ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN NORTH VIET‐NAM

Abstract

Japan does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with North VietNam (The Viet-Namese Democratic Republic), nor have any trade agrdements been negotiated to datd, either on a government or private level. The only trade between the two countries is restricted to private commercial transactions which arnount to about U.S. $ 15 million annually. For these reasons, perhaps, there is little information on the actual conditions in that country. The following article is an attempt to clarify the economic and trade position of North Viet-Nam on the basis of recent foreign dispatches and other informative material and reports of Japanese who have reqently visited that country. It is well known that the ofB:cial government publications of Cohlmunist countries are extremely limited in number, and even when statistics are published they lack concrete form and generally are expressed in ratios compared with pr~evious years. Such being the case, it is extremely dif~icult to assess the true economic state of these countries correctly. We are unavoidably compelled for the time being to base our research work on such materials. Present inadequacies will have to be supplemented as new materials or data become available in the future. It must be rioted here that the views and opinions that may be expressed in this paper are solely those of the present writer.