VN news (July 4)

[Dam Son <son@fermi.phys.washington.edu>]

Cheats get clever in Vietnam school exams 
Viet delegation visits college 
Murphy Named Vietnam Football Coach 
Vietnamese Screening Could Help Pave Way for Mfn 
Chinese Embassy in Vietnam Celebrates HK's Return 
Vietnam - Wait and See: Hanoi stalls on leadership choice 
Vietnam targets sizable increase of its rice export 
3 Japanese Firms to Make Bike Steel Pipes in Vietnam 
Vietnam's Economic Image Tarnished: Australian Foreign Minister
Vietnam To Build Aluminum Plant In Lam Dong Province 
Vietnam To Build New Investment Area In Ho Chi Minh City 
Vietnam Licenses 211 Foreign_Funded Projects In 6 Months 
Vietnam Industrial Parks Focus On Infrastructure 
Vietnam Foreign-Funded Projects Exempted From Import Duty 
Vietnamese Union Leader Asks Nike to Toe the Line 

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Cheats get clever in Vietnam school exams 

Hanoi, July 4 (Reuter) - Thousands of Vietnamese students put their thinking
caps on this week as examinations for entry to university got under way
-- but newspapers said hundreds had resorted to cheating.

Concealing notes with key facts in pockets or up sleeves was common,
as was swapping answers in the exam room. Some who refused to cheat had
their exam sheets torn up by fellow pupils, the newspapers said.

Sixteen people had been caught in Hanoi trying to pass themselves off
as students supposed to be taking the exam.

In one case, somebody leant through a window into the exam room and snatched
a question-sheet to provide students inside with the answers later.

The Thanh Nien newspaper ran a front-page picture of a man passing answers
on the end of a stick to a student at a first-floor window.

The paper said many such "rescuers" had gathered outside schools to
provide answers -- for the price of a few dollars. Outside one school,
security guards seized three kg (6.6 lb) of crib sheets ready to be smuggled
in to the examinees.

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Viet delegation visits college 

The News Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad
3 Jul 1997

A delegation of 20 educational managers from Vietnam visited the Metropolitan
College in Subang Jaya recently.

The group was led by Dr Pham Trung Thanh of Hai Hung Teachers' Training
College.

On hand to welcome the delegates were academic deans K.S. Goh, Dr Jim
Stevens and director of computer facilities Richard Tan.

The group was given a tour of the campus facilities and a briefing on
the college's experience in pioneering the twinning system of tertiary
education in Malaysia.

They were also given information concerning the unique status, current
developments and benefits of twinning programmes in Malaysia.

The delegates expressed their interest in establishing closer ties with
the college to facilitate the sending of Vietnamese students to the college
for part of their studies before moving on to an overseas institution
of their choice.

Goh added that this augurs well for the country's vision to make Malaysia
a regional centre and a preferred transit point for higher education
opportunities.

The college currently offers twinning programmes in business disciplines.

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Murphy Named Vietnam Football Coach 

HANOI (July 3) XINHUA - Colin Murphy of Britain was named as the fourth
coach this year to guide the Vietnamese national football team Thursday.

The former Derby County player is to arrive in Hanoi on July 7 to begin
a four month 5,000 dollar-a-month contract, according to the Quan Doi
Nhan Dan daily.

The team came in for heavy criticism for its display during the World
Cup qualifying competition and Murphy's job will be to get the team ready
for the Southeast Asia Games in Jakarta in October.

Vietnam was runner up to Thailand in the 1996 SEA Games under German
coach Karl Heinz Weigang, who quit this year following a dispute with
the Vietnam Football Federation.

Murphy was in the Derby County side that won the English championship
in 1974-1975 and has coached teams in Ireland and the Middle East.

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Vietnamese Screening Could Help Pave Way for Mfn 

By Sarah Jackson-Han

WASHINGTON, July 3 (AFP) - US officials are stepping up interviews of
failed Vietnamese asylum-seekers repatriated from Asian refugee camps
with an eye toward resettling them in the United States, a US official
told AFP.

That development, which follows months of Vietnamese foot-dragging and
intense pressure from Congress, will help pave the way for Vietnam to
win most favored nation (MFN) trade privileges here, officials say.

