[vacets-gen] [Amb. Marine's speech to Am-Cham in Hanoi]

[Hai Tran]

AMBASSADOR'S SPEECH TO THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN HANOI

 

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

 

Thank you Terence. Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. 

 

First of all, I would like to thank the American Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors for inviting me to speak to you so early in my stay in Vietnam. In addition, I would like to note the presence of a senior visitor from Washington here tonight, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Shaun Donnelly. I hope that many of you have had a chance to chat with Ambassador Donnelly who is one of the State Department's most senior economic officials. This is his first trip to Vietnam, and as we all know, there is nothing like seeing a situation first hand, so we were very pleased that he could arrange to stop in Hanoi on this trip. 

What I would like to do this evening is take stock of our bilateral relationship with Vietnam, focusing primarily on the economic and commercial aspects. Afterwards, I would be happy to take a few of your questions. But please note that I am new. So, I may be forced to ask for your forbearance on a tough question or two, but if I need to do that, we will get back to you with an answer quickly. 

The U.S.-Vietnam relationship has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Cooperation on the issue of the fullest possible accounting for our missing personnel from the Indochina conflict provided the initial impetus that enabled us to move relations forward and this issue remains one of our top priorities. From the very limited relationship in the 1980s to normalization of relations in 1995, we moved on to negotiate a Bilateral Trade Agreement (or BTA) in 2001 followed by agreements involving counter-narcotics and civil aviation in the past year. Current ties with Vietnam encompass an increasingly diverse and complex set of issues; foremost among these is Vietnam's need to adhere to universally recognized standards of human rights, including religious freedom. Also critical to the expanding relationship are the issues of trade and investment, regional security, counterterrorism, global health, humanitarian demining, and the struggle to combat transnational crime,
 particularly narcotics trafficking and trafficking in persons. 

My own Vietnam experience dates back to the years 1988 to 1990 when I was Deputy Director of the State Department?s Office of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Affairs. At that time, we concentrated on the POW/MIA issue and other humanitarian issues. During those two years, I traveled to Hanoi six times for discussions regarding the efforts of U.S. NGOs to assist Vietnamese children and disabled war veterans. These talks were a key part of our efforts to encourage Vietnamese cooperation in our ongoing quest to achieve the fullest possible accounting of our missing personnel. When I returned to Hanoi for the first time since 1990 some two weeks ago, I quickly realized that this is a different Vietnam and a very different U.S.-Vietnam relationship. 

 

Let's turn to our economic relationship with Vietnam. In my view, the United States and Vietnam need to continue to expand our economic relationship and to leverage the good will it can create to broaden our bilateral relations as well as to benefit our two economies.

Our deepening economic and commercial ties support the growth of civil society, encourage economic reform, draw Vietnam deeper into the rules-based international trading system, and further the interests of Vietnamese and American workers, consumers, farmers and business people. 

 

If Vietnam fully implements its BTA obligations, it will also strengthen its candidacy for the World Trade Organization. I am convinced that assisting Vietnam to accede to the WTO supports the long-term interests of the United States, since further progress on economic reform will help create conditions that encourage the kinds of social and political changes that we hope to see here.

 

The BTA has had a significant impact on our bilateral trade over the past two years, but that fast growth is slowing now. Final trade figures for 2003 showed $5.88 billion in total bilateral trade ? almost double that of 2002. Total trade for the first seven months of this year is about equal to total trade during the same period in 2003, so this could also be a good year, although not necessarily a record-breaking one. As a direct result of lower tariff levels, Vietnam?s exports to the United States rose by some 128% in 2002 and 90% in 2003, while our exports to Vietnam, boosted by the sale of some Boeing aircraft, have also risen markedly. Vietnam received the fourth and last Boeing under the initial contract signed in 2001 some nine days ago. Of course, we look forward to and will push hard for more purchases of Boeings by Vietnam Airlines. 

