Vietnam Profile:

• Vietnam, a one-party Communist state, has one of south-east Asia’s fastest-growing economies and has set its sights on becoming a developed nation by 2020.
• It became a unified country once more in 1975 when the armed forces of the Communist north seized the south.
• This followed three decades of bitter wars, in which the Communists fought first against the colonial power France, then against South Vietnam and its US backers. In its latter stages, the conflict held the attention of the world.
• The US joined the hostilities in order to stem the “domino effect” of successive countries falling to Communism.
• The war produced heavy casualties on both sides, atrocities against civilians, and the indiscriminate destruction and contamination of much of the landscape.

Vietnam Economy:

• It is becoming a major manufacturing centre; it is the second biggest supplier of clothes to the US
• Foreign investment has grown and the US is Vietnam’s main trading partner. In the cities, the consumer market is fuelled by the appetite of a young, middle class for electronic and luxury goods. After 12 years of negotiations the country joined the World Trade Organization in January 2007.
• But the disparity in wealth between urban and rural Vietnam is wide and some Communist Party leaders worry that too much economic liberalisation will weaken their power base
• Vietnam has also struggled to restrain its trade and budget deficits. Its inflation rate reached double digits at the start of 2010 and approached 20% by the end of 2011, as food prices doubled, before falling back in 2012.

Vietnam Facts:

• Population: 89.7 million
• Capital: Hanoi
• Largest city: Ho Chi Minh City
• Area: 329,247 sq km (127,123 sq miles)
• Major Language: Vietnamese
• Major Religion: Buddhism
• Life Expectancy: 73 years (men), 77 years (women) (un)
• Monetary Unit: 1 dong = 100 xu
• Main Exports: petroleum, rice, coffee, clothing, fish
• GNI per Capita: $1,270