US immigration officers will start interviewing a new group of 600
asylum-seekers on July 14 in southern Vietnam, the official said in an
interview late Wednesday on condition of anonymity. 

"They can probably do that fairly quickly," the official said, without
stipulating a schedule for completing the interviews.

US officials estimate up to 10,000 people -- roughly 3,500 individual
asylum-seekers and their relatives -- may be screened and possibly resettled
under an eleventh-hour plan known as ROVER: Resettlement Opportunities
for Vietnamese Returnees.

Initially called "track two" screening, the plan aimed to close a last,
bitter chapter of the Vietnam War: the perilous post-war flight of hundreds
of thousands of people seeking political asylum and a better life abroad.

While most found safe haven in third countries, more than 100,000 languished
in refugee camps before being forced home after international interviewers
found they had fled for economic and not political reasons.

A few US legislators say that in many cases sending them back was a mistake:
They held up funding for the new US consulate in Ho Chi Minh City this
year until the State Department agreed to stay on top of the issue.

They estimate up to 20,000 returnees may qualify for asylum under US
law, according to Grover Joseph Rees, an immigration expert and congressional
aide who played a key role in shaping ROVER.

Rees faults Hanoi in particular for failing to grant 1,500 exit visas
to returnees every month as it promised last year in negotiating the
new program, under which Vietnam grants visas to those who face no criminal
charges before US officials may conduct screening interviews.

The 31 ethnic-Chinese Vietnamese who risked their lives for the United
States during the war and are immigrating here this month "are a perfect
illustration of people who were missed" in earlier interviews, he said.

Under ROVER, which was finally worked out in US-Vietnamese negotiations
early last year, some 5,700 Vietnamese signed up for US screening interviews
by the June 30, 1996 deadline and then returned to Vietnam.

A first group of 52 Vietnamese nationals initially deemed ineligible
for resettlement was interviewed and granted US refugee status in April
under that program.

"The Vietnamese have just been a little slow getting going on this, but
(Secretary of State Madeleine Albright) raised it when she was there,"
the US official said. "The good news is that it does seem to be moving
now."

Albright, in Hanoi June 26-27, "would very much like to waive" a Cold
War-era law requiring countries to guarantee freedom of emigration before
they obtain MFN, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said Wednesday.

Saying Washington wanted "some concrete actions by the Vietnamese" to
implement ROVER, Burns said: "If that can be done, we believe we can
move forward" in granting Hanoi the normal low MFN tariff rates.

Successive administrations have routinely granted waivers for China of
the 1974 law in question, known as the Jackson-Vanick Amendment, to maintain
Beijing's MFN privileges.

Both Vietnam and the American business community are eager for Vietnam
to win MFN status, which is denied to only a half-dozen countries including
Iran, Cuba, and North Korea.

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Chinese Embassy in Vietnam Celebrates HK's Return 

Xinhua English Newswire
07/03/97

The Chinese Embassy in Vietnam held a grand reception today to celebrate
Hong Kong's return to the motherland.

Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam, Li Jiazhong, said Hong Kong's return was
an epoch-making event, a lively embodiment of Deng Xiaoping's concept
of "one country, two systems", and a good start for the ultimate reunification
of the country.

It would leave an indelible mark in the annals of the national history
of China, he added.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Ngnyen Manh Cam hailed the event, which ended
more than 150 years of British colonial rule, as of great historic significance
for China and the world.

He told the party that it was in the interests of people in both Hong
Kong and the rest of China, and therefore would contribute to peace,
cooperation and development in the region and the whole globe.

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Vietnam - Wait and See: Hanoi stalls on leadership choice 

By Faith Keenan in Hanoi
07/03/97
Far Eastern Economic Review

Delegates to the Eighth Congress of Vietnam's Communist Party left Hanoi
in June 1996 without deciding who would replace the country's ageing
leaders. Given a year to think about it, the party's central committee
has made some progress.

