ABSTRACT
Vietnam’s transformation from planned to market economy has so far been influenced by the political leadership’s determination to see the party continuing to dominate, to prevent political pluralism and multiparty democracy and to resist all foreign efforts in favor of a “peaceful evolution”. Indeed, a decade after the reform process began; the country’s political order has hardly changed. Orthodox and reform forces in the party always agreed that without economic successes the party would lose popular support. In the field of tension between stabilization and reform the compromise between conservative and reform forces is usually the crucial basis for changes, the compromise formulae adopted often falling far short of the results sought by the reform forces - and by foreign advisers and investors. The unstated model for many aspects of the reforms is China. The picture of the form the socialist market economy will eventually take is, however, as unclear in Vietnam as it is in China.
