Remarks
by Consul general Nguyen Xuan Phong
at the
Portland Seminar
October
26,
2000
___________
It's my great
honor and pleasure to visit Portland and meet all of you today.
I very much
appreciate this valuable opportunity, since it enables me to realize
two wishes. In a personal level, it is my wish to see the beautiful and
hospitable land of Oregon, the images of which have always been an
obsession to me since the time I possessed an album of Oregon gifted by
an American delegation visiting Vietnam several years ago. Moreover, I
have here a dear friend, Mr. Chris Runckel, who was my great
counterpart in the initial and difficult episodes of the process of
building the new relationship between our two countries. In a public
level, it is my wish to complete my mission as Consul General of
Vietnam at the time I am ending my three-year term of duty in San
Francisco. I have been delegated to cover the whole West Coast of the
United States, and as such, I have been developing activities in
California and in various states out of California: Arizona, Nevada,
Utah, Washington, and even Hawaii. Yet, it's only now that I have a
chance to directly contact you, to gain your understanding and
relationship with Vietnam.
So I really
appreciate this opportunity, and I would like to thank Mr. and Mrs.
Runckel, the Vietnamese - American Business Council, Ms. Karen Goddin
and the Pacific Northwest International Trade Association for
co-hosting this seminar and making our trip to Portland possible.
I am asked to
make a general introduction on Vietnam and the US - Vietnam relations.
It's not easy to get that done in 15 minutes, but I would like to share
with you three
ideas: First, how to understand Vietnam; second, the opportunity to be
seized; and finally, the way to be successful in Vietnam market.
To understand
Vietnam, the first thing you should do, I think, is to divorce
definitely with the perception of Vietnam as a war. Even though it's
true that Vietnam's history is, unfortunately, a whole story of warfare
until recent decades, we are still a country with abundant and precious
resources; we are still a nation with a long and great traditions; and
we are, over all, a people with unmistakable cultural identity and
noble virtues.
Vietnam is
located at center of Southeast Asia. If you take, for instance, Ho Chi
Minh City as center and draw a two thousand-mile radius circumference,
you will cover the entire Southeast Asia. Vietnam is also an ideal
point of support and control for strategic maritime routes from Indian
Ocean to Pacific Ocean, routes that link East Africa, Arabic Peninsula,
Persian Gulf with China, Japan and the West Coast of the US. Under
Vietnam's soil and continental platform lay enormous reservoirs of
minerals, gas and oil. That's not to mention Vietnam's potential to
become an important food supplier to the world
in terms of agricultural and sea products.
These
geographical and natural conditions are obviously excellent, in normal
situation, for Vietnamese people to build a prosperous nation and
pursue a happy life.
However in the
past, when the world was dominated by feudal and colonial powers,
precisely those very attractive conditions always caused Vietnam to be
victims of continuous foreign aggressions and oppressions.
One thousand
years of domination by Chinese feudalism; sixteen great invasions by
Chinese and Mongolian dynasties; one century of domination by French
colonialism and Japanese fascism; thirty years of wars to preserve
national independence, sovereignty and unity against France and the US…
That is succinctly the past
history of Vietnam.
Fortunately,
through the forge of that history and also in facing natural calamities
that constantly hit Vietnam's land, Vietnamese people did not succumb,
but instead early united into nation, built up a solid identity and
achieved noble virtues.
Having suffered
too much from slavery and oppression, we love independence and freedom;
Having suffered
too much from war, we long for living in peace and stability;
Having faced
too much
betrayal and isolation, we need sincere friends and we are loyal to
sincere
friends;
The hard life
has made us creative and industrious;
We are open and
avid to learn and make progress, and very much resolved to undertaking
whatever necessary to build a better future for the present and next
generations of
Vietnam.
In sum, I am
sure you can find in Vietnam an industrious people, an intelligent
people, and a people willing to cooperate for peace, friendship and
prosperity.
Now, for those
who think of doing business in Vietnam, I would like to say that the
conditions are already mature enough. There is a good opportunity to be
seized. For two reasons: the improved situation of Vietnam and the
excellent evolution of the relations between the United States and
Vietnam.
With respect to
the situation of Vietnam, I know the concern from outside is not much
about people.
It's rather about government, about the government's role in business
activities; it's policies on market economy…
In this regard,
I must tell you right away that the Vietnamese Government does not run
by interest groups, but it serves the interests of the whole nation.
This is the key factor that guarantees the stability and steady
progress of our country.
The supreme
goal of
our government before 1975 was to regain the independence and unity of
Vietnam.
Its top priority now is to develop a prosperous country and create a
happy
life for all Vietnamese.
In 1975, we
started the new enterprise of economic development with poor experience
and in mid of destruction left by wars, embargo and isolation... The
solution to all those problems required both great efforts from the
people and strong leadership by the government. It was necessary for us
then to adopt a central planning and command economy.
But when that
system lasted longer than necessary, it led to crisis. Fortunately, our
government realized early the need to change. And this realization gave
way to the process of renovation since 1986.