At its June 9-18 meeting, the central committee overwhelmingly approved
the replacement of Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet by Phan Van Khai. It also
agreed that Nong Duc Manh would continue as chairman of the National
Assembly. But a source familiar with the proceedings says no decision
was made on who would fill the key posts of general secretary of the
Communist Party and president. With the prime minister, they make up
the country's ruling triumvirate.

The result, which has yet to be reported officially, surprised some observers
in Hanoi. Many had predicted that military commissar Le Kha Phieu, who
ranks fifth in the politburo, would replace Do Muoi as general secretary.
Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam, who stands eighth in the party's hierarchy,
was widely pegged as a shoo-in to replace the ailing Le Duc Anh as president.

Intra-party wrangling continues over both positions. Only about half
of the 170 committee members supported Cam for the presidency, and that's
not enough in a country where consensus rules. Trailing closely behind
was Defence Minister Doan Khue, says the source.

The disagreement may partially stem from uncertainty surrounding the
general secretary's post. Because Vietnam's leadership troika delicately
balances regional and ideological differences, uncertainty over one post
automatically puts another in question. Traditionally, the troika's three
members represent north, south and central regions, and defence, reformist
and party interests. Kiet, like his successor, Khai, is a reformist from
the southern region. Muoi is a northern moderate and Anh a conservative
from central Vietnam.

"The split vote shows the strength of opposition to Le Kha Phieu," even
within the military, says Carl Thayer of the Australian Defence Force
Academy in Canberra. A northerner who heads the political/ideological
side of the military, Phieu is described by diplomats and party members
as ambitious and authoritarian, with a firm commitment to state-owned
enterprises. All are traits that make some party members uneasy.

A Phieu supporter, who is also a proponent of economic reform, calls
him dynamic, decisive and a bit domineering. "That's good for the country
because now there is too much democracy," he says. "It's very difficult
to make policy. We need someone who can dominate the people."

Political observers predict that Muoi may stay on to give Phieu time
to build his image and power base. Phieu has already been working at
it, giving more speeches and even meeting with dissident Hoang Minh Chinh
in Hanoi, says a source.

That scenario, however, raises a question: As Phieu prepares for the
more powerful role, would Khue, a military man from the central region,
become president to ensure defence representation in the leadership triangle?
Although the position is largely ceremonial, the president is also responsible
for defence issues. Current President Anh, for instance, is a general
and former defence minister who directed Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia
in 1979. Cam, also from central Vietnam, joined the Foreign Ministry
in 1952 at age 23 and has little, if any, military experience.

On the other hand, Thayer says that the conservatives can't expect to
fill both posts-president and party chief. That would leave the door
open for Cam on the understanding that a military man such as Phieu would
replace Muoi between now and the next Party Congress.

If not Phieu, it's unclear who might replace Muoi. " Vietnam lacks men
of talent," says Thayer. The 19-member politburo is the channel to the
top positions, but these leadership posts "require much more than party
experience," he adds.

One name mentioned is Nguyen Tan Dung, a rising star who serves on the
five-member "super politburo" that oversees the party's day-to-day activities
(the other members are Muoi, Anh, Kiet and Phieu.) But at 47, many consider
Dung too young for the party post. The alternative would be for Muoi,
80, to remain until the next Party Congress in 2001. If he does, Khue
would be the likely choice for president.

To resolve the issue, sources predict that another plenum will take place
in August. The timing is critical because a new National Assembly will
be elected on July 20 and must meet within two months. Although the 1992
constitution technically gives the legislature the power to elect the
president and prime minister, the party still chooses leaders ahead of
time and submits them for assembly approval.

It's uncertain whether Kiet and Anh will remain in the politburo. Some
sources say that Kiet would like to retire altogether, but Anh might
want to stay on, despite having suffered a stroke in November. One theory
is that if they remain, it would make the transition smoother. But the
party would then have to decide the all-important ranking within the
politburo. For instance, would the new prime minister outrank the old?
"There is no precedent for this," says a party source. "That's why no
one can tell."

Succession wasn't the only issue on the table at the party meeting. The
plenum also restricted high-ranking local officials to serving two terms
of five years each. Currently they can remain for life. The term limit
falls short of a proposal to have Hanoi appoint provincial and municipal
officials.

