Vietnam

AM NA, FM 228, shortwave 0

7.215 million (1992 est.)

while Vietnam's telecommunication sector lags far behind other countries in Southeast Asia, Hanoi has made considerable progress since 1991 in upgrading the system; Vietnam has digitized all provincial switch boards, while fiber-optic and microwave transmission systems have been extended from Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City to all provinces; the density of telephone receivers nationwide doubled from 1993 to 1995, but is still far behind other countries in the region; Vietnam's telecommunications strategy aims to increase telephone density to 30 per 1,000 inhabitants by the year 2000 and authorities estimate that approximately $2.7 billion will be spent on telecommunications upgrades through the end of the decade domestic: NA international: satellite earth stations--2 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region)

800,000 (1995 est.)

NA

2.9 million (1992 est.)

paddy rice, corn, potatoes, rubber, soybeans, coffee, tea, bananas; poultry, pigs; fish

revenues: $5.6 billion expenditures: $6 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.7 billion (1996 est.)

1 new dong (D) = 100 xu

$7.3 billion Western countries; $4.5 billion CEMA debts primarily to Russia; $9 billion to $18 billion nonconvertible debt (former CEMA, Iraq, Iran)

$2.2 billion in credits and grants pledged by international donors for 1999

Vietnam is a poor, densely populated country that has had to recover from the ravages of war, the loss of financial support from the old Soviet Bloc, and the rigidities of a centrally planned economy. Substantial progress has been achieved over the past 10 years in moving forward from an extremely low starting point, though the regional downturn is now limiting that progress. GDP growth of 8.5% in 1997 fell to 4% in 1998. These numbers masked some major difficulties that are emerging in economic performance. Many domestic industries, including coal, cement, steel, and paper, have reported large stockpiles of inventory and tough competition from more efficient foreign producers, giving Vietnam a trade deficit of $3.3 billion in 1997. While disbursements of aid and foreign direct investment have risen, they are not large enough to finance the rapid increase in imports; and it is widely believed that Vietnam may be using short-term trade credits to bridge the gap--a risky strategy that could result in a foreign exchange crunch. Meanwhile, Vietnamese authorities continue to move slowly toward implementing the structural reforms needed to revitalize the economy and produce more competitive, export-driven industries. Privatization of state enterprises remains bogged down in political controversy, while the country's dynamic private sector is denied both financing and access to markets. Reform of the banking sector is proceeding slowly, raising concerns that the country will be unable to tap sufficient domestic savings to maintain current high levels of growth. Administrative and legal barriers are also causing costly delays for foreign investors and are raising similar doubts about Vietnam's ability to maintain the inflow of foreign capital. Ideological bias in favor of state intervention and control of the economy is slowing progress toward a more liberalized investment environment.

14.88 billion kWh (1996)

0 kWh (1996)

0 kWh (1996)

14.88 billion kWh (1996)

fossil fuel: 12.1% hydro: 84% nuclear: 0% other: 3.9% (1996)

new dong (D) per US$1--13,900 (December 1998), 11,100 (December 1996), 11,193 (1995 average), 11,000 (October 1994), 10,800 (November 1993), 8,100 (July 1991)

$9.4 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

crude oil, marine products, rice, coffee, rubber, tea, garments, shoes

Japan, Germany, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, France, South Korea

calendar year

purchasing power parity--$134.8 billion (1998 est.)

agriculture: 28% industry: 30% services: 42% (1996 est.)

purchasing power parity?$1,770 (1998 est.)

4% (1998 est.)

lowest 10%: 3.5% highest 10%: 29% (1993)

$11.4 billion (f.o.b., 1998 est.)

machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer, steel products, raw cotton, grain, cement, motorcycles

Singapore, South Korea, Japan, France, Hong Kong, Taiwan

12% (1998 est.)

food processing, garments, shoes, machine building, mining, cement, chemical fertilizer, glass, tires, oil, coal, steel, paper

9% (1998)

32.7 million

agriculture 65%, industry and services 35% (1990 est.)

50.9% (1993 est.)

25% (1995 est.)

total: 329,560 sq km land: 325,360 sq km water: 4,200 sq km

slightly larger than New Mexico

tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March)

3,444 km (excludes islands)

lowest point: South China Sea 0 m highest point: Ngoc Linh 3,143 m

logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations; groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban

16 00 N, 106 00 E

18,600 sq km (1993 est.)

total: 4,639 km border countries: Cambodia 1,228 km, China 1,281 km, Laos 2,130 km

arable land: 17% permanent crops: 4% permanent pastures: 1% forests and woodland: 30% other: 48% (1993 est.)

Southeastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia

Southeast Asia

contiguous zone: 24 nm continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 nm territorial sea: 12 nm

occasional typhoons (May to January) with extensive flooding

phosphates, coal, manganese, bauxite, chromate, offshore oil and gas deposits, forests

low, flat delta in south and north; central highlands; hilly, mountainous in far north and northwest

58 provinces (tinh, singular and plural), 3 municipalities* (thu do, singular and plural); An Giang, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Bac Lieu, Bac Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Ben Tre, Binh Dinh, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Binh Thuan, Ca Mau, Can Tho, Cao Bang, Dac Lac, Da Nang, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Gia Lai, Ha Giang, Hai Duong, Hai Phong*, Ha Nam, Ha Noi*, Ha Tay, Ha Tinh, Hoa Binh, Ho Chi Minh*, Hung Yen, Khanh Hoa, Kien Giang, Kon Tum, Lai Chau, Lam Dong, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Long An, Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Ninh Binh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Tho, Phu Yen, Quang Binh, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Quang Ninh, Quang Tri, Soc Trang, Son La, Tay Ninh, Thai Binh, Thai Nguyen, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Tuyen Quang, Vinh Long, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai

Hanoi

15 April 1992

conventional long form: Socialist Republic of Vietnam conventional short form: Vietnam local long form: Cong Hoa Chu Nghia Viet Nam local short form: Viet Nam abbreviation: SRV

VM

chief of mission: Ambassador Douglas B. "Pete" Peterson embassy: 7 Lang Ha Road, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi mailing address: PSC 461, Box 400, FPO AP 96521-0002 consulate(s) general: Ho Chi Minh City

chief of mission: Ambassador LE VAN BANG chancery: 1233 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036, Suite 400 consulate(s) general: San Francisco

chief of state: President Tran Duc LUONG (since 24 September 1997) and Vice President Nguyen Thi BINH (since NA October 1992) head of government: Prime Minister Phan Van KHAI (since 25 September 1997); First Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan DUNG (since 29 September 1997); Deputy Prime Ministers Nguyen Cong TAN (since 29 September 1997), Ngo Xuan LOC (since 29 September 1997), Nguyen Manh CAM (since 29 September 1997), and Pham Gia KHIEM (since 29 September 1997) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the proposal of the prime minister and ratification of the National Assembly elections: president elected by the National Assembly from among its members for a five-year term; election last held 25 September 1997 (next to be held when National Assembly meets following legislative elections in NA 2002); prime minister appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers appointed by the prime minister election results: Tran Duc LUONG elected president; percent of National Assembly vote--NA

red with a large yellow five-pointed star in the center

Communist state

2 September 1945 (from France)

ACCT, APEC, AsDB, ASEAN, CCC, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NAM, OPCW, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)

Supreme People's Court, chief justice is elected for a five-year term by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president

based on communist legal theory and French civil law system

unicameral National Assembly or Quoc-Hoi (450 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) elections: last held 20 July 1997 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party--CPV 92%, other 8% (the 8% are not CPV members but are approved by the CPV to stand for election); seats by party--CPV or CPV-approved 450

Independence Day, 2 September (1945)

only party--Communist Party of

18 years of age; universal

People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) (includes Ground Forces, Navy, and Air Force), Coast Guard

$650 million (1997)

9.3% (1997)

males age 15-49: 20,492,806 (1999 est.)

males age 15-49: 12,933,945 (1999 est.)

17 years of age

males: 877,714 (1999 est.)

0-14 years: 34% (male 13,377,315; female 12,603,906) 15-64 years: 61% (male 22,934,553; female 24,277,488) 65 years and over: 5% (male 1,645,288; female 2,472,660) (1999 est.)

20.78 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

6.56 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Vietnamese 85%-90%, Chinese 3%, Muong, Tai, Meo, Khmer, Man, Cham

34.84 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Vietnamese (official), Chinese, English, French, Khmer, tribal languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)

total population: 68.1 years male: 65.71 years female: 70.64 years (1999 est.)

definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93.7% male: 96.5% female: 91.2% (1995 est.)

noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural) adjective: Vietnamese

-0.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

77,311,210 (July 1999 est.)

1.37% (1999 est.)

Buddhist, Taoist, Roman Catholic, indigenous beliefs, Islam, Protestant, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.94 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

2.41 children born/woman (1999 est.)

maritime boundary with Cambodia not defined; involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, and possibly Brunei; maritime boundary with Thailand resolved, August 1997; maritime boundary dispute with China in the Gulf of Tonkin; Paracel Islands occupied by China but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; offshore islands and sections of boundary with Cambodia are in dispute; sections of land border with China are indefinite

minor producer of opium poppy with 3,000 hectares cultivated in 1998, capable of producing 20 metric tons of opium; probably minor transit point for Southeast Asian heroin destined for the US and Europe; growing opium/heroin addiction; possible small-scale heroin production

48 (1994 est.)

total: 36 over 3,047 m: 8 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 5 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 7 (1994 est.)

total: 12 1,524 to 2,437 m: 2 914 to 1,523 m: 5 under 914 m: 5 (1994 est.)

total: 93,300 km paved: 23,418 km unpaved: 69,882 km (1996 est.)

total: 123 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 527,920 GRT/820,515 DWT ships by type: bulk 7, cargo 98, chemical tanker 1, combination bulk 1, oil tanker 12, refrigerated cargo 4 (1998 est.)

petroleum products 150 km

Cam Ranh, Da Nang, Haiphong, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Gai, Qui Nhon, Nha Trang

total: 2,835 km (in addition, there are 224 km not restored to service after war damage) standard gauge: 151 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 2,454 km 1.000-m gauge dual gauge: 230 km NA-m gauges (three rails)

17,702 km navigable; more than 5,149 km navigable at all times by vessels up to 1.8 m draft