> Does anyone here know much about Vietnam today? I know one of the
> regular posters is a real aficionado of developmental states although I
> forget who -- do you know about Vietnam?
Hmm, probably me.
Yes, it's one of the rising heavyweights of SE Asia. The state owns 95% of the banking sector and carefully regulates finance, the postal bank channels savings into industry. Heavy investments into literacy and education, just starting to pay off now. The early stage was similar to China's take-off -- state-assisted rural industrialization (long-term leases to peasants, village-township coops, etc.)
The East Asian transnationals have moved in, big-time -- but the dev state keeps them honest. Much of the dev state was modeled not on China, but on Singapore, interestingly -- Singapore's pension fund was a major investor, and has given Vietnam generally sound advice.
Recently Vietnam opened an expensive oil refinery in the central region of the country -- a complete violation of neoliberal dogma, but once energy prices go back up, which they inevitably will, they'll make a mint.
-- DRR