New Vietnam to discover

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam — This city, formerly Saigon, provides a firsthand look at the invigorating hustle and bustle of Vietnamese life: street markets, street cafes, loud stereo music and sleek new pubs where tourists chat over beer, coffee and croissants.

A young woman in the native ao dai dress maneuvers her motorcycle in rush-hour traffic, her long hair flowing and high heels working the brake pedal. This truly is the place to get a feel for the spirit of Vietnam.

Five years ago, Hanoi was the city of bicycles and Ho Chi Minh City was the city of motorbikes. Today, Hanoi is the city of motorbikes, Ho Chi Minh City is the city of cars. The traffic in Ho Chi Minh City has become unmanageable, as there are few traffic lights and what few exist are considered oddities, not to be heeded.

High-rises that were nonexistent a few years ago are commonplace in the cities. Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs weave in and out of noisy traffic on streets clogged with bicycles and motorcycles. The country’s first upscale department store comes as a shock compared to shopping in the old Central Market. An emerging middle class buys $400 Nokia cell phones and $7,000 Honda cycles.

In this dynamic nation of 82 million people, communist propaganda is blared daily over public loudspeakers and has become background noise to the bustle of new entrepreneurs and businessmen. The 7.7 percent annual growth rate is second only to China’s among Asian nations.

Major change has occurred in the past 10 years since the country decided to open its markets and become part of the global community. Vietnam is on an upswing, and there is tremendous optimism that life will be much better tomorrow.

The young generation has always known peace, and I’m impressed by young adults’ vast knowledge and desire for better careers and lives. Hanoi and northern Vietnam have thrived since the end of the war. Southern Vietnam has made every effort to heal the wounds of war and to boost its economic growth. The transformation has been remarkable.

A major change is in the attitude toward capitalism. In the past five years, an estimated 140,000 private businesses have been registered in Vietnam. Private companies are virtually the only job creators in the nation, where 1 million young people join the work force each year.

Nike, the country’s single largest private employer, with about 130,000 workers, produces about $700 million worth of footwear, making Vietnam the third-largest supplier after China and Indonesia.

Communism is losing its grip as young people are becoming better educated and seeking an enhanced lifestyle that is derived from an entrepreneurial focus on individually owned companies and businesses. Internet access has opened a whole new world of information and relating with peers overseas.

Three-fourths of Vietnam’s population is younger than 30, too young to remember the war but old enough to have seen its consequences. Earlier this year, I attended the 30th reunion (in Ho Chi Minh City) of journalists who had covered the war and was amazed and impressed by the transformation of public opinion.

A little more than 30 years ago, the future that awaited young Vietnamese was war. Today, young people have capitalized on the dividends of peace. Meet the new generation reaping newfound opportunities and reshaping their country’s future.

Vietnam’s first postwar generation is coming of age, and these young adults — in their 20s and 30s — are seizing opportunities unimaginable in their parents’ time. Communism is rapidly losing its grip, the doors of a free-market economy are opening, and memories of the war are fading into a distant past.

This new generation (80 percent of the population) is making up for lost time, exploring the benefits and costs of their country’s new economic and cultural future. Doi moi (the new openness) has boosted Vietnam’s status among foreign firms, and licenses have gone to investors from 41 countries.

Young Vietnamese who once worked in the rice fields now believe living standards will be better tomorrow than they are today. Many are working on college degrees when they finish their day jobs as waiters and head off to study English in evening school. They flood into the cities from the country villages, and the money they send back to their villages keeps millions of families from poverty.

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