ABSTRACT
This chapter explores lessons that emerge from comparison of the Vietnamese and Tanzanian experiences with economic reform. In comparing economic performance, all the indicators suggest that Vietnam has been more successful than Tanzania, particularly in the very high rates of export growth. Powerful exogenous factors that supported the expansion of the Vietnamese economy included its regional location and the trajectory of the region's economy, the entrepreneurial vitality of the Vietnamese, and the contribution of a sizeable and dynamic emigrant community. The pre-reform Vietnamese State has been described as a 'weak state' in terms of its economic management capability by some commentators because of failures to effectively implement stated policy intentions during the pre-reform period. In Vietnam, foreign investment was also important in providing know-how and finance for the fast growth in energy exports - but with state enterprises still playing an important role.
