and economic systems undoubtedly matters more than
any other factors. Such stability is a prerequisite for
investments based on building a successful business.
In other conditions foreign activities will be more
rapacious since there is little value in a long-term
commitment that is only one-sided.
Finally, it can be observed that investors in Viet-
nam seem to have moved away from the incremental
approach to overseas expansion, preferring instead to
go straight to significant investments rather than build
up experience on trading in the new market first.
Such a finding may invalidate the idea of stepwise
international development but it may also reflect the
peculiarities of the situation inVietnam. Not only were
there existing industrial businesses to ...