AN EXAMINATION OF ENTREPRENEURIAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE STATE AND NONSTATE IN HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM

Using evidence from the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Vietnam tourism industry, this study critiques the entrepreneurial city model on the grounds that it posits a normative argument separating the governance practices of the urban state from the for-profit activities of the private sector. This division masks the long-standing encroachment of the public ( or state) sector into "private" (or nonstate) arenas, and limits the nonstate sector's role in forging entrepreneurial schemes. Using interview data that illustrate the ambiguous relationships between the state and nonstate, I will analyze entrepreneurial cities based on the blurriness of the boundaries between the state and nonstate sectors as they negotiate their charges and collaborate for purposes entrepreneurial.