VIETNAM HAS MOVED ON FROM ITS IMPOVERISH DAYS AFTER THE COMMUNIST TAKEOVER OF RUNNING ITS ECONOMY TO THE GROUND WITH THE STATE CONTROLLED MODEL AND TURNING IT NOW INTO A MARKET SYSTEM AS VIETNAM HAS OPENED ITS SOCIETY TO A FREE MARKET ECONOMY SYSTEM AS IT GROWS ITS WORLD INVESTMENT TO $1.1 BILLION ALONE FROM US PRIVATE INVESTORS–AND THE PEOPLE AND ITS CULTURAL ATTITUDE OF THE WAR NO LONGER TO BE REMEMBERED BUT MORE TO BE FORGOTTEN

On April 30, 1975, the U.S. completed the evacuation of embassy staff to waiting American aircraft carriers.
For the second time in a generation, Vietnam had defeated a superpower; in 1958, it had thrown out colonial French troops.
Big banners celebrating the anniversary have been unfurled in major Vietnamese cities. Music concerts, exhibitions of old war propaganda art, gatherings of veterans and official ceremonies will mark the anniversary.
Despite the official celebrations and ceremonies, most Vietnamese have moved on.
Vietnam’s population is nearing 100 million, of whom more than 60 percent were born after 1975. This young, postwar generation is powering the 6.5 percent growth expected this year, driven by foreign investment and fuelled by a rising middle class.
For Ta, the war does not matter anymore, despite his family’s history. “Bygones are bygones here,” he said, laughing.
“I don’t think anybody really cares about it anymore.”
His parents, both in their 70s, moved back to Vietnam eight years ago. They do not talk about the war years much either, he said. “It’s all in the past. I guess Vietnamese culture is ― if it’s in the past, let it go.”
Hanoi adopted a market economy after 1986, discarding the disastrous state-run model that had reduced Vietnam to an aid-dependent food importer.
The country’s trade relations with the U.S. were normalized by 2006 and its accession to the World Trade Organization followed in 2007.
U.S.-Vietnam bilateral trade has grown from $451 million in 1995 to nearly $35 billion last year. U.S. direct investment in Vietnam rose from $126 million in 2000 to $1.1 billion in 2013.

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20150428001239