ABSTRACT
Previous chapters suggested that the rationale behind the reform agenda supported by the international financial institutions is inspired by neoliberal orthodoxy, although repackaged as a post-Washington consensus that blends the old paradigm with poverty-oriented measures and more open debate on policies. In order to challenge the neoliberal discourse, Chapter 4 relied on the experience of the region interpreted along the lines of a ‘statist’ tradition. By contrasting competing approaches with development, this work tries to contribute to a wider framework for analysis of the current debate in Vietnam at a very critical stage in the reform process. Chapter 6 will proceed in the same direction. Chapter 4 claimed that, behind the appearance of general consensus on the direction of the reform process, the Vietnamese administration is looking at different experiences for inspiration and a conspicuous interest in the models adopted by other East Asian nations is visible. At the same time, Vietnam is under a strong pressure to implement governance models that are more compatible with liberal market mechanisms than with state-led industrialization attempts. While there are significant hints that Vietnam is adopting some of the institutional arrangements of a ‘statist’ tradition, the official debate is, as usual, largely dominated by the discourse promoted by the international agencies. The aim of this chapter is to look at how these competing models are influencing Vietnamese policymaking and to delineate the inherent incompatibility among governance models based on contrasting views on the role that the state and economic institutions should play in order to promote sustainable economic development.
