Vietnam Politics and Economy

Vietnam is a communist state, with the Communist Party of Vietnam playing the central role in the politics of the country. Article 4 of the new Constitution, approved in April 1992, reaffirms the leading role of the Communist Party of Vietnam. There are no legal opposition parties in Vietnam, although several opposition groups do operate from overseas, supporting demonstrations and civil disobedience against the government. The Communist Party of Vietnam convenes a National Congress every 5 years to formulate policies and decide the future course of the country. The National Congress elects the Central Committee, which in turn elects the Politburo. Politburo appoints the General Secretary, highest position in the Party.

The National Assembly, a 498-member unicameral body, is elected through an universal suffrage for a five-year term. According to the Constitution, the National Assembly is the supreme organ of state and the only body with constitutional and legislative power. The National Assembly decides the country's domestic and foreign policies, the socio-economic challenges, and policies on defence and security of the nation. It also appoints the President of the State, the Prime Minister and the chief procurators of the Supreme People's Court of Vietnam.

The Constitution of Vietnam guarantees all its citizens right to freedom of speech, press, assemble, demonstration; right to freedom of religion; equal rights between man and woman, the right to education and health care etc.

Vietnam Economy

Before the US-Vietnam war (1959-1975), Vietnam had a highly centralized economy based on Marxist economic planning. After the war, Vietnam adopted a broad economic trend called 'Doi Moi' (Renovation) to recover from the ravages of the war, the loss of financial support from the Old Soviet Bloc. Later in 1986, the Communist regime changed its economic policy and moved towards the reform of the private sector similar to that seen in China. Since then Vietnam economy has improved, visible in its GDP growth that grew at the rate of 8 % annually from 1990 to 1997.The trend continued from 2000-2002 at a rate of 7 percent. All this led to changes in the Vietnam economy and made it the world's fastest growing economy.

Since the coming of new leadership in 2001, the authorities have committed themselves to a more liberal economy of Vietnam. The July 13, 2000 US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement helped Vietnam's export in a big way. The Vietnamese government still continues to maintain tight reign on the banking system, state owned enterprise and areas of foreign trade. In 1998, 38 percent of the population lived below the poverty line by 2002 it was 29 percent. In 2006, Vietnam has become the 150th member of WTO.