Developmental lessons of the Vietnamese transitional economy

The emergence of the transitional economies (TEs) in Eastern Europe and Pacific Asia have brought a new dimension to the development debate. Initially, events in Eastern Europe were depicted as confirming that there was no viable alternative to the market economy and the neoliberal perspective on development. However, the transition in Eastern Europe has proved to be a complex and problematic process, with recurrent economic and political crises and a wide range of situations and trajectories. More significantly, in Pacific Asia the Asian transitional economies (ATEs) of Vietnam and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have experienced high rates of economic growth and large-scale inflows of investment with programmes of limited and gradual reform. These have taken place in the context of the continuation of single party rule, high levels of state intervention and significant direct control of production through the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). Economic growth has been heavily concentrated in and around the state sectors. It is argued that a significant proportion of the growth has resulted from the party-states’ promotion of growth, establishment of incentives and encouragement of more localized activity. However, the changes set in motion by rapid growth and reform have started to undermine the developmental effectiveness of the party-state systems.