Vietnam: A globalization success story

November 22, 2005

The OECD reported this week that the proportion of Vietnamese that are poor fell from 58% in 1993 to 20% last year. GNP growth is around 8%.

What It Means:

This is a country with a government that, although considered corrupt by some, is supporting privatization and incredible growth from small businesses. Much of the money to fund this growth comes from expatriate businesses overseas (your friendly neighborhood nail salon).

Action Steps:

Make sure you have some stocks of Vietnamese companies in your Asian-Pacific mutual funds. Don't try to buy individual stocks yourself...or just a Vietnamese fund. It is still too risky to put a large chunk of your portfolio in as a solo buy...but provides good, high growth diversification in an overall fund.