In the mid - 1980s, Vietnam had to import rice and request international food aid several times during the decade to prevent famine. By 1989, it had become the third leading exporter of rice, following the United States and Thailand. Rice trade changed from imports of 280,000 tons in 1988 to exports of nearly 1.5 million tons in 1989. Rice export earnings represent one-third of total hard currency exports.
How did Vietnam have such great success? The main cause was not a change in the weather, but rather a series of policy reforms that transformed Vietnam from an importer to an exporter of rice. During 1988 and 1989, agriculture was decollectivized and rice returned to family-farm production. Price controls were eliminated and a large real devaluation of the currency in 1989 strengthened financial incentives to export. Finally trade organizations were reorganized to eliminate states monopolies in imports and exports, which introduced competition among the big state-owned trading companies.
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