Muoi also continued the drive against corruption. In his opening speech,
he said the party had to "honestly and frankly" face up to its "problems
that worry people, especially embezzlement, wastefulness, bureaucracy,
rights abuse, corruption . . . which have increased in some places, causing
public disagreement and reducing people's belief in the party."

The oft-repeated words came less than a month after widespread protests
among farmers in Thai Binh province, about 100 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Villagers in Quynh Phu district reported that hundreds, and at times
thousands, of farmers gathered near the district office of the People's
Committee in mid-May to protest against alleged graft among local officials.

The gatherings were generally peaceful. Farmers claimed that the number
of taxes they had to pay had risen to 21 from four-including fees for
water supply, schools, environmental protection, natural-disaster relief,
health care and care for the elderly and children-but there was little
to show for the money.

Hanoi dispatched a politburo member to investigate the charges. "The
party is very concerned," says one party member. "If you don't treat
it carefully and thoroughly, it may develop into a movement."

Although the party has encouraged the press to expose corruption, the
Thai Binh protests went unreported in state media for weeks. The Foreign
Ministry said no directive was issued to restrict coverage, but party
members say that ideology chief Huu Tho praised the domestic press "for
discipline and faithful attitude" by remaining silent as the protests
occurred.

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Vietnam targets sizable increase of its rice export 

Hanoi (dpa) - Vietnam hopes to export an unprecedented 4 million tons
of rice this year, maintaining it's position among the world's top three
rice exporters, an official of the ministry of agriculture said Friday.

According to Vietnam projections, overall grain crop - unless natural
calamities intervene - is going to reach a record 30 million tons, the
official said.

In 1996 Vietnamese farmers harvested 29.5 million tons of grain and the
country exported 3.2 million tonnes of rice, of which the most coming
from Mekong Delta, the country's main rice bowl.

In the first six months of 1997 Vietnam exported 1.8 million tons of
rice, up 49.1 per cent compared tothe same period in 1996, official statistics
show.

Two months ago Vietnam's government stepped into the rice market, telling
state-owned companies to start buying rice directly from Mekong Delta
rice farmers, to help stabilise falling prices. At the moment state-owned
enterprises have a virtual monopoly in Vietnam's highly regulated rice
export market.

Despite increasing rice exports, Vietnam has recorded an overall 1.433
billion dollar foreign trade deficit since the beginning of this year:
the figure amounts to more than 5 per cent of the country's annual Gross
Domestic Product (GDP).

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3 Japanese Firms to Make Bike Steel Pipes in Vietnam 

TOKYO, July 4 (Kyodo) -- Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. said Friday it
and two other Japanese companies have established a joint company in
Vietnam to make steel pipes for motorcycles.

Sumitomo Metal is the majority holder of Vietnam Steel Products Ltd.
in Hanoi with 60% share. The remainder is held by Osaka-based Nomura
Trading Co., with 30%, and Mitsui and Co., with 10%.

The new company was established to supply the growing motorcycle demand
in Vietnam, a Sumitomo Metal official said. The pipes are for use in
frames, handlebars and mufflers of motorcycles, the official said.

Initially, the new company will get unprocessed lead pipes from Sumitomo
Metal's Thai subsidiary, Thai Steel Pipe Industry Co., and cut and polish
them.

Eventually the Vietnam company will make the pipes from start to finish,
the official said.

Initial investment is estimated to be around 2.3 million dollars growing
to 8 million dollars in the final stages.

Construction will start at the end of July with production targeted to
begin in December. 9

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Vietnam's Economic Image Tarnished: Australian Foreign Minister

Hanoi, July 4 (AFP) - Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said
Friday Vietnam's bloated bureaucracy harmed its image among foreign investors.

"At the moment Vietnam's reputation as an emerging Asian tiger economy
is looking a bit tarnished," he said.

"There is a perception among investors that it is a difficult country
to invest in ... not because of antipathy towards foreign investment,
but because of the slow and complex movement of the bureaucracy."

Downer told an Australian business luncheon that he had delivered this
message to Hanoi and that the government appeared to understand his concerns.

