ABSTRACT
This chapter examines whether foreign investment in Vietnam exhibits spatial patterns similar to those in other developing countries. It assesses the implications of these spatial patterns for regional economic development. The chapter provides a brief background to foreign direct investment and regional economic development in Vietnam. It explains the future prospects of foreign investment in Vietnam. Aspiring to take advantage of Pacific Asia’s rapid economic growth, Vietnam aims to catch up with the more prosperous countries in the region. The economic success achieved in Vietnam, initiated by the reform process, is manifested in high gross domestic product growth levels, averaging 7.4 per cent during the period 1989-1994. During the second wave in late 1990 and 1991 companies from Asian newly industrialising country’s (NIC) began investing in Vietnam’s manufacturing industries. In 1992 and 1993 the wave of Asian NICs’ investment in manufacturing industries, particular, was further reinforced and soon became the largest and fastest growing source of foreign investment for Vietnam.
