Since 1975, Vietnam had still remained the way of a communist country.

The politic framework in Vietnam is a single party socialist republic. The current political system of Vietnam is composed of the following: the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), political organizations, socio-political organizations, socio-professional organizations, and mass associations. With those bodies, the Communist Party of Vietnam has a nationwide organizational system, from the Central to grassroots levels, and in political- social organizations and economic entities. State system consists of The National Assembly (has the highest authority to make Constitution and Laws), The State Bureaucracy (has major executive and legislative power), The Government (is the executive organ of the National Assembly, and the supreme state administrative agency), Supreme Peoples Court (is the highest judicial organ), Supreme Peoples Procuracy, Local authorities (Peoples Councils, People Committee, Local peoples committees, and Local peoples procuracy), The Vietnam Fatherland Front, Vietnam Labour Confederation, and Other social and political organizations (the Vietnam Womens Association, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youths Union, the Vietnam Veterans Association, and professional associations). In practice, the Communist Party of Vietnam set the general direction for policy while the details of implementation generally are left to the four organizations: The State Bureaucracy, the legislature (The National Assembly), the Vietnamese Peoples Army (VPA), and the other officially associations and organizations that exist under the The Vietnam Fatherland Front. After joined the the World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 11, 2007 and signed the landmark U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement on December 2001, the Commercial Legal Framework (CLIR) of Vietnam has extensive changes to conform more closely to international norms and practices. Furthermore, Vietnam has adjusted many laws and regulations not directly required by the trade agreements, but which are equally integral to developing a stronger legal framework for market-based commercial activity, a more robust private sector, and a stronger and more independent court system (e.g., greatly improved law on contracts, secured transactions, negotiable financial instruments, court organization, and civil procedure). With the introduction of a modern Enterprise Law in 1999, a great number of small businesses in Vietnam joined the formal sector through the process of company registration. Through improved legislation and procedures pertaining to entry into the formal sector, Vietnam has seized a critical mechanism in support of economic growth. One fundamental issue facing all smaller or newer private businesses in Vietnam, as well as many larger, more established ones, is the anticompetitive role played by state-owned enterprises in the economy. The new Enterprise Law (2005), which replaced the 1999 law, is legally sound and consistent with international standards. It continues the trend of liberalization of the private sector in Vietnam and levels the playing field among all types

of enterprises, whether private, foreign invested, or state owned. The new Investment Law (2005), which was developed in parallel with the new Enterprise Law, generally reinforces this commitment to nondiscrimination among types and ownership of enterprises. The revised Commercial Law and its implementing decrees regulate the establishment of representative offices and branches of foreign traders and foreigninvested trading enterprises in Vietnam. 1. What is the relationship between the US and Viet Nam today? 2. Give economic/financial numbers (GNP/capita, population, education, inflation level, etc.) in VN today? GNP/capita: $2,700 (source: 20 Richest Asian Countries (GNP per capita*) http://www.suite101.com/content/richest-asian-countriesa9824) Population: 86,024,600 persons (source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam, Statistical Data, Population and population density in 2009 by province ) Education: According to preliminary report, at the time of opening 2010-2011 school year, the country had 12,678 pre-schools, increasing 413 schools against the last school year; 15,242 primary schools, increasing 70 schools; 10,132 junior secondary schools, up 68 schools and 2,289 senior secondary schools, up 22 schools. Total teachers for the three educational levels were 820,400, up by 0.2% against the last school year, including 359,700 primary teachers up by 1.3%; 313,100 junior secondary teachers, down by 1.3% and 147,600 senior secondary teachers up by 0.9%. There was not much change in the number of pupils as compared to 2009 2010 school year with 6.9 million primary pupils; 5 million junior secondary pupils and 2.8 million senior secondary pupils. (source: General Statistics Office of Vietnam, Monthly statistical information, Socio-economic in 1st quarter of 2011)
Theo bo co s b, ti thi im u nm hc 2010-2011, c nc c 12678 trng mm non, tng 413 trng so vi nm hc trc; 15242 trng tiu hc, tng 70 trng; 10132 trng trung hc c s, tng 68 trng v 2289 trng trung hc ph thng, tng 22 trng. Tng s gio vin ca ba cp hc l 820,4 nghn ngi, tng 0,2% so vi nm hc trc, bao gm 359,7 nghn gio vin tiu hc, tng 1,3%; 313,1 nghn gio vin trung hc c s, gim 1,3% v 147,6 nghn gio vin trung hc ph thng, tng 0,9%. S hc sinh khng bin ng nhiu so vi nm hc 2009 - 2010, gm 6,9 triu hc sinh tiu hc; 5 triu hc sinh trung hc c s v 2,8 triu hc sinh trung hc ph thng. Tnh n cui thng 3/2011, c nc c 55/63 tnh, thnh ph trc thuc trung ng hon thnh ph cp tiu hc ng tui v 63/63 tnh, thnh ph trc thuc trung ng hon thnh ph cp gio dc trung hc c s.

