the book adopts an evidence-based approach to explain the State’s role as a shareholder in the different aspects of corporate governance, including CEO appointment, board structure and impact of State ownership on business strategy and performance. It highlights the influence of the State as a shareholder by investigating institutional factors consistent with “path dependence” theory, which postulates that the initial and underlying structure of an economy influences its performance. In addition, the book presents empirical evidence of the dynamics of corporate governance arising from interactions between the State and other shareholders, which has not yet been addressed in the literature, and is distinctive in providing new insights from both qualitative and empirical research on how to successfully navigate the emerging market business environments from the perspective of the State as an “owner-participant”. Explaining the theoretical constructs in corporate governance in State-invested firms, empirical research methodologies, and results to draw and validate inferences, the book is comprehensive and provides a practical guide for practitioners as well as a reference for academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students. The new theoretical models proposed integrate traditional political-economic and agency theories, which also underpin tertiary business courses and academic research.

After a precipitate reunification (1975), the Hanoi leadership imposed upon the South the Stalinist-Maoist strategy of economic development which had been until then applied in the North. This "Northernization" resulted in an economic crisis for the whole country during the last years of the Second Five-Year Plan. Despite some partial reforms, the country was again plunged into a more serious economic and financial crisis at the end of the Third Five-Year Plan, particularly after the ill-conceived monetary reform in September 1985. At the time of its Sixth National Congress (December 1986) the Party's new leadership advocated a strategic shift in its overall economic policy under the banner of Doi Moi (Renovation).

Lively debates around property, access to resources, legal rights, and the protection of livelihoods have unfolded in Vietnam since the economic reforms of 1986. Known as Doi Moi (changing to the new), these have gradually transformed the country from a socialist state to a society in which a communist party presides over a neoliberal economy. By exploring the complex relationship between property, the state, society, and the market, this book demonstrates how both developmental issues and state-society relations in Vietnam can be explored through the prism of property relations and property rights. The essays in this collection demonstrate how negotiations over property are deeply enmeshed with dynamics of state formation, and covers debates over the role of the state and its relationship to various levels of society, the intrusion of global forces into the lives of marginalized communities and individuals, and how community norms and standards shape and reshape national policy and laws. With contributors from around the world, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of East and Southeast Asian studies, including politics, culture, society, and law, as well as those interested in the role of the state and property relations more generally.

The demand for workforce skills is changing in Vietnam’s dynamic economy. In addition to job-specific skills, Vietnamese employers value cognitive skills, like problem solving, and behavioral skills, like team work. This book presents an agenda of change for Vietnam’s education system to prepare workers to succeed in Vietnam’s modernizing economy.