Miller Magazine Issue: 130 October 2020

VIetnam 80 MILLER / OCtOber 2020 With a population of over 90 million people, Vietnam is the 15th most populated country in the world. It is experiencing rapid demographic and social change. Its population reached 97 million in 2018 up from about 60 million in 1986 and is expected to expand to 120 mil- lion by 2050. Unlike many other countries in the region, Vietnam is very much a socialist state, but one that still boasts a market economy. Its development over the past 30 years has been remarkable. Economic and political reforms under Đổi Mới , launched in 1986, have spurred rapid economic growth, transforming what was then one of the world’s poorest nations into a lower-mid- dle-income country. Between 2002 and 2018, GDP per capita increased by 2.7 times, reaching over US$2,700 in 2019. Vietnam is set to outpace the rest of South East Asia and much of the rest of the world in its rate of economic growth and development over the coming decades. Agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors in Vietnam. Over the past quarter century, its agricultural sector has made enormous progress. Steady advances in smallholder rice productivity and intensi- fication through the 1990s and beyond have played a central role in Vietnam’s successes in poverty reduction, national food security, and social stability. Besides production for increasing domestic demand, Vietnam is now a major exporter of agricultural prod- ucts. The country has achieved explosive growth in ag- ricultural exports and ranks among the top five global exporters in products as diverse as shrimp, coffee, ca- shews, rice, and pepper. With its significant contribution to gross domestic product (20%), agriculture will continue to play a con- siderable role in Vietnam’s transition to a market-based economy. Vietnam’s strength in agriculture output is built upon a large rural base (66% of the population) where farm and agri-business labor accounts for 70% of the workforce. Besides production to satisfy domestic demand, Vietnam is also playing its part on the agricul- tural import and export markets. Vietnam has signifi- cantly increased productivity in rice-growing over the past 15 years, and it has become one of the largest rice exporters in the world. In more recent years, aquaculture and fruit produc- tion have grown substantially and are export-oriented as well. Surging domestic consumption combined with increasing demand for high-value products has also pushed imports of agricultural products into Vietnam. Meat and meat products enjoy the highest growth fig- ures, followed by rubber, animal feed and feed grain, sugar and cotton. RICE EXPORTS EXPAND DURING PANDEMIC Rice is the staple food in Vietnam, but per capita con- sumption in the cities is declining as people have more choices. Harvesting of 2020, mostly irrigat- ed, main “winter/spring” paddy crop, accounting for