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April 2010 Vol. 9 - Issue 4

Fact of the Month

Although life expectancy in Vietnam is roughly 69 years for men and 74 years for women, only 5.6 percent of the population today is over the age of 65.


Feature of the Month: Vietnam

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam lies on the easternmost part of the Indochina Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Aside from a 60-year period of rule by the French, Vietnam has maintained independence since 939 A.D. An abundance of waterways, combined with a unique topography has made Vietnam a traditionally agricultural civilization, focused largely on the cultivation of wet rice. Much of the infrastructure and organization of the Vietnamese economy that had been built up under this agrarian system was destroyed during the Vietnam War. Following the war, the economy was restructured to be centrally-planned. A decade later, significant market reforms were introduced in hopes of stimulating trade. These reforms made Vietnam a much more attractive market opportunity, and subsequently one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with a near-average seven-percent GDP growth rate over the past twenty years. In 2001, Vietnam entered into a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United States, and trade between the two has increased by nearly $13 billion since the inception of the agreement. The BTA drastically changed Vietnam’s trade structure by enforcing provisions on trade in goods and services, enforcement of intellectual property rights, protection for investments, and transparency. These reforms set the stage for it to enter into the World Trade Organization in 2007. Talks of a merger between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Vietnam is a member, and China, would effectually create the largest free trade zone in the world.


From the globalEDGE Blog

While Vietnam’s largest export is textiles, seafood is often overlooked as another crucial product to Vietnam’s economic well-being. In June 2009, Vietnam and Japan signed the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, which effectively reduced and eliminated tariffs on a number of Vietnamese goods, one of which was dried seafood. In the past, high prices had deterred other Southeast Asian countries from buying Vietnamese seafood, but the tariff cuts, coupled with overall increased demands, have led to a boom in Vietnamese seafood exports.

Read more on the globalEDGE Blog!


Featured Resources

Fortune: Global 500
The annual feature of the Fortune magazine (published every July) ranks the world's largest companies according to revenues. The listings are provided in rank order as well as by industry. There is also a search function. For each company, there is basic contact information (address, phone, website), the CEO's name, and figures for revenues, profits, assets, stockholder's equity, and number of employees.
Category: Rankings

Alibaba
Alibaba.com is an easy to navigate global marketplace for over 24 million international buyers and sellers in over 200 countries and regions. The site features a product catalog, trade leads, and a company directory. Products are sorted by industry.
Category: Trade Leads

For a more comprehensive list of resources, check out globalEDGE's Resource Desk!
 


Featured Academy

Doing Business in Vietnam
This module provides a general overview for doing business in Vietnam. The module covers: Why do business in Vietnam; Vietnamese culture; business culture; logistics and infrastructure in the country; and issues facing Vietnam in the 21st century such as environmental concerns, social concerns, and obstacles to business success. This module also includes a case study about how the Vietnam War effected Vietnamese modernization and industrialization.
Category: Online Course Modules

Cambridge University Press
Cambridge publishes journals, textbooks, monographs and practitioner guides, in subjects from medicine and law to literature and classics. In the business field, Cambridge specializes mostly on finance and economics titles.
Category: Academic Publishers

For more links to academy resources, check out our Academy Page on globalEDGE!
 


globalEDGE Business Review

"Running a Global Corporation"
By: Tomas Hult

What does it take to run a global corporation? Are there too many environmental and industry forces to think about? What about the strategy and organizational factors? No worries, it can all be paired down to a manageable few.

If you wish to share your expertise on an issue in international business, visit our gBR Homepage to see how and where to submit your entry.


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