Vietnam's developmental path has not been one without doubts. Strangely, it has been ravaged by war and rarely peaceful. Since the Declaration of Independence in 1945, the government has been keen to unite the country under national independence at all costs. But even to achieve the stability it craved, the country endured long and turbulent upheaval. After the reunification of 1975, the State shifted its sights onto the economy. Significant reforms took place and led the way to the economic boom Vietnam experienced in the 1990's. Though progress has been made throughout the country, it has been uneven, which has worsened the inequality between the richest and poorest regions of Vietnam.

ECONOMIC HISTORY

For most of its history, the Vietnamese economy has been based on agricultural products for export, mainly rice, rubber, tea and coffee. In 1954, the economy in the North differed from that of the South - the...