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Demography & Weather
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Situated in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a country larger than
Britain and about half the size of the state of Texas. It
lies entirely within the tropics, extending between 9°
and 23° N. It has a long coastline on the Gulf of Tonkin
and the South China Sea. On the landward side it borders China
in the north and Laos and Cambodia in the west.
Like other countries of the region, it has a tropical monsoon
climate dominated by south to southeasterly winds from May
until September and northerly to northeasterly winds between
October and April. There are considerable areas of high land
rising to over 2,450 m/8,000 ft, particularly in the northwest
and in the central highlands facing the South China Sea. In
the north around Hanoi and in the south around Ho Chi Minh
City (formerly Saigon) there are extensive low-lying regions
in the Red River delta and the Mekong delta respectively.
These two lowlands contain a large proportion of the population
and the productive rice-growing areas.
The general features of the climate of Vietnam also apply
to the two adjoining countries, Laos and Cambodia; all three
countries are often grouped together under the name Indo-China.
Over most of Indo-China there is a single rainy season at
the time of the south monsoon between May and September. During
the rest of the year rainfall is infrequent and light.
On the coast and in those parts of the central highlands
that face northeast, the season of maximum rainfall is between
September and January. This area often receives heavy rain
from typhoons, or severe tropical storms, which develop in
the western Pacific at this time of year. This is also a time
of much cloud and frequent drizzle. In the north of Vietnam
there are more cloudy days with occasional light rain during
the period of the northeast monsoon. The south of the country
is more likely to be dry and sunny at this time. In the southern
and central parts of Indo-China, temperatures remain high
around the year, but in the north there is a definite cooler
season as the north monsoon brings colder air from central
China from time to time. The weather of Vietnam, Laos, and
Cambodia is rather sultry and oppressive during the rainy
season and the humidity is high at this time.
Medical Device Market :
Vietnam represents a potentially huge medical device market
with a population of around 85 million. The country's government
has been keen to put funding into the improvement of the health
sector. It has been renovating facilities and equipment throughout
the country since the mid-1990s, and has current plans to
continue this until 2010. The medical device market has experienced
positive changes as a result of economic changes and more
open government policies towards private sector participation.
Though reforms remain cautious, the more open attitude to
the rest of the world has made Vietnam much more accessible
to overseas suppliers and this is reflected in a strong market
growth rate in recent years.
The medical device and supplies market is expected to expand
steadily in Vietnam over the next few years, in line with
the increasing value of imports, which account for just under
80% of the market. It is expected that the device market will
continue to expand at an average rate of 10.4% per annum.
In January 2007, the country became a member of the WTO,
and this will undoubtedly attract more investment from abroad.
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