Yearbook 1999
Vietnam. During the summer, the judgments in Vietnam’s biggest corruption scandal so far – a credit business in the mid-1990s, fell. Of the 77 defendants, six were sentenced to death, six to life imprisonment and the others to between two and twenty years in prison. Critics said the government’s purpose in the trial was to show the outside world that they were fighting corruption in the country. At the same time, they continued to imprison party members and leaders who openly accused corruption.
After three years of negotiations, an agreement was reached in principle with the US in July to restore normal trade relations. That meant another step forward in the relationship with the former enemy: the US trade embargo was lifted in 1994 and diplomatic relations were re-established in 1995. In October, Vietnam had not yet signed the agreement. This was probably due to opposition from the conservative Falun within the ruling Communist Party and the army, which opposes the further opening and liberalization of Vietnam’s economy as the agreement entails.
In September, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited the capital Hanoi. She teaches have urged Vietnam to accelerate the economic reform process, a claim also voiced by Vietnam’s largest donor at a conference in the port city of Haiphong in June. The donors also expressed their concern over Vietnam’s increasing dependency on aid.
Visit Countryaah official website to get information about the capital city of Vietnam. Prime Minister Phan Văn Khai visited Sweden in the fall. The purpose was partly to express Vietnam’s gratitude for Sweden’s support for Vietnam over the past 30 years, and partly to promote economic relations between the countries. Swedish exports to Vietnam increased sharply during the 1990s, especially between 1992 and 1997.
- Also see Abbreviationfinder.org to see the acronym of VNM which stands for Vietnam and other definitions of this 3-letter abbreviation.
In the spring, around one and a half million people in central and northern Vietnam were reported to be starving due to a long period of drought and flooding in 1998. The situation worsened further at the end of the year as heavy rainfall hit central Vietnam. The worst floods of the century demanded hundreds of lives, hundreds of thousands of people were faced with acute food shortages and large rice areas were destroyed.
Vietnam – Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi, Ha-nôi, capital of Vietnam; 3. 4 million residents (2017). Hanoi is located about 130 km inside the Gulf of Tonkin, in the innermost part of the Red River’s fertile and extremely densely populated delta.
The city is known for its bustling old town center with narrow streets.
Hanoi is the country’s center for politics, cultural life and transport with universities (since 1956), international airport and important river port. The industry is focused on the production of food, tools, bicycles, electrical equipment and agricultural machinery.
History
The place has been inhabited since Neolithic times. From the beginning of our era, Tông Binh, as the place was then called, was a population and administrative center under Chinese dominance in the Red River delta. The domestic Ly dynasty took power in 1010, but Hanoi remained a political center, now under the name Thăng Long. The city was the seat of subsequent dynasties, but during the Nguyên dynasty (1802–1945), Huê was the capital of the empire.
In 1831 the dynasty consolidated its position in the province of Ha Nôi (‘within the river’) and gave the same name to the old Thăng Long. The city was opened for trade with the Europeans in 1874, occupied by the French in 1882 and was the seat of French Indochina from 1887 to 1945. Hanoi was the capital of North Vietnam in 1954–76. During the Vietnam War, the city was bombed.
The best time to travel to Vietnam is from October to March. The unique mix of new and old invites you to explore the big cities, Hanoi in the north and Ho Chi Minh in the south.
Old and venerable Hanoi was born on the banks of the Red River a thousand years ago, when the country’s first university was also established there. The Confucian Temple of Literature is also the same age. The surviving street names of the old town – the alleys of Tinurin, Jeweler, Baker – tell of life in ancient Hanoi. The influence of the Chinese conquerors in architecture has been hidden under the French. The wide boulevards and colonial-style administration buildings stand out from the troubled clusters of narrow streets and quickly built houses. The alleys are filled with thousands of mopeds, the hustle and bustle of street kitchen utensils, and the smells of food and spices. Vietnamese cuisine with pho soups and rice and seafood delicacies is world famous. Hoan Kiem Lake in the middle of the old city is the heart and soul of Hanoi. Here the traveler will find the best restaurants and department stores in the city, as well as a unique water puppet theater (mua roi), which is not known anywhere else in the world. More recent history can be found in the Ho Chi Minh (“Ho Uncle”) Museum and Tomb Mausoleum. The taps were heavily bombed during the war and especially its port city of Haiphong suffered severe damage. Prisoners of war have recalled the prisons in the city where the captured Americans were taken. They were given playful nicknames such as Zoo and Hanoi Hilton. The taps were heavily bombed during the war and especially its port city of Haiphong suffered severe damage. Prisoners of war have recalled the prisons in the city where the captured Americans were taken. They were given playful nicknames such as Zoo and Hanoi Hilton. The taps were heavily bombed during the war and especially its port city of Haiphong suffered severe damage. Prisoners of war have recalled the prisons in the city where the captured Americans were taken. They were given playful nicknames such as Zoo and Hanoi Hilton.
The change of name from Saigon to Ho Chi Minh has not changed the character of the city. Life is teeming with the bustling shopping streets, cafes, bars and nightclubs of Vietnam’s largest city and economic center. The Chinese district of Cholon is the largest in Southeast Asia. Hotel Rex, once known as a gathering place for American officers, now accommodates visitors from all over the world. The large administrative buildings in the center have alternately served the French, the Americans, and now socialist Vietnam.
If you’re interested in wars during the war, it’s worth visiting Cu Ch, north of the city. There you can explore the 250-kilometer network of caves and corridors built by the guerrillas of Viet Cong. If you are interested in Vietnamese nature, you can visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vinh Ha Long (Halong Bay) in the Gulf of Tonkin, where thousands of karst hills shaped by wind and waves drip from crystal clear water, or take a cruise from Saigon to the Mekong estuary. The old imperial city of Hue and the nearby former American air base Danang are also points of interest. Near Danang is China Beach, a famous place of relaxation for American soldiers.
