This book is the third in a series by Geoffrey Murray on some of the key emerging economies of Pacific Asia (he has also treated China and Singapore) and is intended to be used both as a practical handbook in business planning and strategy, and as a socio-economic overview of the new Vietnam that will interest a wide audience.

The pace of change in the post-war era, especially the last ten years, is widely viewed by Western observers as an astonishing achievement, and could continue well into the millennium - given the various reservations the author addresses during the course of this study.

Hence the detailed evaluation of the so-called 'recovery' since the Vietnam War (in industrial, economic, political and social terms), in order to better judge the prospects of long-term economic growth and the viability of identified opportunities for international investment.