i4m country profile vietnam (in english)

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VIETNAMCountry profile

Project number: UK/13/LLP-LdV/TOI-615

332,210 km2

92,477 mlnPOPULATION

GDP per capita

CURRENCY

$1,910

Language VIETNAMESE

Dong (VND)

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Official name: the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Location: South-Eastern Asia, bordering the Gulf of Thailand, Gulf of Tonkin, and South China Sea, alongside China, Laos, and Cambodia

Capital: Hanoi

Climate: tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (mid-May to mid-September) and warm, dry season (mid-October to mid-March), subtropical climate in northern Vietnam with distinct 4 seasons.

Ethnic Make-up: 54 ethnic groups. Kinh (86.2%), Tay (1.9%), Thai (1.7%), Khmer, Hoa (Chinese), Hmong, Cham, and other minor groups.

Religions: Buddhist, Hoa Hao, Cao Dai, Christian (predominantly Roman Catholic, some Protestant), indigenous beliefs and Mus-lim.

National Flag

National emblem

COUNTRY BACKGROUND

Hanoi

LAOS

CHINAVIETNAM

THAILAND

CAMBODIA


VIETNAM FACTS

Language

Vietnamese is a tonal language that can be compared to Cambodia’s official language, Khmer. With each syllable, there are six different tones that can be used, which change the meaning. This often makes it difficult for foreigners to pick up the language.

There are other languages spoken as well, for example Chinese, Khmer, Cham and tribal languages spoken by tribes inhabiting the mountainous regions. There are some similarities between Vietnamese and Southeast Asian lan-guages, such as Chinese, but Vietnamese is thought to be a separate language group, even though it is a member of the Austro-Asiatic language family.

In written form, Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet and accent marks to show tones. This system of writing, called quoc ngu, was created by Catholic missionaries in the 17th century to translate the scriptures. Eventually this system, particularly after World War I, replaced a system using Chi-nese characters (chu nom), which had been the unofficial written form used for centuries.

CapitalHanoi is Vietnam’s capital and second largest city (af-ter Ho Chi Minh City). Hanoi has been a major political city in Vietnam since it was established in 1010, and served as the capital of French Indochina and North Vietnam.

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New YearTết, or Vietnamese New Year, is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. The word is a short- ended form of Tết Nguyên Đán, which is Sino-Vietnam-ese for “Feast of the First Morning of the First Day”. Tết celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese variation of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, where the date usually falls between the months of January and February. Vietnamese New Year, the first day of spring, carries with it all the rebirth connotations that Easter has in the West.

There are a lot of customs practiced during Tết, such as visiting a person’s house on the first day of the New Year (xông nhà), ancestral worshipping, wishing New Year’s greetings, giving lucky money to children and elderly people, and opening a shop.

Tết is also an occasion for pilgrims and family reunions. During Tết, Vietnamese visit their relatives and temples, forgetting about the troubles of the past year and hop-ing for a better upcoming year.

VIETNAM FACTS

Nguyen surnameAs of 2012, about 36 million people, constituting ap-proximately 40% of all Vietnamese around the world, share the same family name Nguyễn.

Nguyễn ranks 4th on the list of the world’s most com-mon surnames, only after Li or Lee (with more than 120 million people), Zhang (100 million), and Wang (92.88 million). The Vietnamese surname is also becoming the most popular one in Australia.

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Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochi-na War, and also known in Vietnam as Resistance War Against America, was a Cold War era proxy war that oc-curred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 Novem-ber 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.

ReligionMost Vietnamese consider themselves non-religious, though many still attend religious services. Vietnam’s government does not require an official religion, though it only recognizes Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Cao Dai, and Hoa Hao.

The main religion practiced in Vietnam is also the oldest one, Buddhism. Mahayana Buddhism, along with Confu-cianism and Taoism, are considered the “Triple Religion” that all work with one another. Vietnamese culture also practices ancestor-worship, like much of Asia.

Hoa Hao (a form of Buddhism) and Cao Dai are two religions of Vietnamese origin. Cao Dai is not generally accepted as a form of Buddhism.

