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Business Matters: Vietnam in the Market for Western War Planes

News

Vietnam Looks to the West to Match China's Military Might

22/01/2016 GMT

Vietnam in the Market for Western War Planes

BBC World Service - Business Matters, Vietnam in the Market for Western War Planes

Vietnam is considering beefing up its air force with western war planes.

Vietnam is considering beefing up its air force with western war planes, appearing to abandon its opposition to Western interests.

The most powerful Communist Party in Southeast Asia is beginning its five-yearly Congress. Vietnam's party is still fully in control of the nation it united after conquering the south and driving out the Americans 40 years ago. More than 1500 delegates have already heard warnings about corruption and wastefulness from the man who is likely to remain the leader, General Nguyen Phu Trong. We’ll hear from our correspondent in Hanoi, Jonathan Head.

Meanwhile, Vietnam is considering beefing up its air force with western war planes. It has been looking at French and even American jets - an extraordinary development given both countries' history in Vietnam. Robert Farley of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky tells us the move reflects fears about China's military might.

This week's mayhem on the share markets did not seem overly to disturb the cogitations of the big financial minds gathered in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos for the World Economic Forum. One of the big names attending the event, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, tells us there is no sign of a 2008-style crisis.

In Britain prostitution is legal, but working on the street or running a brothel is a crime. A so-called "managed zone" in the red light area of Leeds has been deemed a success and will now continue to operate near the city centre. A new report said the zone has made it a safer place for sex workers and had led to at least two rapists being convicted, although a young prostitute Daria Pionko was killed there just before Christmas. BBC reporter Charles Heslett has been to the area to talk to some of the sex workers and also the people who live and work there.

Grabbing a snack while you're on the move is something most of us do without much thought. Here in Britain, street food has become a much more serious business than it used to be. And the competition is tough. We’ll hear how successful businesses stand out from the pack.

Presenter Roger Hearing will be joined throughout the programme by two guests on opposite sides of the Pacific - David Kuo of the Motley Fool who's in Singapore and the author Tracy Quan in New York.

(Picture: Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam arrives for the Opening ceremony of the  National Congress of Vietnam's Communist Party. Credit: AFP/Getty)

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