This paper forms part of a wider investigatory study on the economic impacts of natural disasters in south-east Asia and the Pacific. The paper is one of three case studies, examining recent experiences in Fiji, the Philippines and Viet Nam.

Findings include the following:

• Natural disasters have important economic impacts in Viet Nam.
• Various factors suggest that economic hazard vulnerability could increase further in the future.
• Viet Nam remains an essentially agrarian economy to date. Natural disasters have clear adverse implications for the agricultural sector.
• The significant financial scale of the country's structural flood protection requirements raises serious concerns about the future funding of disaster-related activities.
• Overall government and donor policy and strategy documents have typically failed to identify natural disasters as a major threat to sustainable economic growth or as an obstacle to development.