Vietnam - Asia's most exciting market

Merrill Lynch called it a 'ten-year buy'. Citigroup named it 'the New Powerhouse of southeast Asia'. And the IMF went with the 'new China'. We reveal how you can get in on the action.

Merrill Lynch last year called it a "ten-year buy". According to Citigroup, it's "the New Powerhouse of southeast Asia". And the International Monetary Fund's chief economist says it's an "emerging China". Vietnam is back in the news, says Manraaj Singh, emerging markets specialist at Profit Hunter, and this time it's "for all the right reasons".

GDP growth in Asia's other communist dynamo has exceeded 7% for each of the past four years and the government has pencilled in growth of 8.5% this year. Deregulation and privatisation, along with buoyant exports helped by the commodities boom, have underpinned economic expansion, as has rapidly increasing foreign direct investment. Foreign investment jumped by 49% in 2006, with major international companies moving in: Intel is to spend $1bn on a semiconductor test and assembly plant, while Korea's Posco plans to invest $1.13bn in new steel plants.

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