Vietnam

Population Mix:

The population is surpassed only by Indonesia as Southeast Asia's

most heavily populated country. However, Vietnam is the region's most
ethnically homogenous country with the Vietnamese making up about
90% of the population.

85% of Vietnam's ethnic-minority population belongs to indigenous

groups - the largest of which are Thai and Hmong - who have been
settled in the mountainous regions of the country for many centuries.

About 3% of the population is ethnic Chinese living in the urban

centers of the South.

With an estimate 2014 population of 90,493,352, it is the 13 th largest

populated country in the world with a growth rate of 1%.

Population density is 272.4/kmsqr.

Vietnam's median age increased from 18.2 years (1980) to 28.5

years (2010). Its life expectancy increased from 58.9 years in 19801985 to74.3 years in 2005-2010. China and Thailand have the highest
old-age dependency ratio (11 in 2010) while that of Vietnam is around
9. Current median age is 29.2 years.

Vietnams population is rapid aging and is going to be a new

challenge.44.8% of the population lies in the 25-54 years age category.

31% of the total population is urbanized with a rate of change of

3.03%.

Ratio Percentage:
Total dependency ratio: 41.3%
Youth dependency ratio : 31.9%
Elderly dependency ratio: 9.4%

Potential dependency ratio: 10.6(2014 EST.)

Provinces of Vietnam:

Vietnam is divided into 58 provinces and 5 municipalities existing

at the same level as provinces.

The provinces are divided into districts, provincial cities, and districtlevel towns which are subdivided into commune-level towns.

The municipalities are divided into rural districts and urban districts,
which are subdivided into wards.

Vietnamese provinces are controlled by a People's Council, elected by

the inhabitants. The People's Council appoints a People's Committee,
which acts as the executive arm of the provincial government.

Provincial governments are expected to be subordinate to the central

government.

Corruption Index:

Vietnam ranks 119 out of 170 in corruption perception index.

The current corruption perception score of Vietnam is 31 out of 100.

Country

Ranking

Score

Thailand

85

38

Vietnam

119

31

India

85

Malaysia

50

38
52

Advancements

Vietnam made technological advances due to their war with the US.

Vietnam's mix of Marxism and capitalism brings economic progress.

Twenty years ago, Vietnam was one of the poorest places in the world.
Now it is among the middle-income countries and attracts donors,
banking some $5bn a year in subsidies and loans from international
agencies and Japan. Its ambition is to join the club of industrial nations
by 2020.
It joined the Association of South-east Asian Nations in 1995, then in
1999 signed a trade agreement with the US, enabling trade to take off.
In 2007, it joined the World Trade Organization.
Since 2007, Vietnam has been the world's third-most attractive
country, after China and India, for foreign direct investment.

Economy
Resources and power: Coal production is the most important sector of
the mining industry. International loans for equipment upgrades
enabled Vietnams coal production to expand rapidly in the early years
of the 21st century. A number of offshore oil deposits have been
discovered in the South China Sea, mainly off Vietnams southern
coast. Although these reserves have yet to be exploited fully, they
have propelled a rapid increase in crude petroleum production. By the
mid-1990s domestic demand for electricity had surpassed Vietnams
energy output. Production was subsequently boosted from existing
gas-fired thermal generators and hydroelectric stations, new
hydroelectric plants were constructed, and a power line was completed
to connect the countrys northern and southern regions. Over the next
decade, electricity production nearly quadrupled. Vietnams rural
electrification programs have also been highly successful, supplying
the great bulk of households with electricity by the early 21st century.
Manufacturing: Following reunification and the establishment of the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1976, the government made a
concerted effort rapidly to transform the privately owned, capitalist
industry in the south into a state-owned, state-run sector. Many
industrial operations there were nationalized or forced to become joint
state-private enterprises. For industry as a whole, the productivity of
both capital and labor declined, and gross output slumped. Heavy
industryplagued by waste and inefficiency, lack of spare parts and