 

Vietnam's official figures on U.S. investment in this country have risen this year to just over $1 billion, but this understates the real total. This data does not include investments by U.S. subsidiaries in Singapore and elsewhere in the region, such as nearly $1 billion by Conoco-Phillips alone. I have just seen the preliminary results of a new survey that also counts U.S.- related investment. The survey shows $2.6 billion in realized U.S.-related investment through the end of 2003. It also shows that investment by U.S. firms grew significantly last year.

 

The 2001 Bilateral Trade Agreement is helping to create a rules-based system in Vietnam. This agreement binds Vietnam to an unprecedented array of reform commitments over a ten-year period in its legal and regulatory structures and has thus become a key catalyst for change. The BTA eliminates non-tariff barriers, cuts tariffs on a number of U.S. exports and gives Vietnam Most Favored Nation access to the U.S. market. When fully implemented, the BTA will provide for effective protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (better known as IPR), open Vietnam's market to U.S. service providers, and create fair and transparent rules and regulations for U.S. investors. 

 

One priority area where Vietnam has not kept pace with its BTA obligations is in the enforcement of IPR. The efforts of the Government of Vietnam to put in place strong IPR enforcement measures are not only important for BTA implementation and WTO accession, but also for the country?s continued strong economic growth and development. IPR enforcement encourages both domestic and foreign investment in IP-dependent sectors such as information technology. Vietnam?s success in developing these sectors and in encouraging badly needed investment to do so will be directly proportional to its success in reducing piracy and counterfeiting.

 

In December 2004, several important BTA obligations will come due. These include significant tariff reductions; phasing out of some import quotas; the introduction of some new trading rights; authorization for U.S. companies to mortgage land use rights at foreign banks; permission to establish joint ventures for internet services, and a reduction in a number of restrictions on U.S. investment including the elimination of minimum capital requirements for joint ventures.

 

Vietnam continues to make progress on its WTO accession bid, most recently at the 8th Working Party held in June in Geneva. The United States and Vietnam also held bilateral market access negotiations on goods and services on the margins of that meeting. Deputy United States Trade Representative Josette Shiner came to Hanoi in July and had discussions on the status of our bilateral trade relationship as well as on WTO issues. We are working toward another round of bilateral market access talks in Washington in late October. These will be followed, we hope, by another Working Party meeting in Geneva in December. 

 

The Vietnamese Government has flagged telecommunications, distribution, transport and financial services as tough areas for liberalization. Nevertheless, the United States will continue to pursue further progress in these areas as well as in agriculture. Questions also remain on whether Vietnam can implement the necessary broad reforms in the near term and if the pace of the necessary National Assembly deliberations can meet Vietnam’s target date. So, while not an impossible target, Vietnam will need to move quickly to meet its goal of accession to the WTO by the end of 2005. 

 

The U.S.-Vietnam Air Transport Agreement was signed in Washington during Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan?s visit last December. United Airlines is preparing to become the first U.S. air carrier to take advantage of the provision for direct flights with a route from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City via Hong Kong. We expect to see a United Airlines aircraft landing in Ho Chi Minh City before Christmas. 

 

Since Vietnam is not a WTO member, it will still be subject to garment quotas next year after the expiration of the multilateral Agreement on Textiles and Clothing on January 1, 2005. In July, the United States and Vietnam extended the bilateral textile agreement until December 31, 2005. This extension will expand the amount of garments that can be sold in the United States by allowing companies to borrow from next year’s quota. 

 

As the Government of Vietnam itself has recognized, WTO accession is very important for Vietnam's continued economic growth and development. For example, when the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing expires on January 1, 2005, WTO members will no longer be subject to quotas on their textile exports. However, Vietnam will continue to be subject to quotas until it accedes to the WTO. This means Vietnamese textile and garment companies will have to compete with companies in other countries, like China, that are not constrained by quota.