Inflation level: Vietnam Inflation rate (consumer prices)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 11.8% (2010 est.) 6.5% (2009 est.) Year Inflation rate (consumer prices) Rank Percent Change Date of Information 2003 3.90 % 91 2002 est. 2004 3.10 % 115 -20.51 % 2003 est. 2005 9.50 % 189 206.45 % 2004 est. 2006 8.30 % 175 -12.63 % 2005 est. 2007 7.50 % 166 -9.64 % 2006 est. 2008 8.30 % 175 10.67 % 2007 est. 2009 24.40 % 211 193.98 % 2008 est. 2010 7.00 % 167 -71.31 % 2009 est. 2011 11.80 % 205 68.57 % 2010 est. http://www.indexmundi.com/vietnam/inflation_rate_%28consumer_prices%29.html 3. Pick out three the index listed below and explain what they are telling you. You only need a few sentences. 4. Give reasons for a foreign company to manufacture in VN today. Vietnam is changing

For investors, Vietnam looks different in significant ways from 10 years ago. Those differences include legal reforms, the newly established stock market and a breakneck GDP growth record, which has consistently exceeded 7% since 2002. Most important, there is a philosophical understanding among the top leadership that the country needs to engage rather than shirk from the international community, as witnessed by its recent efforts to undertake the sometimes wrenching structural reforms necessary to join the WTO. Vietnam: exciting

A recent Merrill Lynch report estimated Vietnam "will be the fastest-growing [Asian] country in the next 10 years, far more exciting [than] Thailand, far more than anywhere else in ASEAN" (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations).

Last October's sovereign bond issue underscored that optimism. Originally planned as a US$500 million flotation, the debut deal attracted $4.5 billion worth of actual orders, goading underwriters to increase the issuance to $750 million to soak up the excess demand. Similarly, the January initial public offering of Vinamilk, a state-run dairy conglomerate, was fully subscribed, pushing the equity market's total value past $1.1 billion. The planned listings of other state-owned enterprises promise to push the stock market's capitalization even higher. All the good economic and financial news gave international ratings agency Moody's enough reason to upgrade Vietnam's sovereign rating for the first time in seven years, from B1 to Ba3. Infrastructure development Vietnam is now calling for $25 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) to top up the whopping $115 billion the government has provisionally earmarked over the next five years for a wide range of projects, including big capital outlays for infrastructure development. Reforms There have already been several noteworthy reforms, many offering foreign investors greater legal protection than ever before. Changes to the legal framework, specifically the Unified Enterprise Law (UEL) and the Common Investment Law (CIL), promise to level the competitive playing field for foreign and domestic businesses. Previously, foreign investors were limited by the business models that were available to them, which in essence consisted of either joint ventures with state enterprises or business cooperation contracts that were heavily and at times arbitrarily regulated by the government. Now, foreign firms can diversify into other business models, most notably 100% wholly foreign-owned businesses, as well as limited and joint stock companies. Equitization process Vietnam is also giving special emphasis to the equitization process, opening the way for foreign businesses to buy shares in state concerns. Sectors that were previously off limits to foreigners, particularly in the financial services, have recently opened up in anticipation of entry to the WTO. Standard Chartered, ANZ Bank and HSBC have all recently taken stakes in local commercial banks, and there are currently 28 different foreign bank branches now operating in Vietnam - perhaps the most visible indication of how deeply capitalism has taken root here over the past decade. Beefed-up incentives and greater ownership rights have recently paved the way for a number of big-ticket foreign investments. On February 28, US technology giant Intel announced $300 million investment plans to build a chip testing and assembly plant in

Vietnam. As Intel enters the market, its suppliers, service and support partners are likely to follow to reduce shipping and transportation costs, company executives indicated. Support Microsoft head Bill Gates also visited Vietnam in April 2006 and met with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, signaling that his firm might be the next major global player to invest in the country's fledgling but arguably energetic software sector. The Vietnam Software Association (VINASA), with support from the government, has recently stepped up its marketing activities and set a goal to secure 10% of Japan's software outsourcing market by 2010. FDI Japan, Asia's largest and Vietnam's third-biggest foreign investor, has recently warmed to the opportunities on offer. Since 2003, notably in the wake of the anti-Japanese riots in China, Vietnam has benefited from a new tendency among Japanese firms to diversify their investments across the region. Rising labor costs in China - now twice as high as in Vietnam - and power shortages have driven some big new Japanese investments away from China and toward Vietnam. In January, Japan's Nidec raised its investment in the Ho Chi Minh technology park to $1 billion, approximately double the $500 million it had previously committed. Japanese investors have also committed combined funds of more than $250 million to industrial parks in Haiphong, Long Binh, and Dong Nai provinces. Camera maker Canon, meanwhile, has recently shifted its global production to Vietnam. Yamaha and Mabuchi Motors, too, have recently invested heavily in manufacturing facilities here. Vietnam's call to foreign investors comes at a time that China and India still consume the lion's share of Asia-directed FDI. China is increasingly the locomotive of Asia's economic growth, whereby its growing appetite for imports and willingness to shoulder trade deficits is helping to fuel the growth of its smaller regional neighbors. But as Asia's emerging division of labor comes into clearer view, Vietnam has plenty of comparative advantages to leverage in attracting new investments. Vibrant young workforce Wages in Vietnam represent some of the least expensive - albeit low-skilled - labor in all of Asia. With 60% of Vietnam's 82 million population born after 1975, the country has a vibrant young workforce, with an additional 1.5 million workers each year, leading to 20% per annum growth in domestic consumption in recent years. References:

1. http://www.chinhphu.vn/portal/page? _pageid=439,1093454&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL 2. http://www.bizclir.com/cs/commercial_legal_framework_clir