Rice farmers in the Mekong Delta, traditionally Vietnam's breadbasket, face a similar problem. In 1990 the government allowed them to sell on the open market, a move that helped make Vietnam the world's third largest rice exporter, behind the U.S. and Thailand. But rice is now deemed a strategic commodity and thus can be exported only through approved state companies, which profit by paying farmers less than the world prices. The engine of change still has too many misfiring cylinders. Though provincial governments have been given more freedom, they haven't passed it on to entrepreneurs.
Foreign investors are welcome, but corruption devours profits.
Even longtime investors complain that the rules seem to keep shifting. Economists warn that without a new round of reforms soon, Vietnam's progress will end. But the impressive gains so far may have made many officials overconfident. And always they are wrong. For the bulk of Vietnam's population, though, reform is falling short.