Progress In The Rural Development Policy Of Vietnam, With A Special Focus On Phu Son Commune

Nowadays, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an agricultural country with a population of approximately 89 million people (est. 2013), of which 74% are farmers, covering nearly 60.7% of the national labour force. Total household income in the urban areas is 3 times higher than the household income in rural areas. About 6% of total households are considered poor, of which 90% are located in the countryside. However, with a share of 20% of the total gross domestic product of Vietnam, the agricultural sector contributes significantly to the national economy and accounts for not less than 25% of the export earnings. The previous policies on rural development have tended to increase production goals rather than focusing on the roles and interests of the farmers, who are the main subjects of rural development. Most policies hardly take into account the overall interests of farmers and establish reasonable relationships not only between rural and urban areas, but also between the three economic sectors. These are the main reasons which cause rural Vietnam to stagnate in a closed, self-sufficient agriculture after having shifted from an agricultural economy into a market economy system. The aim of this study is to see how much progress can be realized in the latest rural development policy of Vietnam, how much the bottom-up approach is considered in the policy, whether the policy aims are in harmony with the interests of local communities. The authors have already published several papers about local developments if rural areas in especially Central-Eastern-Europe. However, the aim of this paper is to see how much the local initiatives, endogenous developments, bottom-up approach can be realized in a one-centered, centralized country in the Far-East, namely Vietnam. Localization has been getting more and more important in the countries of Europe, local resources have gained significance, though we can observe difficulties and challenges in the realization of such rural development policies even in Europe. In countries, where there has been one-ruling party and the local actors have not had much role in the developments, the promotion of endogenous developments of rural areas should be highly supported.