Aspects of Soviet‑Vietnamese Economic Relations, 1979–84

Abstract

Vietnam's foreign economic relations have, of necessity, been primarily conducted over the last six years with the few countries that make up the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA or COMECON). Hanoi has been faced with several impediments to the establishment of wide-ranging economic ties with coun tries outside this Soviet-led economic bloc. Amongst these impediments, the Vietnamese invasion and occupation of Kampuchea has been the most significant in circumscribing Vietnam's foreign economic options. Together with the Kampuchean question, which resulted in the imposition of a Japanese and Western economic aid embargo on Vietnam in 1979, the Vietnamese tilt towards, and then embrace of, the Soviet Union, was the factor which had, earlier in 1978, led China to sever its economic ties with Vietnam. The formal conclusion of that nexus between the Soviet Union and Vietnam in November 1978, through a Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation, had in itself been a partial result of the Vietnam war: the refusal in 1977 by the United States to provide reconstruction/development aid to a war-ravaged Vietnamese nation. The issue of American troops listed as Missing-In-Action (MIA) during the Vietnam war, allied to Vietnamese actions in Kampuchea, provided further factors which combined to firmly shut the U.S. aid and trade door to Vietnam. As a result of all these essentially geopolitical factors, Vietnam's interna tional economic ties have largely been limited to the countries of the CMEA. Within that grouping, the Soviet Union has been for Vietnam by far the largest and most important trading partner and aid donor. How are economic relations between the Soviet Union and Vietnam regulated? To what extent is Vietnam reliant upon Soviet economic aid and trade? Has the Soviet Union been able to benefit from this aspect of its relationship with Vietnam? These are just some of the questions which this article will attempt to answer through a survey of Soviet Vietnamese economic relations since the conclusion of their Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation.