Introduction and summary 1. Political developments: Political background. A chronology of political developments since the Tenth Congress of the Communist Party held 18-25 April 2006. The Vietnam War (the human toll). Communist Party membership. The boat people. Religion. The internet. Demography. AIDS. SARS. Bird flu. Swine flu. 2. Economic developments: Economic background. The economic system. Financial and exchange rate policy: developments since October 2006 (including the global financial crisis). The state sector. Privatization and stock markets. Foreign trade. The World Trade Organization (WTO). The Asian financial crisis. Foreign debt and aid. Foreign direct investment. Outward investment by Vietnamese firms. Agriculture. Economic performance. Postscript Bibliography Index

Ian Jeffries is Honorary Professor in the Department of Economics at Swansea University, UK. His recent publications include two volumes covering the Economic and Political Developments in Contemporary China, alongside many books in the Routledge series, Guides to Economic and Political Developments in Asia, covering China, North Korea and Mongolia.

This book provides full details of contemporary economic and political developments in Vietnam. It continues the overview of developments up to late 2005 which were covered in the author's Vietnam: A Guide to Economic and Political Developments (also published by Routledge, 2006). Key topics covered include Vietnam's success, in general, in maintaining high rates of growth in the face of problems such as inflation and the global financial crisis; continuing economic reforms; foreign trade and investment; battles against corruption; population growth; the determination of the Communist Party to maintain its hold on power; and Vietnam's response to public health problems such as AIDS, SARS and bird flu.