Viet Nam’s socio-economic development record during the past two decades has been remarkable. It has gone from being a poor, underdeveloped and centrally-planned economy, to attain middle income status, on the back of a very dynamic economy and a vibrant society. Gains in living standards have been equitably shared across most segments of the population, greatly contributing to poverty reduction and social development. Viet Nam has also made significant progress with respect to other important aspects of its socioeconomic development, including in areas such as social policy, governance, health and education, etc. As Viet Nam becomes a middle-income country (MIC), new development challenges are emerging. In this context, efforts need to be directed towards ensuring increased quality of life, social equity, people’s resilience to shocks and the voice and participation of all Vietnamese people in the development process, if Viet Nam is to continue on a path of social and broad-based human development, and avoid the so-called middle-income trap. In this baseline desk study, the author Vu Ngoc Binh provides interesting insights into Vietnam’s recent social situation as well as ideas for a future engagement of RLS in Vietnam.

This report presents an overview from the author of the main development challenges that Viet Nam has been facing, as the country continues to progress on a path of broad based socio-economic development. It is intended both as an issues paper and a reference document to help inform the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (RLS) in its formulation of the next Plan for the period 2015-2017, which will establish the main lines of intervention of RLS in Viet Nam during this period, in the context of the speedy reform process. Its main objective is to help RLS to define its key priorities and identify the main areas of programmatic focus in the country during the coming years.