Country profilesVietnam

Humanitarian profile

Vietnam is one of the biggest recipients of aid in Asia. The main annual emergency is cyclones that whip in from the South China Sea from May through to November. War involving first former colonial master France and then the United States dominated Vietnam in the 1950s through to the mid-1970s.

Country snapshot

The end of 30 years of war in Vietnam, first against France and then the United States, left it diplomatically isolated in the 1970s. Failed central planning hindered reconstruction of the economy.

The introduction of market reforms in the mid-1980s dramatically raised economic growth rates, but that has not been accompanied by movement towards a democratic political system. The state keeps a tight lid on political expression and is the dominant force in the formal economy.

Vietnam is now far more integrated into the world community; it joined the World Trade Organisation in 2007 and has diplomatic relations with 170 countries, including the United States and France. 

Government

Vietnam has a one-chamber legislature - the 493-seat National Assembly. Members are elected by popular vote for five-year terms. There is one political party, the Communist Party of Vietnam; all others are proscribed.

The party has a monopoly of power. A member of the National Assembly is elected head of state for a five-year term. The prime minister is appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly.  

Economy

The Communist Party's sixth congress in 1986 approved broad reforms, known as "doi moi" or "renovation", that introduced elements of a market economy, opened the country to foreign investment and improved the business climate. The results were dramatic: economic growth and agricultural output soared.

Vietnam is a large exporter of rice, coal and crude oil and has sizeable deposits of bauxite and other ores. It has steel, glass, paper and textile industries.

A stock market opened in 2000. The tourism industry employs a sizeable proportion of the workforce but was hit by the 2008-2009 global recession. The government's large fiscal stimulus programme cushioned the economy from the worst of the global downturn.

History

Vietnam became part of French Indochina in the 1880s. France ruled it as a colony until occupation by Japan in World War Two. France tried to re-assert its rule after 1945 but, after a lengthy struggle, was defeated by the Viet Minh, a communist-nationalist liberation movement, in 1954. The country was then divided into two states, North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

Between late 1950s and mid-1960s, a communist insurgency grew in South Vietnam, supported by communists from abroad, and the United States increased economic and military aid to the country.

In 1963, Southern leader Ngo Dinh Diem was overthrown and killed in a U.S.-backed coup. The following year, North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked U.S. destroyer Maddox in Gulf of Tonkin. The United States started bombing North Vietnam and the U.S. Congress passed a resolution allowing the president to take steps "to prevent further aggression".

In 1965 U.S. Marines landed at Danang in South Vietnam, the first U.S. combat troops officially in either Vietnamese state.

In 1968, in response to pressure from American public opinion, the United States began to reduce its military forces which peaked at almost 550,000 troops in 1967. Much of the ground fighting was turned over to South Vietnamese troops, though the United States continued to heavily bomb North Vietnam.

Much of the industry in combined Vietnam was destroyed and the system of dikes in the Red River delta rice growing region was extensively damaged.

By 1973 all U.S. forces had been withdrawn. The North launched a full-scale offensive and captured Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, in 1975. The country was officially re-united in 1976.

It invaded Cambodia in 1979 and removed the Khmer Rouge from power. But this worsened relations with Cambodia's ally, China, with whom Vietnam fought a brief but intense war.

Despite substantial aid from the Soviet Union, Vietnam experienced great economic hardship, exacerbated by a U.S. trade embargo. Hundreds of thousands of people fled the country, many by boat, to neighbouring countries. Normal relations with the United States were re-established in 1995. 

There have been moves towards political liberalisation but they have been very slight. Decisions made by the politburo of the Communist Party are no longer absolute and the growing influence of the National Assembly has put pressure on ministers to be more accountable. But in 2009 the Assembly rejected moves towards direct local elections.

Legal snapshot

The legal system is based on communist legal theory and French civil law. The judiciary is constitutionally independent, but is in practice subject to the control of the Communist Party. It comprises the Supreme People's Court, provincial and district people's courts, military tribunals, administrative, economic and labour courts. The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal; it reports to the National Assembly.

Administrative courts hear complaints about abuse of office and corruption, which is a serious and widespread problem. Senior party and government officials have acknowledged rising public discontent, but the government's response has mainly been confined to a few high-profile prosecutions rather than comprehensive reforms. Lawyers are reluctant to take on cases with political ramifications due to the potential for harassment and retaliation by state officials, says U.S.-based Freedom House