Hanoi’s skyline is rapidly changing as modern office buildings here, as in other major cities of Vietnam, are rising. Looking down from one of the capital’s taller buildings, one can see shiny new water tanks glistening in the midday sun, perched like bright pods atop buildings big and small.

This is a reflection of Vietnam’s transformation. Twenty years ago, water was stored in heavy brick and mortar containers that leaked and leached cement particles on roofs and into homes across Vietnam.

Back then, the average Vietnamese got by with much less. Over the past two decades, market-oriented reforms have transformed Vietnam’s economic outlook. GDP per capita rose from around $100 in 1990 to $1,400 in 2011, dramatically reducing poverty levels and propelling Vietnam to the ranks of lower-middle-income countries.

In 1998, a new private-sector company, Sonha, found its niche with a successful home-grown solution—lightweight and hygienic stainless steel water tanks. The industry has since boomed, and as the market leader, Sonha now produces about 130,000 tanks a year with factories in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and ventures in solar power, steel piping, waste treatment and real estate. It recently presented its wares for export at a trade fair in Germany http://transition.usaid.gov/press/frontlines/fl_jul12/FL_jul12_VIETNAM.html.