[Vnbiz] Vietnam Takes No Chances With Security During APEC Summit

[Phan, Tai]

Vietnam Takes No Chances With Security During APEC Summit 
Jason Folkmanis and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen 
Wed Nov 15, 9:31 PM ET
 


Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The last time Hanoi had so many armed men on the streets, it was trying to keep the Americans out. This week, Vietnam is welcoming George W. Bush and leaders from the 20 other members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum with an impressive show of hospitality, national pride -- and formidable security. 


 
The        APEC gathering is arguably the highest-profile international event that Vietnam has hosted. After decades of colonial domination, warfare and political isolation, Vietnam is determined to ensure seamless security for the visiting VIPs -- even if ordinary tourists find themselves in a battened-down capital city.

``Security is our top priority,'' said Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Cong Phung. ``Vietnam has a long coastline and borders with neighboring countries. Since the beginning of the year, we have built up detailed plans for the whole country, to ensure security.''

A total of 15,000 police are on duty, including 10,000 from Hanoi and 5,000 from a central force, according to Nguyen Duc Nhanh, director of the Hanoi Police. All checkpoints to the city are being monitored, with suspicious vehicles screened, he said. Trucks and vans have been banned from the city center. Some trains are being rerouted to avoid Hanoi's central train station, according to Vietnam Railways Corp.

The focus on security has been felt by tourists, with heightened security at airports, sidewalk vendors hustled off the streets of the capital, and a heavy show of flack-jacketed, rifle-toting security police guarding Hanoi's top hotels.

Visas Stopped

For extra security, Vietnamese embassies abroad stopped issuing individual tourist visas in advance of the summit, according to the immigration department of Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The visa suspension will make it even more difficult for Vietnam to boost travel-related revenue this year, with tourist arrivals through September only up 3 percent from a year earlier.

``The issuing of visas should really never be interrupted,'' said Paul Stoll, chief executive of Ho Chi Minh City-based Celadon International Hotel Management Joint-Stock Co. ``This kind of practice is just a relic from the past.''

Vietnam is also facing accusations by Human Rights Watch that Hanoi's street children are often rounded up by the police in advance of international event. Vietnam called the Human Rights Watch charges ``fabricated.''

Color and Lights

At the same time, the preparations for APEC have visibly brightened Hanoi. The government spent about $1.1 million on flowers, trees, and to install lights and traffic signals around the city, according to Le Huy Hoang, head of planning at the Hanoi Department of Transportation and Public Works.

Vietnam built a 4.3 trillion dong ($267 million), 64,000- square meter convention center to house the estimated 8,500 conference attendees. The use of about 1,000 cars for conference delegates and others affiliated with the meeting has been a boon for Mercedes Benz Vietnam and Ford Motor Co.

City streets have been cordoned off for pedestrian-only areas; Hoan Kiem Lake, the center of Vietnamese culture for a thousand years, has been festooned with lights; and free concerts are being staged.

Even Vietnam's chronically chaotic traffic has settled into a semblance of normalcy, with motorbike drivers celebrating APEC by taking the novel approach of honoring traffic signals.

``It's the first time they've hosted anything of this magnitude,'' said Virginia Foote, president of the U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council, who first visited Hanoi in 1989 and has made over 100 trips to Vietnam. ``A tremendous amount of effort has gone into organizing this.''