Challenge: Make Vietnam Economically Successful

Vietnam is a beautiful country, but it is also extremely poor. The challenge, therefore, is to make Vietnam economically successful.

This may be done with the united Socialist Republic of Vietnam, or by keeping South Vietnam independent and having it do what South Korea did.
 
Being bombed to hell for over decade and having pesticides sprayed over vast areas may have contributed a little to a lack of economic development during the 60's and early 70's.

Of course I may be mistaken:confused:.
 
Being bombed to hell for over decade and having pesticides sprayed over vast areas may have contributed a little to a lack of economic development during the 60's and early 70's.

Of course I may be mistaken:confused:.

That's likely part of it to be sure. North Vietnam lost a population percentage that, were it to have been killed in the United States, would have been 9 million people dead. However, there apparently was a post-war baby boom after things ended in 1975, so I'm not sure how much that mattered in the long run.

Beyond that, it was also other things that contributed to the problems of the OTL Vietnam. I'm no expert on Vietnam after the war, but I believe some problems it faced was having to occupy the South and "rehabilitation" it had to do of the South and its people, military actions against people such as the Cambodians and Chinese, and the Communist economy itself.

Though, as I said, you could also alter the scenario by keeping South Vietnam existent and focusing not on making a united Communist Vietnam successful, but just an ATL South Vietnam.
 
The Allies get a little luckier in WWII and it's over sooner. Roosevelt, thanks to reduced stress, lives longer and gets to have more of a say in post-war affairs. The French never return to Indochina, and there's a good amount of pro-American sentiment in Vietnam. Later, as China goes Red and the Korean war or an analogue occur, the USA invests in Vietnam as part of its containment strategy. Vietnam sees similar levels of growth as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan did OTL. The Khmer Rouge and everything are butterflied away, and Southeast Asia is a more stable and richer place in general, which amplifies the good economic situation.
 
It's booming right now... and it has huge prospects, but if you want earlier, finding ways to achieve a less devastating series of wars would be a great start.
 
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