[Vnbiz] Intel Vietnam refuses to pay bribes

Wed Aug 15 15:42:16 PDT 2007

Dear anh Hoanh,
The pre-75 South Vietnam experience is hardly a model of the rule of law 
to spend too much time pondering over.  To the degree that any of the 3 
elements I cited are in place (they weren't), they we simply overwhelmed 
by the tremendous resources (money) that seemingly fell from the sky. I 
don't know if we can say that the people then were more ethical, but the 
rewards quickly outweight the risks.
Now consider Singapore.  Are the people there any more ethical than their 
regional neighbors?  There are stories of law-abiding Singaporean citizens 
going offshore to "blow off steam".  Same person, different behaviors in 
different environments.
Hence the rule of law.  That's how Mr. Lee and his colleague built, almost 
overnight, the "ethical foundation" of Singaporean society.
The rule of law (not the same as just having lots of laws) controls those 
who are tempted by corruption provides refuge for those who do not wish to 
engage in corruption.
Back to Vietnam.
In pre-75 South Vietnam, many American military contractors actively or 
indirectly contributed to corruption in a big way while pointing fingers 
at the very people helped corrupt.  There were simply too much money 
floating around.  And it's war time.  And it was pre FCPA.
 I don't know what the lawyers for the chemical companies would have 
advised on producing and supplying agent orange and other defoliants to 
the U.S. military, knowing that dioxin is highly toxic and a carcinogent. 
Perhaps they would say it's not illegal, but is it ethical?  Or perhaps 
they just plead ignorance of chemistry!
I respect your idealism in building the "voluntary sense of right and 
wrong in people's heart".  I think it has always been there, albeit 
greatly disillusioned.  Many a good communist cadres spent all their 
youth, energy, and talent on building lofty ideals, including a society 
free of corruption and exploitation.  Their sand castle lacked the 
foundation of the rule of law and the protection of checks and balance, 
and could not withstand the first challenges of the free market economy.
Best,  HPP

"Tran Dinh Hoanh" <tdhoanh at gmail.com> 
Sent by: vnbiz-bounces at mail.saigon.com
08/15/2007 05:23 PM
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Re: [Vnbiz] Intel Vietnam refuses to pay bribes

[ Vietnam Business Forum ]

Dear brother Phong & CACC,

I don't know if there is statistics about FCPA exists.  You can do the 
research yourself to find that out.  I know that we lawyers treat it very 
seriously.  ALL American international trade lawyers I met, without ONE 
single exception, mention FCPA every time we discuss the potential of 
doing business with Vietnam.  Many lawyers I know have decided to stay 
away from Vietnam and counseled their clients to hold off on Vietnam 
ventures, citing corruption and FCPA.  Others, like me, decided to do work 
in Vietnam while staying faithful to FCPA regardless whether we could make 
a deal or not (In fact, I told ALL my clients before agreeing to represent 
them on Vietnam business issues that I do not do corruption and if they 
don't agree with that position, I can't represent them). 

If that is not serious treatment of the law, then what is? 

About brother Phong's recommendation:

A set of anti-corruption laws must be in place. 
A free and independent press plays the most important role in exposing 
corruption. 
A fair, competent, and independent court is necessary to prosecute 
corruption

This is a reasonable recommendation, except by itself it won't work.  If 
the free and independnet press is corrupt and the independent court is 
corrupt, anti-corruption law doesn't help.  And that is precisely the 
South Vietnam's pre-1975 experience.  I grew up pondering over that sorry 
experience every day of  my college life.  And this is what sis Bich Lien 
said missing besides legislation. 

The law and the system, regardless of how well it is designed, won't help 
much if the people in the system who runs the system is so corrupt. 

Brother Andi talks about economic issue, yes it may be correct in some 
cases.  But corruption has little to do with not making enough money. Most 
corrupt people have more money than they ever need (in the relative sense, 
compared with others around them).  Just look around. 

The entire issue has to do with ethics, the voluntary sense of right and 
wrong in the people's heart.  A good law and good system doesn't hurt and 
actually will help in many instances, but the foundation upon which the 
law stands, the ethics, has to be strong.  As long as we don't realize 
that we have to work on building a strong ethics foundation in the people, 
i.e. making people believe in honesty, social responsibility, etc. then 
the law can't do its job well.  (Unfortunately, many among us either 
disregard ethics or even go so far as to say that ethics is not necessary 
in solving governng issues.  Sad!) 

Ethics, while having its own system of reward and punishment, has a lot to 
do with voluntary human conduct.  Are we going to recongnize the deep 
problem of our conduct or we simply want to work at things on the surface 
like law and econ and system?  I am an economic lawyers, specialized in 
economic litigation, so I love the law and econ.  But I also know their 
limit when it comes to human conduct.  Things that start deep in the human 
heart, surface system won't solve. 

In that sense, Intel Vietnam's effort plays an incredibly big deal in 
setting the ethical tone for Vietnam's business environment.  I predict 
that many years from now, Intel Vietnam's memorandum on ethics today will 
be mentioned as a milestone in Vietnam's business development in the 
mopdern time.  Of course, this memorandum helps Intel do business easier, 
but that self-interest doesn't take away its siginificant impact on 
Vietnam's environment. 

Have a great day!

Hoanh 

On 8/15/07, Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov <Hong-Phong_Pho at ita.doc.gov > 
wrote:
[ Vietnam Business Forum ]

Dear anh Hoanh, 
You can't have it both ways claiming to be a heavy-dosed corporate lawyer 
and saying that FCPA is not your expertise. 
When a lawyer doesn't know some part of the law, he does research (or get 
the paralegal to do it for him). 
How many cases were successfully prosecuted?  You may also want to find 
out  about FCPA's exceptions. 
I am saying that FCPA is not a good law, it is great.  But I think we need 
to be careful to match principle with action if we wish to avoid being 
perceived as hypocrites. 
"Our lawyer told me so or our accountant told me" so are not legal 
defense. 
Companies' main goal is to maximize profits.  Being careful not to run 
afoul of the law does not deviate from that goal if being caught and 
prosecuted hurt the bottom line.  Otherwise, if the penalty is light, 
companies will make the conscious decision to brake law and pay the fines. 
 Its ethical when defined as rules and standards, but not moral principles 
or values. 
HPP 

-- 
Tran Dinh Hoanh, Esq., LLB, JD
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