VN Bus. News (Apr. 19-20, 1997)

[Vu Thanh Ca <vuca@envi.env.civil.saitama-u.ac.jp>]

April 20: U.S.- Vietnam Momentum -- Hanoi, however, must reform economy ...
April 19: Japan grants Vietnam 100 million dollars to build bridge 
April 19: Singaporean office project agreed in Ho Chi Minh City 


U.S.- Vietnam Momentum -- Hanoi, however, must reform economy
if it is to win a trade pact

Los Angeles Times

Vietnam has sought full economic and trade relations with the United
States since the two countries--bitter military enemies in the 1960s
and '70s--resumed diplomatic relations in 1995. In hopes of expediting
the process, the Hanoi government has now agreed to repay to the
United States more than $145 million in wartime debts of the former
South Vietnam regime. The decision will remove an obstacle to closer
ties with Washington, but it is not enough.

Vietnam needs to undertake major economic reforms before the United
States makes the next step: a bilateral trade pact. That point was
stressed by U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin when he was in
Hanoi earlier this month to sign the repayment agreement. Rubin urged
Vietnamese leaders to open the communist economy to more foreign
investment, reduce tariff and nontariff trade barriers, create a legal
framework for the private business sector and ensure that foreign
business can play by the same rules as domestic business.

The trade map that Washington laid out for Vietnam sets the course for
full normalization of economic ties, which were resumed in 1994 when
the Clinton administration lifted a trade embargo. A bilateral trade
pact would clear the way for Vietnam to qualify for
most-favored-nation trading status, putting the onetime foe on the
same footing as Washington's other trading partners in booming
Southeast Asia. The leaders in Hanoi may intend to follow that path,
but progress could be slow because of stiff opposition from
state-owned companies that do not want to lose their trade advantages.

The Hanoi leadership had initially refused to repay the loans that
South Vietnam negotiated with Washington. U.S. officials argued that
the communist government assumed the debts when the north and south
merged in 1976. About $76 million of the debt constitutes unpaid
principal from agricultural and development loans made in the late
1960s and early 1970s for road construction, power projects and grain
purchases. The balance is interest due. None of the money went to
military operations.

Warren Christopher, former secretary of State, once told The Times
that he hoped the United States could eventually reach the point at
which Vietnam was thought of as "a country, not a war." Hanoi
recognizes that with a trade pact, that goal would be a step closer.
Le Van Bang, Vietnam's ambassador to Washington, concurred, saying his
country is trying its best to meet U.S. requirements.

Diplomatically, the two nations are poised to exchange ambassadors now
that the Senate has confirmed former Rep. Pete Peterson (D-Fla.), a
prisoner at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" during the war, as the first
American ambassador to Vietnam. It's taken two decades to get to this
stage, but now momentum is clear.
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Japan grants Vietnam 100 million dollars to build bridge

HANOI (AFP) - The Japanese government has pledged to fund a
100-million-dollar bridge across Vietnam's second biggest river in the
north, a report said Saturday.

The three kilometer-long (1.8 mile) bridge is to link two national
highways on the two banks of the Red river, the National Highway 1A to
the South and Highway 5 to the northeastern port cities of Haiphong
and Quang Ninh, the Thanh Nien newspaper said.

Consultancy work for the second bridge across the Red river, located
in Thanh Tri district in the suburbs of Hanoi has been completed, the
newspaper said without giving further details.
                 ___________________________________


Singaporean office project agreed in Ho Chi Minh City 

HANOI (AFP) - A Singaporean firm has signed a deal to build a 10
million-dollar office complex in Ho Chi Minh City, a report said
Saturday.

Yuan Cheny Singapore is to take a 70 percent stake in the joint
venture project with the Transport Services 3 company, under Vietnam's
Ministry of Transport, holding the balance, the Nguoi Lao Dong
newspaper said.

The project is to build a 19-storey office block in central Ho Chi
Minh City, due for completion in 1999.