Last October a small workshop was held in Bangkok to present draft papers as a step towards the Public Sector Challenges and Government Reforms in South East Asia conference in Jakarta. The workshop was chaotic and fascinating. The vague topic of governance saw us fly off in many directions, and...

This report presents the results of an competitiveness enterprise survey, highlighting the main findings relevant to the issue of competitiveness in Vetnam. the final sample for analysis included 146 enterprises from four industry sectors (electricity, mechanical engineering, foodstuff and...

This report follows up on a 1996 UNDP survey of microfinance activity in Vietnam. The need was not simply because of the five-year time lapse, but also because the larger multilateral donors were showing interest in funding microfinance activity, and it was therefore a good time to survey the...

The economic performance of Vietnam in the 1990s would be classified as a “miracle” if such achievements were not so common in Asia in the latter half of the twentieth century. GDP growth rates between 8.1 percent to 9.5 percent during 1992-97 were led by industry and services, though the...

This paper assesses the challenges confronting developing countries in APEC in their reform and modernisation of standards systems and related infrastructure. Vietnam and Thailand are examined as case studies. In both cases the move to internationalise standards and the quality of services...

Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented debate on globalisation. Attention has focused on the origin and main features of globalisation and its potential impact on world economic, political and social order. This research and policy debate is understandable, as the pace and consequences of...

The social consequences of restructuring can largely be understood in terms of the net employment impact and the imapct on government expenditures and revenues. When restructuring entails unemployment, government expenditure can mitigate the financial costs faced by those losing jobs at the...

This report examines the employment structure and structural change (1986-1999) of Vietnam, discusses Vietnam's labour market regulations and examines how Vietnam's labour markets could become more efficient. Vietnam’s labour policies remain focused on control of state enterprises: who they...

The National Economics University (NEU) has undergone dramatic changes in the 1990s. It has expanded from teaching a few thousand students annually to teaching tens of thousands in 1998. At the same time, the subject matter being taught has changed. Economics under central planning was very...

This report is the outcome of a study commissioned to examine the capacity building needs in Vietnam, and is a supplementary document to the Asian Development Bank's Country Operational Strategy for Vietnam. Vietnam's needs in terms of capacity building are particularly important given that is...