Vietnamese stocks have produced the best gains in Asia so far this year, says John Reed in the Financial Times, with the benchmark VN Index up 17%. A flurry of flotations has helped drum up excitement, but investors have also been enticed by Vietnam's mini-China' story". It's a communist state embracing the market and the global trading system, while "positioning itself as a hub for foreign manufacturing".
The long-term outlook is compelling. Vietnam, "unlike some of its neighbours heading into a demographic slump", has a young population driving demand for everything from beer to budget travel. As a result, the economy grew 7.4% at an annualised rate in the first quarter of this year. Its exports now exceed those of Indonesia, an economy almost five times its size.
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