Because Vietnam had possibly the worst possible set of circumstances post WWII of any country in the entire world. First, the French did not immediately give it independence the way the British did with India. Instead Vietnam had to fight a war against France, which later turned into a war against the US. In the process millions died and millions more left, often the educated and businessman Vietnamese who were important to the economy. A lot of the country was devastated. Then after Vietnam finally gained its independence completely in the 1970’s (way later than countries like Indonesia, India, Philippines, etc), it had to fight wars with Cambodia and China.
All along western sanctions were still imposed until the 90’s. Diplomatic relations with the US were not re-established until the 90’s. The economy in the 70’s and 80’s did not do well because it was closed off from the rest of the world and heavily socialist and dependent on the USSR. Finally around 1986 the government at least reformed the economy to be more free market. Since that time Vietnam has grown fast. It is now a stable country with one of the fastest growing economies in the world.
I would say that Vietnam is an accident of history. It should be a richer nation at least at the level of Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea or mainland China. Vietnamese have very high IQs, some studies put them at the same level as Germany even though Germany is a much richer country. Vietnamese also are very entrepreneurial and work hard along with having good family values. All these things are keys to having a successful country and society.
If you came to Vietnam over ten years ago it was still not common to see cars, skyscrapers, nice highways etc. Now the country is booming and it’s obvious that things are improving. I think if it can grow for another 10–20 years it will become a upper middle income level country.
I am an attorney in the Washington DC area, with a Doctor of Law in the US, attended the master program at the National School of Administration of Việt Nam, and graduated from Sài Gòn University Law School. I aso studied philosophy at the School of Letters in Sài Gòn.
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I have worked as an anti-trust attorney for Federal Trade Commission and a litigator for a fortune-100 telecom company in Washington DC.
I have taught law courses for legal professionals in Việt Nam and still counsel VN government agencies on legal matters.
I have founded and managed businesses for me and my family, both law and non-law.
I have published many articles on national newspapers and radio stations in Việt Nam.
In 1989 I was one of the founding members of US-VN Trade Council, working to re-establish US-VN relationship.
Since the early 90's, I have established and managed VNFORUM and VNBIZ forum on VN-related matters; these forums are the subject of a PhD thesis by Dr. Caroline Valverde at UC-Berkeley and her book Transnationalizing Viet Nam.
I translate poetry and my translation of "A Request at Đồng Lộc Cemetery" is now engraved on a stone memorial at Đồng Lộc National Shrine in VN.
I study and teach the Bible and Buddhism. In 2009 I founded and still manage dotchuoinon.com on positive thinking and two other blogs on Buddhism.
In 2015 a group of friends and I founded website CVD - Conversations on Vietnam Development (cvdvn.net).
I study the art of leadership with many friends who are religious, business and government leaders from many countries.
I have written these books, published by Phu Nu Publishing House in Hanoi:
"Positive Thinking to Change Your Life", in Vietnamese (TƯ DUY TÍCH CỰC Thay Đổi Cuộc Sống) (Oct. 2011)
"10 Core Values for Success" (10 Giá trị cốt lõi của thành công) (Dec. 2013)
"Live a Life Worth Living" (Sống Một Cuộc Đời Đáng Sống) (Oct. 2023)
I practice Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi for health, and play guitar as a hobby, usually accompanying my wife Trần Lê Túy Phượng, aka singer Linh Phượng.
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CVD 