Exclusive web column by NBR Senior Producer Wendie Feinberg

Vietnam is a country of contrasts.

It's a country that prides itself on Water Puppetry, a thousand-year-old art form that is still performed today, and on a cutting-edge 3-D computer software industry that's developing the next generation of graphics for video games.

Drive 100 yards outside Hanoi's (the capital) brand new glass and stainless steel airport, and you're surrounded by rice paddies, where farmers still work by hand with the help of water buffalo. Drive 100 yards outside Ho Chi Minh City's (formerly Saigon) airport, and you'll find a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.

Hanoi is packed with parks -- quiet, serene green spaces meant for refuge and calm. They're a refuge from an incredibly bustling, noisy, chaotic city where there are no traffic rules. Or if there are, no one pays attention to them. The traffic in Ho Chi Minh City is worse.

Actually, the contrasts between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are indicative of the nation itself. It's like the difference between Washington, D.C. and New York City. One is the seat of government, filled with government buildings (in Hanoi's case, French-built government buildings) -- a quiet and conservative place. The other is a raucous, in-your-face kind of city with huge video screens looming over traffic circles, internet cafes and "faux" goods for sale. In fact, just about anything is for sale. These contrasts are what make Vietnam such a fascinating place of sights, sounds and people.

Vietnam has a young population. Most of its citizens were born after what the Vietnamese call the "American War." They see a world of increasing wealth growing all around their relatively poor country, and they want to be part of that growth. So they're learning English, starting businesses, taking jobs and learning management skills. They're inquisitive--Americans are still somewhat of a novelty there--and everywhere we went, people wanted to know about us, our families, our jobs, our lives. But we weren't tourists. We were there as business journalists, on a working trip to a socialist country that included visits to factories, software parks, office buildings--hardly the usual "tourist" itinerary. Still, it became obvious to us that Vietnam is learning lessons in capitalism. For instance, take the Hanoi Needle Factory, the country's only needle factory, which can't sell its products due to shrinking market demand and competition from the Chinese. It's now making spare parts for motorcycles, and bathroom accessories that are sold on the floor of the annual housewares show in McCormick Place in Chicago.

Vietnam is also learning lessons in patience, especially when dealing with impatient American businesses. Procter and Gamble made a big investment in Vietnam in the 1990's--then came within 24 hours of pulling out completely after losing its proverbial shirt trying to sell soap there. After a last minute, literally last minute, agreement with the government, P&G stayed, and now produces Tide, Head and Shoulders, and Safeguard for the Vietnamese market. In fact, those bags of Tide churning off the production line at the factory in Ho Chi Minh City proudly proclaim "Number One in America" on them--a selling point in a country that increasingly favors things American. (For a company based in Cincinnati, P&G is also an international example for Vietnam. Its manager there is an expat from India and an expat from the Netherlands runs the factory. Vietnamese managers now work in other P&G plants in Asia!)

Still, for all the advances Vietnam has made in the almost 30 years since the end of the war, the country’s business climate is far from ideal. There’s still a lot of red tape for businesses to slog through. Its young, enthusiastic population needs jobs, and whether those jobs will materialize in the future is still a big question mark. Despite the fact that most people still work on farms, Vietnam is encouraging clean industries like software development and tourism to help provide jobs for the future. It's a gamble. But it seems to be a gamble that the Vietnamese are willing to take. They want to join the ranks of drivers of the world economy--and they're tuning up their engines to get there.