vestment. A key element in Vietnams continuing process of economic renovation has been the countrys adoption of policies to encourage private investment. In an effort to attract more foreign investment and to boost the domestic private sector, Vietnam amended its foreign investment code to offer more tax incentives, set up export processing and industrial zones, and allowed foreign banks and financial institutions to operate in Vietnam. The country also began to create the legal framework necessary for a multi-sectoral market economy. Since 1990, Vietnam has enacted a number of significant civil laws including a company law, a law on private business, a bankruptcy law, and a law encouraging domestic investment. The state has also approved the privatization of state-owned companies and enterprises. Radical economic policies have vaulted the economy into a period of unsurpassed growth, with no end currently in sight. Vietnam has the potential to become the next great Asian Tiger. The leading economic indicators for Vietnam, overwhelming proof of its presence as one of the new and emerging markets, are found in the charts below. POPULATION 5The estimated population of Vietnam is 74 million people with an average population density of 224 persons per square kilometer. Population density varies widely, however, and is generally lower in the southern provinces than in the northern ones; in both North and South it is also lower in the highlands and mountainous regions than in the lowlands. The most densely settled region is the Red River Delta, accounting for roughly 75 percent of the population of the North. Also heavily settled is the Mekong River Delta, with nearly half of the southern population. The People 6VietnameseThe origins of the Vietnamese are generally traced to the inhabitants of the Red River Delta between 500 and 200 B.C., people who were a mixture of Australoid, Austronesian, and Mongoloid stock. Like their contemporar...