VIETNAM FACTSFoodVietnamese food is a blend of Chinese and Thai styles and it is considered one of the healthiest cuisines in the world, with its combination of fresh ingredients like fresh herbs, seafood, fruits and vegetables along with fish sauce, shrimp paste, soy sauce and rice.

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1 January: New Year’s Day Vietnam takes part in the in-ternational celebration of the first day of the first month of the Gregorian calendar.

Moveable date in January - February: Lunar New Year The “Feast of the First Morn-ing”, or simply “Tet”, is the most important occasion of all Vietnam public holidays. The week leading to Tet is very busy as families clean their homes, settle their debts, buy new clothes, personal effects and other needs for the coming year, cook food to last through the festivities, and reconcile with themselves and others to leave behind any ill will.

Moveable date in April: Hung King Festival On this day, people pay trib-ute to the Hung kings who were instrumental in found-ing Vietnam. Ceremonial

incense burning in temples is performed in their mem-ory and honor. The holiday features bronze drum per-formances, parades on stilts, folk song contests, and drag-on parades.

30 April: Independence DayOn this day in 1975, Saigon was captured by the Commu-nist-backed Viet Cong, ending the Vietnam War with the United States on the losing side. The “Fall of Saigon” led to the reunification of North and South, which for years have been divided ideologi-cally.

On this day, there are military parades, cultural performanc-es that highlight the triumph of Vietnamese revolution-aries, and fireworks that sig-nal the hour when the South Vietnamese government finally surrendered.

1 May: International Labour DayTrue to its working class ideology, Vietnam honors the laborers on this day and their economic and social contri-butions to the country.

2 September: National DayCommemorates the day when President Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s indepen-dence from colonial forces. On this day in 1945, Ho Chi Minh read a declaration of independence from France. However, sovereignty would only come after the Vietnam War, when Northern Viet-nam, backed by communist China, finally won. To mark this turning point in the coun-try’s history, the yellow-star-red-background Vietnamese flags are flown everywhere, and the streets and billboards are flooded with pictures of “Uncle Ho.”

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS


• Vietnam is the largest exporter of cashews in the world, and the second largest exporter of rice.

• Although Vietnam is a devel-oping country, it has a literacy rate of 94%.

• Among all developing countries, Viet-nam has one of the lowest unemploy-ment rates.

• An estimated ten million motor bikes travel on the roads of Vietnam every day.

• Ruou ran (snake wine), a Vietnamese specialty of rice wine with a pickled snake inside, allegedly can cure any sickness.

• The Vietnamese language has six different tones. A change in tone changes the meaning of the word.

• Vietnam is world-famous for its animal wildlife. This wildlife – which includes elephants, buffa-loes, tigers, monkeys, rhinoceroses, snakes and turtles – attracts thousands of tourists to Viet-nam each year.

• Local people prefer Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City, which was imposed by the government in Hanoi.

AMAZING FACTSABOUT VIETNAM


SOCIAL CULTURE

Respect for parents and ancestors is an important virtue in Vietnam. The oldest male in the family is the head of the family and the most important family member. His oldest son is the second leader of the fami-ly. Sometimes, related families live together in a big house and help each other.

Vietnam Culture vs Western ValuesThe French introduced Western values of individual freedom and sexual equality, which undermined the traditional Vietnam-ese social system.

In urban areas, Western patterns of social behaviour became increasingly common, especially among educated and wealthy Vietnamese who attended French schools, read French books, replaced traditional at-tire with Western-style clothing, and drank French wines instead of the traditional wine distilled from rice. Adolescents began to resist the tradition of arranged marriages,

and women chafed under social mores that demanded obedience to their fathers and husbands. In the countryside, however, tra-ditional Vietnamese family values remained strong.

The trend toward adopting Western values continues in South Vietnam after the divi-sion of the country in 1954. Many young people embraced sexual freedom and the movies, clothing styles, and rock music from Western cultures became popular. But in the North, social ethnics were defined by Vietnam Communist Party’s principles.

The government officially recognized equal-ity of the sexes, and women began to ob-tain employment in professions previously dominated by men.

At the same time, the government began enforcing a more puritanical lifestyle as a means to counter the so-called decadent practices of Western society. Traditional values continued to hold sway in rural areas and countryside, where the concept of male superiority remained common.

In the 1980s, the Vietnamese government adopted an economic reform program that encouraged foreign investment and tourism development.