 

Of course, our relationship with Vietnam goes far beyond economic and commercial questions. One key to advancing our overarching policy objectives in Vietnam is our assistance programs which we use to promote civil society development, rule of law, advocacy for persons with disabilities and those living with HIV/AIDS, environmental management and trade reform. The BTA results I described earlier already reflect the impact of the Support For Trade AcceleRation Project (known as STAR), which provides $10.6 million over four years for technical assistance for BTA implementation. 

 

In recent months, our assistance program to Vietnam has taken on a new, quite urgent focus. As you probably know, President Bush designated Vietnam as one of the fifteen countries that will receive special assistance to prevent and combat HIV/AIDS, under the President?s Emergency Program For AIDS Relief. We will be disbursing some $25 million in Emergency Plan money in Vietnam in Fiscal Year 2005. For the past 10 days, an interagency U.S. Government technical team has been here to work with the Vietnamese to develop a strategy to allocate these new resources effectively. One area that we are especially interested in is what programs on HIV/AIDS prevention and education exist at private sector firms, in particular, in multinationals like many of you represented here tonight. The U.S. Government team met with AmCham members last week to discuss this, and I strongly encourage AmCham and its members to do your part to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam. There are many ways that the
 AmCham community both here and in Ho Chi Minh City can become involved. Worker education, pro bono assistance to develop public service messages and contributions to care centers near a company?s area of operations are just a few. A key reason why President Bush chose Vietnam as the 15th U.S. Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief country and the only one in Asia is because there is an excellent, very real chance that the epidemic can be controlled here with prompt action. If we fail, however, Vietnam?s economic gains are likely to erode and its prospects for further economic growth will fade. Having served in Kenya in the late 1990s, I have seen first-hand the devastation HIV/AIDS can cause in a vibrant nation. We must all do whatever we can to prevent that cruel fate from befalling the Vietnamese people. 

 

Half of Vietnam's population was born after 1975 and has no recollection of the war years. The Vietnamese people value education, the capacity for work and entrepreneurship. With good leadership, Vietnam?s future can be very bright, indeed. In addition to its growing importance as a trading partner, Vietnam has taken on additional responsibilities recently in regional and international organizations. Clearly, a prosperous and vibrant Vietnam, one that assumes a leadership role in contributing to regional stability, is very much in the interest of the United States and the American people. 

 

The Government of Vietnam, however, continues to be intolerant of political dissent and significantly restricts freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and association. It is true that Vietnam is clearly less repressive now than it was a decade ago, with the Vietnamese people enjoying more individual freedom and increasing control over their own lives. Much more is possible, however. We need to demonstrate to the Vietnamese authorities that expanded personal freedoms and increasing emphasis on and adherence to the rule of law will set the stage for more foreign investment and engagement with the United States, and will improve Vietnam?s standing in the international community of nations.

 

To express its concern with the situation regarding the ability of the people of Vietnam to exercise their religious beliefs, the United States recently designated Vietnam as a Country of Particular Concern. While we recognize that Vietnam has made progress in this area, the plain fact is that a not insignificant number of Vietnam?s citizens are not free to worship and practice as they would like. And, this is something we cannot ignore.

 

As I vigorously seek to advance our economic and commercial agenda with Vietnam, I will also continue to seek tangible progress from Vietnam in the areas of human rights and religious freedom, areas that must improve if relations between our two countries are to continue to blossom. In this connection, I will encourage the Vietnamese Government to look favorably on foreign direct assistance and development projects that will improve living conditions in the Central Highlands for all inhabitants, including Montagnards. I will also maintain a strong stance on respect for the universal rights of peaceful assembly, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. 

 

In my view, prospects are bright for relations between the United States and Vietnam to continue to deepen and broaden. One key to continued progress will be patience as we gain confidence in dealing with each other. I look forward to contributing to the positive growth of this young, but very promising relationship and to working with all of you to do so.

 

Thank you. 

 






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You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
		
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