Abstract

Vietnam presents a particularly intriguing case to study shifting patterns of industrial governance. The country is still ruled by the Communist Party and nominally committed to its ideology, but the state is spearheading (and trying to control) “reforms" that will relink its exports to global markets, open the country up to foreign investors, and move its economy toward and increasing reliance on markets. The contradictory image of "market reform" by a communist-led state strongly committed to development make this a particularly interesting case in which to study the key issue involving recent global economic restucturing, including debates about "flexible productions," the structure of new type of "buyer-driven commodity chains," and arguments about positive and negative roles for states in the process of economic trans formations. This paper focuses on the recent emergence and growth of western-oriented export apparel industry in Vietnam. We provide an overview of garment production and export in the Asian Pacific Rim, and sketch out the recent history of the Vietnamese textile and garment industries. The focus is on the last decade, when the manufacturing sector's output and export volumes increased dramatically, foreign investment surged, and an industrial structure that was once monopolized by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) gave way to a more differentiated one that now included foreign and domestic private companies, various types of joint ventures, and some privatization of SOEs. In addition to describing these changes and their organizational impact on garment manufacturing, we attempt to offer some sense of how key actors (local businesspeople, state bureaucrats and SOE managers, foreign investors and managers, and local workers) are agents in the dynamics of change. We conclude with speculation about the future of the Vietnamese export apparel industry and its potential role in wider efforts to promote national economic development.