Danang and Moulmein reveal one country on the path to economic prosperity while the other is paralyzed by fear of the outside world... "Danang?s seaport is destined to become a major transportation link to export products and commodities from Southeast Asia. THROUGH the window of the airplane, I saw Danang below, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam?s third major economic zone after Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. After two decades of Doi Moi, or reform, the city is experiencing an economic boom based on a market-oriented economic policy that is rapidly integrating Vietnam into the international community. Economic prosperity has already come to Danang, the easternmost link of the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) transportation project initiated at the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Greater Mekong Sub-region in 1998. The plan was to build a regional highway running from Danang on the South China Sea through Laos and Thailand to the port of Moulmein, the capital of Burma?s Mon State on the Gulf of Martaban. There?s no denying that Danang and Moulmein share grand ocean vistas, but other comparisons are hard to find. Danang is a boomtown, the beneficiary of a Communist government?s policy that recognizes the need to integrate the country?s economy into the world community. Danang is buzzing with economic activity and street life. Billboards advertise electronic products from Japan and South Korea. Motorcycles jam the downtown area. Tourism is a major part of the life of the city, and I saw tourists everywhere exchanging their local currency for Vietnamese dong at the ATM machines of state-owned and private banks. Residents boast of foreign investment pouring in from the rest of Southeast Asia, South Korea and the United States. Effectively linked with the Greater Mekong Sub-region to the west, Danang is emerging as a trade and investment center. Tiny, landlocked Laos is starting to transport goods overland to Danang to export products to distant countries, as envisioned by the East-West trade corridor. At nightfall, I explored more of the city?s street life. It was lit up with pulsating neon signs and bright street lights, creating a festive glow that continued well into the early morning hours. Even in this Communist country, the people seemed relatively free from worry with only a few policemen walking the streets. By comparison, Moulmein, 1,500 kilometers to the west, remains a sleepy port city locked in the past—a victim of a military government that lives in fear of opening Burma up to the economic life of the world community..."