2013/01/01 by Jean‐Pierre Cling, Mireille Razafindrakoto, François Roubaud · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Vietnamese History and Culture Studies #Poverty #Legitimacy #Credibility #Economics #Poverty reduction #Misrepresentation #Economic system #Economy #Market economy #Business #Political science #Economic growth #Politics
paper · doi:10.4000/regulation.10081
openalex publication_date 2013/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Thanks to a remarkable economic performance, Vietnam has achieved huge poverty reduction and has become a middle income country. Although Vietnam considers itself as a ‘socialist-oriented market economy’, the World Bank presents it as a model student of liberalism and market-oriented reforms. The relationship of mutual interest between the World Bank and Vietnam explains this apparent paradox: in its constant search for legitimacy, the former is desperately looking for development models and new clients; the latter accepts this misrepresentation because it needs foreign funding and international credibility. The paper details the example of poverty reduction strategies, which gave the World Bank the opportunity to ‘plant its flag’ in Vietnam.