Handbook of Energy and Environmental Security

Vietnam has grown quickly, reduced poverty and provided basic services including electricity tovirtually all its people. The country is ruled by the Communist Party which puts a high priority onsustaining rapid growth, but foremost on its own survival. The country is naturally open, having a highratio of trade to income, many guest workers abroad, millions of foreign visitors, billions of dollars ayear in foreign investments, Viet Kieu who now return for family visits, and access to Facebook andwestern news sites that China blocks. These successes, however, have created problems. One is thatpollution has been rising and is a public concern. Another is that the cost of expanding energy usagemuch faster than its neighbors has negative political, health, and economic implications. A third is that most new energy use is imported while past supplies were mainly domestic. These factors influence thethinking about future energy policy, particularly with reference to electricity.