Nov. 15

　　The best measure of the speed of Vietnam's transformation is on the streets of Hanoi. Just 15 years ago, the city's roads were silent save for the swish of bicycle wheels. Now, a journey across town requires navigating a roaring torrent of motorbikes that demand quick reflexes and constant adjustments to dodge teens steering with one hand while chatting on a cell phone held in the other.

　　Last week, Vietnam gained approval to become the World Trade Organization's 150th member. And when President Bush arrives later this week for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, he will see a vibrant nation light-years away from the war and poverty that once plagued its people. More than half of Vietnam's 84 million people are younger than 30, born after what people here call the "American War." They are the children of two decades of "doi moi" (renewal), a program of economic reforms that has cut poverty from more than 60% in the early 1990s to less than 20% today. Vietnam now has Asia's fastest-growing economy outside of China. And like China before it, the country is betting that its WTO entry will strengthen its stake in the global economy.

　　Some U.S. companies are already taking notice. Last week, Intel announced plans to invest $1 billion in building the world's largest microchip assembly factory in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon. Factories contracted by Nike employ 160,000 people, and recently increased their annual production to 70 million pairs of shoes, making Vietnam the world's second-largest source of Nike sneakers. (China is the largest.) The attraction for investors is obvious: Vietnam's labor force is educated, young and growing, while wages are even lower than in China's coastal cities.The new government led by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has vowed to continue opening up the economy. Most of all, Vietnam's people are hard-working and eager for a better life. "I see a passion and a desire to succeed here that's similar to the Chinese," says Rick Howarth, Intel's new general manager in Vietnam.