Charting a New Course:An Interview With The Communist party of Vietnam

[BayCityProgressive]

I am glad after all that the US and France have put Vietnam through, that they are trying not to hold grudges against American citizens, are alleviating poverty, and following an anti-imperialist foreign policy. In the 70's US officials said it was okay to end the war there because the country would NEVER recover from our attacks. I am glad those poeple are being proven wrong.

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/view/56/

PA: Can you describe the process of reform in Vietnam and what led you to initiate it?

CPV: Our reform and innovation process arose from the fact that we made some quite serious mistakes. The first mistake was a simplistic understanding of socialism. Vietnam was at best at the beginning of the transition period. At that time we wanted to build pure socialism instantly. This mistake is very obvious in our economic life. For example, we destroyed other economic sector in order to keep only two: the state and collective sector.



The second economic mistake was that we destroyed market relations. Other serious mistakes were made in management and social life. For example, the party’s life became bureaucratic. By that time our mechanism of economic management became bureaucratic, centralized and subsidized. Our socialism had become so-called state socialism, which means everything was concentrated in the state. This mistake was later viewed as dogmatism, voluntarism and subjectivism. These are the main reasons that led to the innovation.

However, the reform doesn’t only mean to fix mistakes but also while overcoming them, find a new way. We had to have new initiatives. Even if we didn’t make any mistakes, we should still have had a reform process continuing the innovation. So the innovation process is not only a process of fixing mistakes.

PA: You described your economic situation as being in the process of transition to socialism. Is that correct? How would you define Vietnam’s economy now? Is it a mixed economy, a socialist market economy? What is the scientific definition of the stage you’re at now?

CPV: Of course we don’t have a full and satisfactory definition of our economy, but we can define and identify some essential characteristics. Generally, speaking we define our economy as a complex economy operating under the market mechanism with the management of the state with a socialistic orientation. This general definition can be sharpened as follows: a market economy with a socialistic orientation.

[Bandit]

1. "a market economy with a socialistic orientation. "

IOW they take care of their citizens and don't leave them to just fend for themselves as America is known for..In fact their economy has become quite vibrant..

[BayCityProgressive]

2. Here is some info on Vietnam

they are taking the best of many different socialist philosophies to help the people, not serve ideology that isn't based in fact. Here is a link about socialist-oriented Sweden helping Vietnam form housing co-ops and housing unions so that poor and middle class Vietnamese can afford safe, nonprofit, and democratically run appartment complexes. Sweden has always supported the liberation movement of Vietnam. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_go1523/is_200312/ai_n6584822

Vietnam aims to have people-owned health co-operatives in every community by 2010.
http://vietnamnews.vnanet.vn/2004-11/26/Stories/09.htm

Vietnamese farmers have also formed co-ops to deal with integration into the WTO and Vietnam has one of the highest literacy rates of any 3rd world/developing nation.