VIETNAM

摘要

Economic stagnation marked the period after Vietnam's reunification from 1975 to 1985. However, Vietnam then became one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, averaging around 8 percent annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth from 1990 to 1997 and 6.5 percent from 1998-2003. In 2004, GDP grew 7.7 percent. Vietnam's inflation rate, which stood at an annual rate of over 300 percent in 1987, has been below 4 percent since 1997 (except in 1998 when it rose to 9.2 percent). In 2004 the inflation rate increased to 9.5 percent. Simultaneously, investment grew three-fold and domestic savings quintupled. Foreign trade and foreign direct investment improved significantly. The shift away from a centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented economic model improved the quality of life for many Vietnamese. Per capita income, 220 dollars in 1994, had risen to 483 dollars by 2003 with a related reduction in the share of the population living in acute poverty. However, average income is widely disparate-483 dollars for whole but 1,640 dollars in Ho Chi Minh City and much lower than average in poorer provinces of the central and northern highlands.