This process
consists of two aspects: internal and external.
Internally, we
have gone from an economy of two sectors of ownership - the state and
the cooperative - to another one of five sectors: state, state
capitalism, cooperative, private capitalism and small private
businesses. And also we have changed our management of the economy from
command to market. The ultimate goal of the renovation process is to
motivate people to work and create, and to mobilize all internal and
external resources for the development of the country. The five sectors
of the national economy are equal in rights and conduct their business
inter-relations through the market. For that new system to work
properly, it is necessary to have a sound and appropriate legal
framework. We are working on this job; significant progresses have been
made, but it is still far from perfect. Remember that here in the US
you have spent over 200 years to build up the legal system you have
today. In Vietnam, we have been doing this job for scarcely 20 years.
Some legal instruments for market economy, such as Law on Enterprises,
Law on Foreign Investment were promulgated only some ten years ago and
still in the process of perfecting. That’s somehow the cause of
existing problems. But we have the advantage of learning experiences
from pioneers like you. We can take a shortcut. And the problems will
soon find their solutions.
The second
aspect of the renovation is about Vietnam’s relationship with the
world. We need an open relationship with the world. But we could not
have it in the context of the Cold war. The end of the Cold War created
new conditions for nations to be related to one another in dealing with
common issues. The globalization of the world economy prompts the need
of integration.
We have broken
the isolation. We have won over the embargo. And we have opened our
country, to befriend all countries in the world for peace, independence
and development. In response, many countries in the world have
demonstrated their interest in Vietnam as a factor of peace and
stability in Asia and Pacific Zone, as a market with nearly 80 million
inhabitants, and as a strategic connection point at the center of
Southeast Asia. It is in these conditions that we have established
diplomatic relations with 167 countries. We sustain economic exchanges
with some 150 countries and territories. The hardest challenge to us at
this moment is to adopt the free trade policy and adapt ourselves to
the world free trade. Huge efforts have been made and a significant
progress was achieved as we concluded the Bilateral Trade Agreement
with the US last July. Now our efforts for getting into the world free
trade system continue with negotiations for our access to the World
Trade Organization (WTO).
With respect to
the US - Vietnam relations, we have come a long way in the journey from
war to
peace, friendship and cooperation. Lifting of economic embargo in 1994,
normalization of diplomatic relations in 1995, and conclusion of the
Bilateral Trade Agreement in July this year have been decisive
landmarks. Now, very soon we will have the first President of the USA
to officially visit Vietnam since the war ended.
I think the
atmosphere of our relationship could not be better. The Bilateral Trade
Agreement will be ratified at the first moment the US Congress and the
National Assembly of Vietnam have a chance to do so.
In the years to
come, American companies will enjoy much better conditions to work in
Vietnam. You will have the protection and guarantee from the BTA. You
have the experience accumulated and legated by American companies that
have worked in Vietnam over the past difficult years. And you will find
a market much more mature to deal with American companies.
Then, to those
who have interest and potential to work in Vietnam, my advice is: go
ahead with confidence!
To those who
are still
skeptical, my advice is that the best way to be successful in Vietnam
is
to involve yourself in Vietnam's economy, then make benefits from the
advantages
and help overcome the problems that certainly still exist.
After all, we
are in the course of learning, of self - correcting and struggling for
perfection. The more and earlier you can help, the faster we can
improve the conditions for mutual benefits.
The most
progresses we have reached over these years of renovation have been
products of learning from our own experience, experience of success and
experience of failure, and also product of criticism and recommendation
from business community both Vietnamese and foreigners.
Look at the
evolution of the Law on Foreign Investment and you will have a good
example of what we can do in mutual cooperation.
The Law was
issued for the first time in 1986 and has been modified four times
since then. Each
modification was based on our own practical experience and also on the
complaints
and recommendations from the public, especially from business
community.
As a result of that process, we have got a current version - passed
into
Law on June 6, 2000 - much better than the original one.
That is in the
level of policy. We have found concern on the level of implementation
of law and policy as well. And it's justifiable. Problems of this
nature are more complex, because they depend upon specific localities,
agencies and individual partners. But we have made great efforts to
reduce and overcome them too. Progress has been made in the battle
against bureaucracy, corruption and law violation. Many procedures in
the past required knocking at multiple doors now have been simplified
to stop at one door. Many transactions in the past required a prolonged
processing time, are now reduced to 15 days. And we are determined to
go ahead firmly on this struggle.
Finally, we as
the Consulate General of Vietnam in San Francisco covering the West
Coast of the United States, we are willing to help, to serve you in any
attempt or project to do business in Vietnam.
If you need
specific information on market for your products, projects for your
investment, goods for your stores, partners for your business
transaction… here we are at your
disposal.
For today, I
will have my colleague, Vice Consul Ha Kim Ngoc providing you with
additional information in detail. I sincerely hope that this conference
will have a lasting and positive repercussion on your relationship with
Vietnam.
Thank you for
your interest and attention.
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