Export Success Against the Odds: A Vietnamese Case Study

Abstract

Vietnam has achieved notable export success in its textile and garment industry over the past decade. Such an outcome might at first appear puzzling in view of many obstacles in the way of export success: the country had hitherto experienced a long period of international commercial isolation; its exporters have continued to be excluded from the key US market; there is a large and generally very inefficient state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector; its private sector faces active harassment and discrimination; much of the regulatory bureaucracy has at best a poor understanding of the operation of international markets; and there are notable institutional weaknesses. In seeking an explanation for this export success, several features of the general policy regime are emphasized, especially those associated with the doi moi reform process which took root from the late 1980s. It is argued that the lessons—both positive and negative—from this Vietnamese case study are generalizable to other transitional and late-comer export economies.