How well is Vietnam’s economy at the moment?
Ambassador Michalak: I was wondering when someone was going to ask that question. I think that as Vietnam continues to integrate into the world economy, it is going to feel some of the effects of the world economy. Global inflation has come to Vietnam. There was also some excess credit creation in 2007 that also was a big driver of inflation here in Vietnam. I believe the response of the government to the inflation and the downturn in the economy has been very good. By response, I mean not only did the government consult within itself and have very intensive discussions within the government on how to resolve the economic problems, but they also went outside the government. They went to many economic experts all over the world to try to get advice on which policy moves would be the best to make because this is the first time that Vietnam has faced problems of this size. I want to emphasize, it’s still too early to tell if all of the measures are going to be successful, but so far the n