As a result, the Vietnamese people have become increasingly acquainted with and influenced by the lifestyles in developed countries of Southeast South East Asia and the West.


VALUE SYSTEM

Allegiance to the familyThe most important factor in the value system of the Vietnamese is, no doubt, the family. The family is the center of the Viet-namese common man’s preoccupation and the backbone of Vietnamese society. By vir-tue of the principle of collective and mutual responsibility, each individual strives to be the pride of his family.

Misconduct of an individual is blamed not only on himself, but also on his parents, siblings, relatives, and ancestors. Likewise, any success or fame achieved by an individ-ual brings honor and pride to all members of his family. The Vietnamese child is taught from early childhood to readily forget him-self for the sake of his family’s welfare and harmony. Central to the concept of family is the obligation of filial piety which is con-sidered the most essential of all virtues in Vietnamese society.

The profound love for and attachment to the family is extended to the physical set- ting in which the family is located: the native village. The native village is not only the place where he the child was born and brought up and where his parents and family live, but also a place where his their ancestors are buried. Many Vietnamese, especially people in the rural areas, never

move out of their native villages or prov-inces. This deep attachment to the native village explains the lack of horizontal mobil-ity in Vietnamese society.

The concept of “good name”The value that the Vietnamese place on the concept of “good name” cannot be under-estimated. To the Vietnamese, a good name is better than any material possession in this world. By securing a good name for him-self, a man can com-mand respect and admiration from his fellow country-men.

A rich and pow-erful person with a bad reputation is looked down upon, while a poor man with a good name is respected.

There are three ways to ac-quire a good name: either by he-roic deeds, by intellectual achievements, or by moral virtues. Leading a virtuous life is the easiest and surest path to a good name for there are few opportunities in our everyday life to be heroic and few people are endowed with exceptional intellectual qualities.

The virtues most cultivated are the sense

The Vietnamese value system is based on four basic tenets: allegiance to the family, yearning for a good name, love of learn-ing, and respect for other people. These tenets are closely interrelated.


of honor, honesty, righteousness, modesty, generosity, and disdain for material gains, virtues most extolled by the Confucian doctrine. In view of the strong solidarity of the Vietnamese family, it is not surprising to know that the Vietnamese strives for a good name not only for himself, but also for his parents and children.

Love of learningThe Vietnamese people in general seem to have a great love for knowledge and learn-ing. They seem He seems to have particular respect and admiration for learned people. Like the virtuous man, the learned man enjoys great prestige in Vietnamese society. Often, they are the one and the same man. The Vietnamese conceives that knowledge and virtues are but the two complementary aspects of the ideal man.

People associated with knowledge and learning (scholars, writers and teachers) have always been highly respected, not only by the students but also by parents and people from all walks of life.

Learning is considered more valuable than wealth and material success. Rich people who are not educated are often looked down upon by other people, and they themselves feel inferior to learned peo-ple who are poor. In the traditional social system the scholar ranked first, before the farmer, artisan, and tradesman.

Even nowadays, the learned man is held in high esteem and respect. The love of

learning does not spring from purely disin-terested motives. The lure of prestige and the prospect of improved social status are among the strongest incentives to the pur-suit of knowledge. Education represents the essential stepping stones to the social lad- der and to good job opportunities. It is the prime force of vertical mobility in Vietnam-ese society.

Concept of respect The Vietnamese common man is expected to show respect to people who are senior to him in age, status, or position. At home, a person should show respect to his parents, older siblings, and older relatives. This is expressed by obedience in words and ac-tion. Respect is a part of the concept of filial piety.

Outside the family, respect should be paid to elderly people, teachers, clergymen, supervisors and employers, and people in high positions. Learned and virtuous people enjoy special respect and admiration. But respect is not a one-way behavior. The Viet-namese also expect other people to show respect, by virtue of theirthe age, status, or position. Special respect is gained by lead-ing a virtuous life, by accomplishing certain heroic deeds or by achieving a high degree of intellectuality.

Respect is expressed by specific behaviors and linguistic devices inherent in the Viet-namese language. It is one of the essential factors in the value system of the Vietnam-ese people.

