Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

A Land of Growth

Bru Fisherman: The Bru in Viet Nam are among the 200 ethnic minorities in the GMS.

Viet Nam, with an area of 331,700 km2, lies along the western shore of the South China Sea and is bordered by the PRC to the north, the Lao PDR to the west, and Cambodia to the southwest. Ranging in width from 50 to 500 km, it is a narrow country, except in the north, and is 1,600 km long. There is a dense network of rivers and waterways in the Red River in the north and the Mekong River in the south.

Of all the countries in the subregion, Viet Nam has shown perhaps the most remarkable social progress in human development in the last decade or two. In the past 15 years, poverty has almost halved, from 70% to 37%, and there have been advances in many indicators of human development, including life expectancy and infant mortality.

Viet Nam's advances in human development are closely linked with its tradition of social protection and the notable economic growth since 1986, when economic reforms changed the structure of the economy to one that is more open to the market and the international community, and transition began from a solely agrarian to an industrial focus. From the early 1990s, GDP increased rapidly, reaching a peak growth rate of 9.5% in the mid-1990s. The regional financial crisis was a setback for the country, as it was for the rest of the subregion. Yet Viet Nam remains one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

Agriculture is the cornerstone of Viet Nam's economic productivity, engaging 69% of the employed labor force in 1999. It accounted for almost a quarter of GDP in 2000, a drop from more than a third of GDP in 1992.

Economic reforms in the 1990s were crucial in spurring industrial growth, which averaged a substantial 11.2% in 1991-2000 despite the slowdown in 1997 and 1998.

However, amid such high growth, the limits of natural systems are becoming evident. Intensive farming, the main source of rural livelihood, has pushed the country to the limits of arable land. Half of the forest cover has been lost over the past 4 decades and only about 98,000 km2 remain. The country's exceptional biodiversity has been declining at a rate considered the highest in the subregion. The accessibility and quality of water have diminished because of the loss of surface water from upstream countries, disruption in natural water regulation caused by forest loss, and degradation of watersheds and wetlands as a result of soil erosion. Productivity of coastal and marine areas has been decreasing throughout the 29 coastal provinces as a result of the rapidly increasing urban population along the coast, where many industrial zones are located.

Viet Nam has been successfully making an economic transition, with incomes rising and poverty on the retreat. The challenges are to ensure that growth is environmentally sustainable and that its benefits are shared throughout the country and among all population groups-the rural population, ethnic minorities, and the poor.

Facts and Figures

Source: Greater Mekong Subregion Atlas of the Environment