ABSTRACT
Economic relations between countries are shaped by government to government relations. This chapter examines the motivations, activities and problems of the French and Japanese governments in Vietnam. France also assisted Vietnam on a political level by using its historic links with Cambodia to find possibilities to end the war. In December 1987 and January 1988, France hosted the first substantive negotiations between the opposing Cambodian factions. The French government is using its aid program to boost closer ties between France and Vietnam, especially in the economic, educational and cultural field. The biggest problem in the relationship between Vietnam and Japan was the US embargo of 1964. The dependence of most nationalist groups on outside inspiration opened Vietnam to deep penetration of foreign influence and finally brought Vietnam under the domination of the Soviet Union and communism.
