| This thesis examines the legislative framework governing foreign investment in Vietnam. More specifically, it focuses on the regulatory control exerted over foreign entities in the country. At the fulcrum of Vietnam's transition from a centrally-planned to a market-oriented economy, its foreign investment legislation is designed to attract the outside capital necessary to rebuild its infrastructure. Simultaneously, it must also allow the authorities to effectively screen the entry of foreign investment and supervise the operations of foreign enterprises. The various control mechanisms in the Vietnamese legislative framework are far too extensive and, as such, not only create an impediment to a greater flow of foreign direct investment in the country, but also account for a more difficult business environment. Amidst efforts to reconcile the tenets of market economy with communist ideology, the handling of foreign interests in Vietnam remains highly conditioned by various ideological, political, historical and cultural factors. This thesis concludes with a review of the underlying issues affecting the investment climate: the Vietnamese notion of private rights, the political risk at play for foreign investors and the country's legal development with regards to the principle of the rule of law. |
