22.12.09 Vietnam Focus December issue: Table of contents

SPOTLIGHT
> Annual review stays positive, ODA reaches a record high.

POLITICS AND SOCIETY
> Saying no to networking: Limiting citizens access to controversial sites; Communist Party increasingly worried about influence of the West
> 'Buy Vietnamese' campaign: Press growing increasingly critical of foreign influence; Government restricts 'non-essential' imports; Banks ordered to stop lending for luxury imports; Government to end subsidised interest stimulus package at the end of December
> 2009: Politics & Society.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
> South China Sea debate continues: Conference rejects outright claim of China's historical connection to the area; Beijing addresses the issue in a more diplomatic manner; Vietnam reacts angrily to Hainan provincial authorities' decision
> Military white paper
> 2009: South China Sea
> President meets Pope: Government accepts it must give citizens greater religious freedom
> 2009: International affairs.

ECONOMY AND ENERGY
> When is devaluation not devaluation? State bank moves to 'devalue' the dong for a second time while simultaneously decreasing trading band
> The return of inflation?
> Vietnam's got car trouble
> State-owned firms slacking: More SOE equitisation
> Who gets bond funds? Rumours over recipient of first sovereign bond in four years
> Indonesia's Pertamina to invest in oil exploration in Vietnam and Iraq
> 2009: Economy and energy.

GREATER MEKONG
> Thaksin troubles: Fallout over arrival in Cambodia; Reports that Cambodian government had taken over operations of Cambodian Air Traffic Service
> Nationalism appears acceptable only for those in charge
> 25th Southeast Asian games.