VALUE SYSTEM

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Table Manners

• Wait to be shown where to sit. • The oldest person should sit first. • Pass dishes with both hands. • The most common utensils are chopsticks and a flat spoon.• Chopsticks should be placed on the table or a chopstick rest after every few mouthfuls or when pausing to drink or speak. • People hold bowls close to their faces. • Hold the spoon in your left hand while eating soup. • Meals are typically served family-style. • Try to finish everything on your plate. • When you are finished eating, rest your chopsticks on top of your rice bowl. • Different dishes are served at the same time or one after another. Dishes are not normally served in separate plates as in Western style.

IMPORTANT TIPS

Dining and Entertainment

• The Vietnamese style of dining is chopsticks and rice bowls. Hold your rice bowl in your hand; it is considered lazy to eat from a rice bowl that is on the table.

• The host may serve guests, but will usually just invite everyone to begin helping them-selves. Food is placed on dishes at the center of the table from which each person helps him/herself.

• An offer of tea at a reception or meeting is a ritual form of hospitality and should not be refused.

• Alcohol drinks are often offered to the guests, the choice depends on their age and status.


Gifts

Flowers are normally given only by men to women.Always wrap a gift in colorful paper.When visiting a Vietnamese home, bring a gift for the hostess. A gift for children or an elderly parent is also appreciated.Give items useful for daily activity, like de-signer soaps, cosmetics, lamps or framed pictures for the home.Don’t give handkerchiefs (symbols of a sad farewell). Most Asians consider the Western habit of using a cloth handkerchief and then returning it to your pocket to be barbaric.In business, give whiskey. Business gifts are quite common nowadays and have become a must especially during special occasions like Lunar New Year. Only gifting people with money might be interpreted as a bride. Try to save your business gift giving until you are invited to your colleague’s home.

If invited to a Vietnamese home:• Bring fruit, sweets, flowers, or incense. • Gifts should be wrapped in colourful pa-per.

Especially for Women

In the major cities, little sexual discrimina-tion exists, and Vietnamese women receive equal pay for equal work. In the country-side, men are still bossthe leaders. Western women should dress conservatively in Viet-nam. When dining with a Vietnamese man, a western businesswoman should arrange to eat in a public place and should insist upon hosting.

Collectivism

Vietnam is a collectivist society in which the needs of the group are often placed over the individual. Family and community con-cerns will almost always come before busi-ness or individual needs. Family in particular plays an important role in Vietnamese soci-ety.

Nursing homes are only for elderly who have no children to care for them. It is always the responsibility and honor of the son to move his parents in with his family when they can no longer care for themselves.

IMPORTANT TIPS


A long struggle for independence has given the Vietnamese a deep sense of na-tional pride. Vietnamese value their independence and get offended by people who ignore or violate it. Families are very strong and help each other in all needs.

PEOPLE IN VIETNAM

Body LanguageSummoning someone with a curled index finger, as is done in the West, is only done by the boss. To beckon someone, extend your arm, palm down, and move your fin- gers in a scratching motion. Only beckon someone who has a “lower” status than you.

Men and women do not show affection in public.

Always use both hands when passing an object to another person.

Touching children on the head is only done by parents, grandparents, etc.

Meeting and GreetingThe Vietnamese generally shake both hands when greeting and when saying good-bye. Bow your head slightly to show respect. Bow to the elderly who do not extend their hand. Vietnamese women are more inclined to bow their head slightly than to shake hands.

When greeting someone, say “xin chao” (seen chow) + given name + title. The Viet-namese are delighted if a Westerner can properly say “xin chao” (because Vietnam-ese is a tonal language, “xin chao” can have six different meanings, only one of which is “Hello”).


DOS AND DON’TS

General Don’ts• Avoid public displays of affection with a member of the opposite sex.• Do not touch someone’s head.• Pass items with both hands.• Do not point with your finger – use your hand. • Do not stand with your hands on your hips.• Do not cross your arms on your chest.• Do not pass anything over someone’s head.• Do not touch anyone on the shoulder.• Do not touch a member of the opposite sex.• Shorts should only be worn at the beach. • The foot is considered unclean; do not show the soles of your feet and don’t touch anything else with your feet but the ground.

