Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Copyright 2003 BBC Monitoring/BBC
BBC Monitoring International Reports
October 16, 2003

Vietnamese Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc has said the
country must step up efforts to promote investment opportunities to the US
business community on his return from a five-day visit to Washington and
New York. He said he found support amongst US businessmen for Vietnam in the catfish dispute, and said favourable conditions must be created for US investors in areas that may cause trade conflicts in the future, such as
textiles and shrimp rearing. The following is the text of an interview the
planning and investment minister by Correspondent Manh Cuong, carried by Vietnamese newspaper Lao Dong web site on 14 October; place and date not given

Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc visited the
United State from 5-10 October to introduce investment opportunities in
Vietnam to US businessmen and investors at the Nathan Trade Exhibition
Centre in Washington DC, and to attend the seminar under the theme:
"Vietnam - Opportunities for US investors" in New York City. Following is
an interview with Minister Phuc by our correspondent Manh Cuong on results of the visit. (Correspondent) Mr minister, since the signing of the
Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between Vietnam and the United States,
economic and trade relations between the two countries have developed
steadily, yet investment has progressed very slowly, what is the cause of
this setback?

(Vo Hong Phuc) Exactly, two years after the signing of the BTA, the
two-way trade value between the two countries has increased rapidly.
Vietnamese products exported to the United States have increased by
twofold while US goods imported into Vietnam increased by 30 per cent.
However, US investment in Vietnam has been minimal despite the fact that
the United States has a great potential in investment and it can even
control world capital for investment. Currently US investment in Vietnam
ranks eleventh, which is lower than many countries in Asia.

The cause of this setback is due to the fact that the US investors do not
understand the Vietnamese market situation, while various US companies do not firmly grasp investment opportunities in our country. They still look
at the investment environment in Vietnam with suspicious eyes. Moreover,
most of the US investors set priority for their investments in other countries, not Vietnam. During my recent visit to the United States, I was very surprised to see that the US investors had very little knowledge on the current situation in Vietnam. They did not understand the objectives of our Doi Moi (renovation) policy. They did not know that we have already shifted to the socialist-orientated market economy while hearing nothing about our national modernization and industrialization. Under the subconscious of many American people, Vietnam is still a close-door country. Many still asked such obsolete questions as "Does Vietnam allow its people to own private cars and houses?" or "Can foreigners travel freely when they visit Vietnam?" As a result, it can be said that we have not successfully introduced the real investment environment in Vietnam to the US investors.

(Correspondent) But I think that this kind of PR work is not the sole responsibility of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, it needs coordination from other ministries, organizations, and branches, is not it?

(Vo Hong Phuc) Correct, we must coordinate to carry out this PR work effectively. If we want the American people to understand more about Vietnam, we must tell them more about the realities in our country. From
the US foreign policy point of view, Vietnam is not a priority country. As
a result, we must actively introduce our renovation policy to make the American people understand the objectives of this national policy.

(Correspondent) Mr minister, what kind of investments does Vietnam want
the US investors to invest in?

(Vo Hong Phuc) I think that the US investors should invest in areas that
they have great potentials such as telecommunications, software and steel
industries, energy, chemical industry, and in such areas as finance,
insurance, and banking. In fact, the United States has great potentials in
investment with diversified forms, and they can invest in various areas.
They have strong financial sources, high management capability, and can
create impact on all regions. They are also renowned as serious investors
who want to make long-term investments. This is in conformity with the Vietnamese government policy on attracting and welcoming more investments in Vietnam.

(Correspondent) Mr minister, the most outstanding problem in the
Vietnam-US trade relations now is the "basa" catfish, did you discuss this
issue with the US side during your visit to the United States?

(Vo Hong Phuc) To avoid such conflict as the "basa" catfish, we should
lobby more actively for market of our catfish in the United States, and we
should study and understand more about the behaviour of US businessmen and consumers. For example, if we have US businessmen invested in exporting the "basa" catfish from the Mekong River Delta, then they will side with us and their voice will carry some weight in the recent catfish conflict. A number of US businessmen establishments told me that the US court verdict in favour of the US Catfish Exporting Association was wrong because even the American people contended that the arguments cited by the court were unfair and irrational, yet they had to accept it. As a result, we must create favourable conditions for US investors to make their
investments in areas that might cause trade conflicts in the future, such
as the textile industry and shrimp rearing for export.

(Correspondent) In your opinion, what action should be taken to accelerate
our lobby in the United States to promote trade and investment in Vietnam,
especially at key political centres like Washington DC and New York City?

(Vo Hong Phuc) The US society is a lobbying society. Many American
politicians and businessmen were of the opinion that Vietnam should
strengthen its lobby with more US House of Representatives and senators.
This is because all important decisions of the US government must get the
approval from the US Congress before implementation. For this reason,
efforts to expand contacts with members of the US House of Representatives and the Senate to protect Vietnam's interests in the US market are very necessary. We must send more delegations of Vietnamese politicians, National Assembly deputies, and businesspeople to visit the United States to set up regular and long-term contacts with the US political and business circles, thereby creating a supporting groups for Vietnam's
economic interests in the United States.

(Correspondent) Thank you very much, minister.