In an article contributed to by Forbes.com, Oliver Massmann and Giles T. Cooper, who are attorneys based in Hanoi for the US law firm Duane Morris LLC, wrote that times are changing in Vietnam's capital city with tourists from all over the world flocking to picturesque market stalls and Western-style shopping malls popping up overnight, thus attracting high-end retailers from the US and Europe.

According to the American attorneys, Vietnam is leapfrogging other Asian markets in retail thanks to rapidly growing consumer demand and low barriers to market entry. According to the 2008 ranking by consultants AT Kearney, India has yielded its position as first in "retail investment attractiveness" and fallen to second behind Vietnam, formerly in fourth. While the retail outlook in the US is grim, Vietnam provides corporations with an alternate growth strategy.

The attorneys said that harmonization of national legislation with Western corporate governance standards has also been impressive. A recent government draft decree implementing WTO commitments represents a crucial and progressive milestone on the way to an internationally integrated market as it expands the scope of the application of the principle of non-discrimination and makes Vietnamese and foreign enterprises equal. As dictated by its WTO commitments, Vietnam will allow wholly foreign-owned distribution companies to enter the market starting in January 2009.

The speed of reforms sets a new standard and is proof of Vietnam's unrestrained will to play an important role in worldwide trade.

It is high time for Vietnam to emerge as a major force in the global marketplace, the US attorneys confirmed.