Vietnam Rising?  Growth, Development, and Culture Thomas Vallely  Harvard University Wednesday, December 9  The Junior League  1811 Briar Oaks Lane   Registration: 6:00 p.m. Program: 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Members: Free Non-members: $20 Online registration for this program is closed. To RSVP, please contact the Council. Drop-ins are welcome. Email: rsvp@wachouston.org Phone: (713) 522-7811

Vietnam has seen its fortunes change ever since the introduction of doi moi, an ‘open door’ market-oriented policy, in the mid-1980s. Foreign investments are coming in and strategic investments are being made abroad as the Vietnam economy grows even faster than China. Energy is a major factor and the country is a significant exporter of crude oil and gas. How is Vietnam managing all this? Can it successfully develop resources, create enough jobs, and protect its heritage? Thomas J. Vallely is the director of the Vietnam Program, a position he has held since its inception in 1989. Vallely uses the Program’s research to engage in a candid and constructively critical dialogue with the Vietnamese government about the strategic challenges confronting the country. A primary focus of Vallely’s current work is institutional innovation in Vietnamese higher education and science. Prior to becoming director of the Vietnam Program, Vallely was a senior research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, where he worked on strategic and military issues in East and Southeast Asia. He has worked as a political consultant and was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1980, serving until 1987. Vallely received a B.S. from the University of Massachusetts/Boston and an M.P.A. from the Kennedy School. Vallely served with the United States Marine Corps in Vietnam.