This study compares the strategies of France and Japan in trying to win economic and political influence in the newly emerging Vietnam. With the end of the Cold War, the fight for power in the world has changed from the political-military field to a race for economic power.
Nations worldwide are associating themselves with Asian countries in order to profit from the growth in the region. Vietnam opened to the international community only recently after the Vietnamese Communist Party had started economic reforms in 1986. These reforms are aimed at transforming the country's centrally planned economy into a government-controlled market economy and at opening Vietnam to foreign capital, technology, and know-how. This setting provides a unique opportunity for comparing the strategies of two nations from different continents in conducting their economic relations with Vietnam. Considering Japan's success in other parts of Southeast Asia, it is clearly interesting to analyse Japan's strategies in Vietnam. France was chosen for its long-standing relations with Vietnam and the massive efforts it is undertaking to re-establish its influence in Vietnam.