raw materials, energy shortages, and poor quality controlled the

decline. Reform measures in the 1980s, which included reducing
subsidies to inefficient state-run operations, introducing incentives,
and gradually accepting limited market mechanisms, initiated
Vietnams conversion from a collective to market economy. Light
industry registered significant gains, while heavy industry responded
more sluggishly but showed some improvement. With encouragement
from the government, private enterprise grew, albeit somewhat at the
expense of the state sector. Throughout the 1990s the government
further implemented an array of successful policies to control inflation,
lower interest rates, decrease the budget deficit, and ultimately
stimulate production. Food and beverage processing is the largest
industrial activity in Vietnam. Seafood is processed for export,
while coffee and tea are processed both for export and for domestic
consumption. Other beverages and a variety of condiments also are
produced in significant quantities. Vietnam has long been a major
producer of cement. The chemical industry has been growing, with
fertilizer being its most important product. Steel is a major part of
Vietnams heavy industry. Because of their high prices, cement,
fertilizer, and steel are among the greatest contributors to the
countrys economic sector. Garments and textiles are of increasing
importance; silk production revived in the 1990s after a period of
decline. Production of electronic equipment and motorcycles has
similarly expanded, and in the early years of the 21st century
automobile manufacturing has been Vietnams fastest growing
industry. Other important manufactures include footwear, tobacco
products, paints, soaps, and pharmaceuticals.
Finance: The State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, issues the
national currency, the dong, and oversees the countrys banking
system. Known until 1975 as the National Bank of Vietnam. As
international investment gradually increased in the 1990s, foreign
commercial banks were allowed to establish branch offices in Vietnam.
In 2004 branches of foreign and joint-venture banks were allowed to
join the Viet Nam Bank Association, and two years later, foreign banks
were permitted to offer a full array of banking services.
Trade: The Soviet Union and the communist countries of Eastern
Europe came to be Vietnams most important trading partners after the
war. Vietnams move to broaden trade relations as part of its larger
program of economic reforms took on added urgency in the late 1980s
and early 1990s with the breakup of the Soviet Union and the demise

of the communist governments in Eastern Europe. Because trade with

these areas was drastically reduced, Vietnam shifted its orientation
more heavily toward Asia, and was admitted to the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995. Shortly
thereafter, Singapore, along with Japan and China, emerged as
Vietnams major bidirectional trading partners. South
Korea and Taiwan also became significant suppliers of imports. NonAsian countries figured more prominently as recipients of Vietnamese
exports. The United States quickly rose as Vietnams primary export
destination, following a trade agreement between the two countries in
2001. Other important non-Asian recipients of Vietnamese goods have
included Australia, Germany, and France. Vietnams aggressive reform
measures increased exports and narrowed the trade deficit
considerably. However, rapid industrialization fueled by foreign direct
investment caused the deficit to begin growing again. In 2001 the
country opened its state markets to foreign competitors, and in January
2007 it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although the
government maintains some restrictions on foreign exchange and
upholds various bans, quotas, and surcharges, its efforts to liberalize
its markets have had an overwhelmingly positive effect on the
countrys economy. Machinery, petroleum products, iron, steel,
garments, and leather account for the bulk of Vietnams imports. Most
of these products fuel the countrys expanding industrial sector. The
majority of Vietnams export revenues are generated by crude
petroleum, garments, footwear, and seafood, and electronic products
are of growing importance. Coffee, once among Vietnams primary
generators of export revenue, has begun to rebound after a damaging
decline in prices at the end of the 20th century.

Labour and taxation: At the beginning of the 21st century, women

accounted for about half of the active workforce, and highland ethnic
minorities were more likely than the lowland Vietnamese to be
unemployed or working in agriculture and forestry. Ethnic Chinese, despite
the persecution and exodus of the late 1970s, have capitalized on
liberalizing reforms and contacts with the Chinese diaspora to recover an
important role in business, commerce, and trade. The government is
motivated by its socialist identity to be more rigorous than most
developing countries in enforcing workers rights.The Vietnam General
Confederation of Labour (VGCL) is the sole legal national trade union, and
all unions must affiliate with it. The confederation is a constituent of the
Vietnam Fatherland Front, a communist party coalition, and is under the
partys firm control. The president of the VGCL is usually a member of the
party central committee. Unions may press the government to enforce
laws and regulations as well as to organize strikes, albeit within strict legal
limits. Direct action by workers and the formation of alternative unions,
however, are forbidden.

Quality Award

TPM excellence awards: Unilever Bestfoods and Elida P/S, Vietnam EPS
Toothpaste Plant (Vietnam).
Vietnam Quality Award: Model used, National model (developed from
Baldrige).