Abstract

This thesis explores Vietnam’s trade policymaking to generate insights into the factors driving the country’s process of trade liberalization since the 1980s. Vietnam provides an important case for the study of the politics of trade policy, as its rapid transformation from isolation to active trade player has been one of the most dramatic of any country. As a developing country, such trade agreements require costly and highly politically sensitive policy reforms. Moreover, as a country with a one-party socialist political system, its capacity to engage with the capitalist global and regional trade regimes is less than for many of its peers. This situation raises questions about how and why Vietnam has so rapidly adopted a strategy of aggressive trade liberalization through bilateral, regional and global trade agreements?