Vietnam's consumer class

The International Herald Tribune reports that shopping habits are changing in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The middle classes in cities like Ho Chi Minh city and Hanoi are enjoying spending money at restaurants, buying luxury cars and shopping for vanity items.

"Vietnam is wealthier than what we believe, but we honestly don't know how wealthy," said Ralf Matthaes, managing director in Ho Chi Minh City with TNS, a market researcher based in London. "Urban Vietnam has a middle class and, when a country has a middle class, it means it is able to sustain itself for the future."

Research by TNS has shown that in an average household in Ho Chi Minh City, which is still commonly called Saigon, people spent 2.5 to 7 times more than they said they earned.