Abstract
While Vietnam pioneered macro-economic reforms among socialist states, with 1989 being a decisive year in coming to grips with hyper-inflation and other inherently destabilizing economic imbalances, much remains to be done. There is a wide range of institutions associated with market-type economies still not in place, and the transition is certainly made no easier by the social and regional tension that can be expected to arise. The sequencing and timing of further measures towards the complete dismantling of the centrally planned economy will be crucial. The restrictions imposed by a continuing commitment to the political culture of the pre-reform era is another dark cloud on the horizon.