Publication: Informality and the Playing Field in Vietnam's Business Sector
Date
2003-08
ISSN
Published
2003-08
Author(s)
Tenev, Stoyan
Carlier, Amanda
Chaudry, Omar
Nguyen, Quynh-Trang
Abstract
The development story in Vietnam in
recent years has been one of remarkable progress (Dollar
2002). Over the 1990s, the economy doubled and the incidence
of poverty declined by half. Although these are indeed
notable achievements, they are but the first steps across a
difficult terrain. About 30 million people, or more than a
third of the total population, continue to live in poverty,
and 25 million, or about 60 percent of the labor force, are
either underemployed or unemployed. To create jobs for the
unemployed, underemployed, and new additions to the work
force, Vietnam will have to double the economy again by the
end of the decade, but this cannot happen unless both the
level and the quality of investment increase substantially.
According to World Bank estimates, average total investment
must reach 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by
2010, which represents a 5 percent increase over the 1990s,
while average productivity will have to be about 40 percent
higher (World Bank 2001). To achieve these objectives,
Vietnam needs to encourage the private sector to contribute
more to economic growth. This will require significant
improvements in its business environment.
Citation
“Tenev, Stoyan; Carlier, Amanda; Chaudry, Omar; Nguyen, Quynh-Trang. 2003. Informality and the Playing Field in Vietnam's Business Sector. © Washington, DC: World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/f3124cb0-1de7-5932-904f-4cb24e4969d8 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”