Vietnam
What is the Vietnamese dong (VND)?
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The Dong is the official currency of Vietnam. It is divided into 10 hao, which are subsequently divided into 10 xu. The hao and xu have become so insignificant recently that they are no longer issued. Bill denominations exist in 200; 1000; 2,000; 5,000; 10,000; 20,000; 50,000, 100,000, and a newly issued 500,000 worth approx. 30 American dollars. Dong, which literally means "copper" in Vietnamese, was originally named for the currencies used when Vietnam was still part of French Indochina. After the fall of Saigon, in 1975, Vietnam changed the name of its currency to the "liberation dong". Each new dong was worth 500 of the southern dong. The unification of the country led to the unification of the currency as well. In the mid 1980's, the dong was revalued, with the new dong equal to 10 old dongs. As of June 2005, Vietnam was the second least valued currency after Romania.
- Moody's Rating
- Ba3, 06 Jul 2005
- S&P Rating
- BB+
Political Structure
Vietnam is a self-proclaimed communist state, which consists of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Leading the executive branch, the chief of state, is the president, who is elected by the National Assembly to a five-year term. The president appoints the prime minister from among the members of the National Assembly. The prime minister appoints the deputy prime minster. The president also appoints his own cabinet, although the national assembly must approve them. The legislative branch consists of a unicameral body, the National Assembly, which has 498 seats. The judicial branch is made up of the Supreme People's Court, whose judges are appointed by the National Assembly.
Prominent Figures
Chief of State President Nguyen Minh TRIET (since 27 June 2006); Vice President Nguyen Thi DOAN (since 25 July 2007) Head of Government Prime Minister Nguyen Tan DUNG (since 27 June 2006); Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh HUNG (since 28 June 2006), Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung HAI (since 2 August 2007), Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien NHAN (since 2 August 2007), Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia KHIEM (since 28 June 2006), and Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh TRONG (since 28 June 2006) Cabinet Cabinet appointed by president based on proposal of prime minister and confirmed by National Assembly Elections president elected by the National Assembly from among its members for five-year term; last held 27 June 2006 (next to be held in 2011); prime minister appointed by the president from among the members of the National Assembly; deputy prime ministers appointed by the prime minister; appointment of prime minister and deputy prime ministers confirmed by National Assembly Election Results Nguyen Minh TRIET elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 94%; Nguyen Tan DUNG elected prime minister; percent of National Assembly vote - 92%Key Economic Factors
Economic Overview
In 2004, both the value of manufacturing exports, and merchandise imports increased thereby creating a merchandise trade deficit to 5.5%.
Vietnam relies heavily on agriculture, around 65% of the labor force works in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, however, the agricultural sector only accounts for approx. 23% of the GDP. Vietnam is the second largest exporter of pepper, coffee, rubber, tea, and rice. Industrial GDP has increased by more than 10% in the last decade. Industrial contribution towards the GDP has accounted for almost 40%. Mining gas and oil, has also generated a large profit for Vietnam. Oil production has seemed to reach a climax, while gas production is expected to continue to grow.
Although state owned sectors produced 40% of industrial output, it was much lower in comparison with foreign invested and private owned firms. Although private owned sectors in Vietnam only account for small portions of the GDP, they employ almost four times as many employees as the state owned institutions.
Increased government saving has contributed towards the share of investment of the GDP to grow from 11% to 32% in the last 15 years.
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Fast Facts
- Other Currencies Accepted:None.
- Currency Peg:No
- Black Market for Currency:Yes
- Currency Volatility:unknown
- Estimated GDP Per Capita:8.1 billion (2009 est.) 5.1 billion (2008 est.) 0.8 billion (2007 est.) note: data are in 2009 US dollars
- Languages Spoken:Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer; mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
