One of the most important policy decisions that Vietnam made in the Doi Moi process was the shift
from a strategy of import-substitution to one of export-orientation strategy. Obviously, Vietnamese
policy-makers wanted to avoid the failure of the Latin American economies and to learn from the
success of the industrialized nations and newly industrialized economies (NIEs) of East Asia, the
renowned ‘flying geese’. As a result, during the past decade, Vietnam industrial output grew at an
average annual rate at 15.2 per cent and total annual exports increased 18.1 per cent