Viet Nam Country Profile

Viet Nam is a long narrow country, which lies along the western shore of the South China Sea. It is a poor, densely populated country that has had to recover from the ravages of war. Substantial economic progress has been achieved over the past 10 years. Agriculture remains fundamental to the Vietnamese economy, employing 73 per cent of the country's labour force in 1993. However, cultivated land is lost annually as a result of population pressures, over-farming and urban expansion.

Viet Nam has already met the target of halving poverty by reducing the proportion of people living below the poverty line to approximately 35 per cent in 2000. Viet Nam is committed to reduce the poverty rate by a further 40 per cent by 2010. While these are impressive achievements, the challenge now is to reduce increasing disparities and reach deep pockets of poverty in each region of the country.

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