September 9, 2000	atimes.com

Special Reports Vietnam: Trading on more investment Compiled by Tony Allison CHAPTER 1: FOR THE RECORD Population, land size, government structure and branches CHAPTER 2: VIETNAM/US PACT Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) The Securities Trading Center (STC) CHAPTER 3: ECONOMIC CLIMATE National economic policies and priorities CHAPTER 4: MAIN ECONOMIC SECTORS Agricultutre Oil, gas, mining Industry Tourism CHAPTER 5: TRADE AND INVESTMENT Trade Foreign investment Foreign investment law Types of business forms Incentives Investment law amendments Overseas Vietnamese Oil and gas Costly SOEs CHAPTER 6: LABOR AND CUSTOMS/IMPORT ISSUES Vietnam: Trading on more investment CHAPTER 1: FOR THE RECORD Population The population according to the April 1999 census was 76,327,921, up about 12 million or 17 percent over the past decade. The birth rate is under two percent. The population density is 231 per sq. km, making the country the third most densely populated Southeast Asia country behind Singapore and Philippines. The urban population is 23.5 percent. The literacy rate of people over 10 years 91 percent. The labor force is 38 million strong, of which 10 percent work for the State. The work week is 40 hours. The ehnic group include Vietnamese (85 percent to 90 percent), Chinese, Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham, and mountain groups. The religions are Buddhism, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant, animism, and Islam. Land size The total area is 329,560 square kilometers. Languages The Vietnamese language (kinh) belongs to the Mon-Khmer stock, which comprises Mon (spoken in Myanmar) and Khmer (Cambodia), as well as Khmu, Bahnar, Bru and other languages of the highlands of Vietnam. Mon-Khmer, Tai and Chinese elements with many of its basic words derived from the monotonic Mon-Khmer languages. The most widely spoken foreign languages in Vietnam are Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), English, French and Russian. Government structure Chief of State: President Tran Duc Luong (since September 1997) Head of Government: Prime Minister Phan Van Khai (since September 1997) Vietnam is a one-party state ruled and controlled by the Vietnamese Communist Party (VCP). The VCP's constitutionally mandated leading role and the occupancy of all senior government positions by party members ensure the primacy of party Politburo guidelines, and enable the party to set the broad parameters of national policy. The Party is slowly reducing its formal involvement in government operations, and allowing the government to exercise significant discretion in implementing policy. Citizens do not have the right to change their government. Party control over the selection of candidates in elections for the National Assembly (the main legislative body), the presidency, the prime ministership, and local government ensures this. All authority and political power is vested in the VCP; political opposition movements and other political parties are not tolerated. The VCP Central Committee is the supreme decision-making body in the nation, with the Politburo as the center of policymaking. A standing board, consisting of the five most senior members of the politburo, oversees day-to-day implementation of leadership directives. The government limits public debate and criticism to certain aspects of individual, state, or party performance determined by the VCP itself. No public challenge to the legitimacy of the one-party state is permitted. Eligible citizens are required to vote in elections, although there is no penalty for not voting. Citizens elect the members of the National Assembly, but the party must approve all candidates, most of whom are VCP members. The military services are responsible for external defense, including the border defense force. The military forces are assuming a more important role as the ultimate guarantor of internal security, as they seek to establish themselves in public education and campaigns against perceived threats to society. The government's Ministry of Public Security (formerly the Ministry of Interior) controls the police, a special national security investigative agency, and other units that maintain internal security. The Ministry of Public Security maintains a system of household registration and block wardens to monitor the population, concentrating on those suspected of engaging, or being likely to engage in, unauthorized activities. Government branches The executive branch is headed by the president (head of state and chair of the National Defense and Security Council) and the prime minister, who heads the cabinet of ministries and commissions. The cabinet is appointed by the president on the proposal of the prime minister and ratification of the National Assembly. The president is elected by the National Assembly from among its members for a five-year term; elections were last held in September 1997. The next are to be held when the National Assembly meets following legislative elections in 2002). The prime minister is appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers are appointed by the prime minister. People's Committees govern in local jurisdictions. These latter have been the subject of some criticism, being described as Vietnam's "leopard spot" governance - little fiefdoms run by local party members. The legislative branch comprises the National Assembly or Quoc-Hoi (450 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms); and at a local level, People's Councils. The last National Assembly elections were held in July 1997, with the next due in 2002. The judicial power resides in the Supreme People's Court. The chief justice is elected for a five-year term by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president In terms of administrative subdivision, there are 61 provinces, three municipalities under central government control, one special zone; urban quarters and rural districts; and urban precincts and rural communes. Universal sufferage is aged 18 and over. Chapter 2 (Special to Asia Times Online)

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