Don’t cause Vietnamese to “lose face”The concept of “saving face” is extremely important in East Asian social relationships. Avoid behavior that causes embarrassment to another party, and hold back behavior that can be misconstrued as overly aggres-sive. Don’t wheedle or insist. Most impor-tantly, don’t lose your temper in public; try to be cool and collected whenever possible.

Dos and Don’ts in Business• Seniority is highly respected; the oldest person should be greeted first• Vietnamese negotiate always and about everything; manage the game and don’t give in too soon•Make sure you are being personally in-troduced to new business contacts on the right level• Invest adequate time in developing new business relations and getting to get to know each other • Try to listen to what your business partner is really telling you; Vietnamese don’t say ‘no’ in a direct waydirectly • Never loose your patience or temper; don’t show any negative emotions • Take the superstitious beliefs of your business partner seriously; don’t make any jokes about it • Address your business partner with his third or last name and add professional or government titles if possible (e.g. Ngyen Van Tran would be Mr. Ngyen or Professor Ngyen)

GreetingYou should greet people in their na-tive language which is “Xin Chao!” for “Hello!” and always use “Thank you” which is “Cam on!” with bent head when you get something from them. It shows how much you re-spect them and how grateful you feel.

When it comes to greetings, there are no differences to the way West-ern people greet each other.

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CORPORATE CULTURE

Corporate CultureBusiness cards are usually exchanged when meeting for the first time. Give and receive a business card with both hands.

The Vietnamese are generally quite punctu-al and expect foreigners to be the same.

Individual connections are not as important as in many other Asian countries, because no one holds absolute power to make a decision. You cannot rely on one person in a particular organization to safeguard your interests.

The Vietnamese willingness to avoid un-pleasantness can sometimes lead to great misunderstandings. “Yes” may not mean “yes.” When the Vietnamese say “No prob-lem,” you can take it to mean “Yes, there is a problem.”

Double and even triple-check all commit-

ments, and then monitor them closely.

DressFor business, men should wear conservative but casual suits and ties. Women should wear a conservative dress or a business-like blouse and pants.

Business Etiquette and ProtocolAlways wait for a woman to extend her hand. If she does not, bow your head slight-ly.Appointments are required and should be made several weeks in advance.

Silence is also common in meetings where someone disagrees with another but re-mains quiet so as to not cause a loss of face.

The spoken word is very important. Never make promises that you cannot keep, to as this will lead to losinga loss of face.

The Vietnamese can be very flexible and accommodating when situations occur that are beyond the control of one of the parties involved.


With an estimated 90.5 million inhabitants as of 2011, Vietnam is the world’s 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. In 1986, the government instituted economic and political reforms and began a path towards international reintegration. By 2000, it had established diplomatic relations with most nations. Its economic growth has been among the highest in the world since 2000, with such high growth set to continue. Vietnam has the highest Global Growth Generators Index among 11 major economies, and its successful economic reforms resulted in it joining the World Trade Organization in 2007.

Vietnam Economy

The Vietnamese economy is a developing planned economy and market economy. Manufacturing, information technology and high-tech industries now form a large and fast-growing part of the national economy. Though Vietnam is a relative newcomer to the oil industry, it is currently the third-largest oil producer in Southeast Asia, with an output of 400,000 barrels per day. Deep poverty, defined as the percentage of the population liv-ing on less than $1 per day, has declined significantly in Vietnam, and the relative poverty rate is now less than that of China, India, and the Philippines, giving rise to a middle class, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Global Trade in Vietnam

Since the early 2000s, Vietnam has applied sequenced trade liberalisation, and in July 2006, Vietnam updated its intellectual property legislation to comply with TRIPS, and it became a member of the WTO on 11 January 2007. Vietnam is now one of Asia’s most open economies: two-way trade was valued at around 160% of GDP in 2006. As a result of several land reform measures, Vietnam has become a major exporter of agricultural products. It is now the world’s largest producer of cashew nuts, with a one-third global share; the largest producer of black pepper, accounting for one-third of the world’s market; and the second-largest rice exporter in the world, after Thailand. Other primary exports include coffee, tea, rubber, and fishery products.

ECONOMY OF VIETNAM

With its large population and great geographic location, Vietnam is likely to be one of the biggest markets of the future.

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