There have been a lot of changes in Vietnam’s social structure for nearly 30 years of Doi moi (Renovation). The changes were accompanied by vigorous social stratification and greater social inequality. In this context, it is necessary to have appropriate management policy as well as proper social welfare and security policy in order to achieve sustainable socio-economic development for the country. | Changes in Vietnam Social Structure in Doi Moi CHANGES IN VIETNAM SOCIAL STRUCTURE IN DOI MOI NGUYEN VAN KHANH * NGUYEN TUAN ANH ** Abstract: There have been a lot of changes in Vietnam’s social structure for nearly 30 years of Doi moi (Renovation). The changes were accompanied by vigorous social stratification and greater social inequality. In this context, it is necessary to have appropriate management policy as well as proper social welfare and security policy in order to achieve sustainable socio-economic development for the country. Key words: Renovation, social structure, socialist-oriented market economy, social inequality. 1. Introduction For nearly thirty years of Doi moi (Renovation), Vietnam’s economy has experienced two important milestones of development. First, Vietnam officially became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization in 2007, opening a period of economic integration with the global economy. Indeed, the international integration of Vietnam’s economy has been much accelerated with the presence of global companies and multi-national productive corporations; financial transactions have been also more and more internationalized. In addition, Vietnam’s laborers have taken part in the global market at a greater extent with an increasingly higher number of Vietnamese people going abroad to work. Second, Vietnam became a lower middleincome country in 2010(1), although it used to be one of the poorest countries in the world with the average per-capita income of less than 100 USD. These two important indicators not only show greatly comprehensive development of Vietnam, particularly in economic sector, but also illustrate that Vietnam has been getting rapid changes in social structure in the context of vigorous globalization at present. The reality of such a situation requires us to realize profoundly these changes, in order to make appropriate management measures and policies to keep social stability and comprehensive development. The paper
