Viet Nam is a country in transition. That was one of the first things Huy said to us. I'm keeping my ear out for ways this is evident. Yesterday (was that Wednesday?) he spoke of the enormous growth in population: 90 million now, up from 40 million in 1975. So an incredibly young population...more than half born since reunification. (Official policy is now to limit families to two children .) Retirement is mandatory for men at age 60, for women at 50, so there will be jobs for the youth.
While a communist country politically, Viet Nam appears to be adopting capitalism economically. (What Huy might call the "vietnamization" of communism...more on vietnamization from Marianne.). There is no private ownership of the land; that belongs to the state. But what you build on it, how you use the land is up to you. You are taxed depending on the land use. If you sell your house, you have two contracts: one to sell the building, another to transfer use of the land. The state continues to control oil production and export, but other things like electricity are in private hands now. The resort in Da Nang where we just arrived was allegedly (rumor has it, again according to Huy) financed by the communist party 15 years ago, when getting a permit for such a venture would have been very difficult. The government provides health care for children up to age six, then the parents must provide it.
The original constitution proposed three parties to make up a democratic coalition as conceived by Ho Chi Minh, but the communists rewrote this constitution and eliminated the two other parties. But of the 600 members of congress, just 20% are communist. So today,while there are 2.5 million members of the communist party (a practical consideration for getting a job), Huy says there are very few communists!
It amazes me just how rapidly things are changing in Viet Nam.
While a communist country politically, Viet Nam appears to be adopting capitalism economically. (What Huy might call the "vietnamization" of communism...more on vietnamization from Marianne.). There is no private ownership of the land; that belongs to the state. But what you build on it, how you use the land is up to you. You are taxed depending on the land use. If you sell your house, you have two contracts: one to sell the building, another to transfer use of the land. The state continues to control oil production and export, but other things like electricity are in private hands now. The resort in Da Nang where we just arrived was allegedly (rumor has it, again according to Huy) financed by the communist party 15 years ago, when getting a permit for such a venture would have been very difficult. The government provides health care for children up to age six, then the parents must provide it.
The original constitution proposed three parties to make up a democratic coalition as conceived by Ho Chi Minh, but the communists rewrote this constitution and eliminated the two other parties. But of the 600 members of congress, just 20% are communist. So today,while there are 2.5 million members of the communist party (a practical consideration for getting a job), Huy says there are very few communists!
It amazes me just how rapidly things are changing in Viet Nam.
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