Thanks to the high economic growth rate during the last 20 years, Vietnam is expected to join the middle-income country group by around 2010. The global financial crisis has severely impacted many countries, including Vietnam. The crisis together with the recent turbulence of macroeconomic development in the last two years has opened up several weakness of the economy, and begged the question whether Vietnam can continue her present course of economic development in the face of a changing world? This paper is an initial attempt to answer this question by (i) reviewing the economic development of Vietnam during the last 20 years, (ii) analyzing the impacts of the crisis on Vietnam and the policy responses by the government; and (iii) suggests some medium-term prospects and policy implications for the country.

Several countries are on their way towards a market-oriented economy but in conditions where most local companies have a dearth of management expertise. To meet the growing pressure of globalization and integration, many local enterprises are keen to apply foreign know-how and practices, especially human resource management (HRM), to enhance competitiveness. Likewise, foreign invested companies face the fundamental question of the transferability of HRM practices, whose success depends on country specifics, into local settings. This paper examines the possibility of applying four management practices (pay for performance, multi-source feedback, involvement and empowerment, self-managed work teams) in the context of Vietnam, with illustrative comparisons with China. It suggests varying degrees of transferability and potential hindering factors, along with practical suggestions for managers and businesses considering management transfers more generally and elsewhere. Importantly, our approach and findings are relevant and applicable to a range of different country managers and businesses, especially those which have been subject to less research and enquiry.

The paper investigates institutional reforms in Vietnam and their impact on the economic performance of firms. Using the provincial competitiveness index 2006 (PCI06) and firm-level data in Vietnam in 2005, the results show that provincial competitiveness is economically and statistically significant in explaining cross-province differences in firm performance.We find that a 1% point improvement in government practice could increase the daily value-added of an average firm by an amount equivalent to nearly three times per capita GDP per day. The results show that an improvement in providing market information, more secure land tenure and labor training assistance has a positive effect on firm performance. By contrast, weaknesses in the judiciary system and administrative reforms impede growth of non-state firms. The findings indicate that governance is an important obstacle to the development of the non-state sector in Vietnam.