Hi-tech Hanoi!

Low labour costs and a free trade policy attract major electronics multinationals. Now comes the choice of a partner: China or the United States? It has been 30 years since the launch of Doi Moi (meaning “renewal”), i.e., the progressive opening to the free market initiated by the Vietnamese Communist Party. Vietnam was then a starving country and its population was fleeing abroad; today, it is the favourite destination for investors in South East Asia, and a nation of over 90 million inhabitants growing at the fastest pace in the region. While Vietnam certainly does not lack the potential for a further economic leap, dark clouds are gathering on the horizon, suggesting that a change in strategy might be worthwhile.

Three decades of Doi Moi have produced incontestable results, calling to mind the rise of China in the post- Deng Xiaoping era. Per capita income has increased twentyfold, and the share of the population living in extreme poverty shrunk from 50% to 3%. Historical perspective aside, the present looks equally radiant. The GDP increased by 6.7% last year: the highest growth rate in a region that is beginning to suffer the consequences of the slowing Chinese economy. Foreign investments reached the record figure of 14.5 billion dollars, and exports have doubled since 2010. Vietnam has become a leading country in the production of smartphones and electronics. Samsung assembles half of its mobile phones in Vietnam; in 2015, LG and Intel also moved part of their production to the country.