Vietnam has been one of the best performing and fastest growing economies in Asia for several years, recorded audited growth in 2003 of slightly over eight percent, particularly considering the SARS outbreak that year.

A rapid inflow of FDIs has seen a burgeoning business culture, predominantly in manufacturing and tourism, the latter with a sustained nine percent annual increase for five years and a typical split of about 33 percent business travelers and 67 percent tourists. With both industries being significant employers of city-dwelling Vietnamese, there has been a drastic increase in mean household income. Coupled with a population that is growing at two percent per annum, the potential for domestic demand is impressive.

With the announcement of WTO accession, all is poised to improve further, bringing with it a further influx of FDIs and an increasingly open business climate for foreign companies to operate.