Land fever is gripping communist Vietnam, one of the strongest signs yet that capitalist-style policies introduced piecemeal during the past 15 years are here to stay. Eager for a piece of the action, the Vietnamese are pulling their savings out of mattresses and ploughing them into the safest investment they know: private property.
In a two-year frenzy, Vietnamese in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have driven prices up to and, in some cases, beyond those paid in London, New York and Tokyo.
Few buyers seem deterred by the fact that Vietnam is run by a Communist Party with a history of hostility toward land ownership. Also, people pile into property largely because they lack investment alternatives, say economists.
Source: Barry Wain, In Vietnam, a New Passion for Property, Wall Street Journal, April 23, 2003.
For text (WSJ subscription required) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB105086295215826300-search,00.html
For more on International Economic Growth http://www.ncpa.org/iss/eco/
FMF Policy Bulletin, 29 April 2003
