ABSTRACT
The implementation of public sustainable development policies in Vietnam is examined from the perspective of environmental economics. The focus is on the costly trade-off between rapid economic growth and environmental degradation. While investigating national policies, this study explains why at macro-level Vietnam still follows the grow-now-clean-up-later model and there is a large discrepancy between policies and practices of sustainable development. A cost-benefit analysis of the programme for the intensification of rice production in the Mekong Delta, one of the largest mega-deltas and rice bowls in the world, reveals that its flaws have resulted in irreversible ecological and environment losses. This suggests that a comprehensive analysis, in which negative externalities are accounted for, must be conducted so as to ensure the sustainability of development projects and avoid irreversible damages to the environment.