Although Australian investors came to Vietnam relatively early, a couple
of high profile disappointments have caused some companies to reconsider
Vietnam as an investment destination.

In 1996, one of Australia's biggest investor to Vietnam, Broken Hill
Proprietary Co Ltd.'s oil and gas arm, wrote off its entire investment
worth 120 million dollars in the Dai Hung offshore oil field.

Two years ago, Westralia Sands pulled out of a 1.2 million dollar joint
venture after a long and acrimonious battle with its local partner.

Telstra, Australia's largest investor in Vietnam, is one of Australia's
success stories in Vietnam, having modernized the country's long distance
telephone services.

But after more than a decade, Telstra still must contend with frustrating
delays.

It has been waiting more than two and a half years for Vietnam to approve
a telephone line installation deal in Ho Chi Minh City worth hundreds
of millions of dollars.

But as well as a pioneering spirit, Australia also has one of the worst
records for business failures in Vietnam between 1988 and 1994, according
to a report by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).

Australia's ratio of withdrawn investment licenses to the number of licenses
issued was higher than Hong Kong or Taiwan's, whose investors are often
seen as opportunistic businesses with a high failure rate, it said.

Two-way trade with Australia was 447 million dollars in 1996 and Australia
is Vietnam's 13th largest foreign investor with 678 million in approved
investments.

On Saturday, Downer flies to Ho Chi Minh City and on Sunday he will attend
the groundbreaking ceremony for the My Thuan Bridge in the southern Mekong
delta.

The bridge is a 70 million dollar project financed with 47 million dollars
of nonrefundable Australian aid.

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Vietnam To Build Aluminum Plant In Lam Dong Province 

Hanoi, July 3 (VNA) - Vietnam's Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has agreed
in principle to invest in a pre-feasibility study to build an aluminum
plant in Tan Rai commune, Bao Loc district, Lam Dong province in the
Central Highlands, Vietnam Courier quotes sources in the Ministry of
Industry (MOI).

The plant is to be part of a larger project consisting of the Ham Thuan-Da
Mi hydro-electric power plant in Binh Thuan province and the Tai Rai
bauxite mine in Lam Dong province.

It is to produce 75,000 tonnes of aluminum/year.

French aluminum giant Pechiney has shown interest in joining the project.

Experts from the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy estimated the cost
of building the plant and mining facilities to be US$500 million.

Vietnam has bauxite deposits of 6.6 billion tonnes, making up 16.5 percent
of the world's total bauxite.

Most of Vietnam's bauxite is in Dac Lac and Lam Dong provinces.

Vietnam now imports about 30,000 tonnes of aluminum a year, which has
been increasing by 15-20 percent annually.

(VNA)

03-07 1341

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Vietnam To Build New Investment Area In Ho Chi Minh City 

Hanoi, July 3 (VNA) - A blueprint for a modern urban area for southern
Ho Chi Minh City has been drawn up which promises to become a centre
of international investment in Southeast Asia in the future.

The 400-ha Nam Sai Gon (South Sai Gon) City will be situated in the area
of Precincts 7 and 8 in the present Ho Chi Minh City and the suburban
Binh Chanh district.

The masterplan for the city was designed by Sidmore, Owings & Merrill
Company (from San Francisco, USA), Kenzo Tange & Association (from Tokyo,
Japan) and Koetter Kim & Associated (from Boston, USA), and approved
by the Prime Minister at the end of 1994.

A Vietnamese company, Nageco, under the Ministry of Construction, has
mapped out a detailed plan, while another Vietnamese company, the Phu
My Hung joint venture, has undertaken construction of infrastructure
facilities for the new city.

Early this year, the Ho Chi Minh City authorities approved the detailed
plan for the central part of Nam Sai Gon, which will comprise a commercial
area, residential quarters and outdoor sports facilities, including a
horse racetrack and golf course, parks, museums and other public facilities.

The first foreign-funded project in Nam Sai Gon was licensed at the end
of May.

The US$6 million, 100 percent investment project by Feel Nice Co. Ltd.
of Japan, is to build a 12-storey complex on an area of 1,740 sq.m. for
commercial centre, offices and apartments for rent.

Other projects now awaiting licenses include a sports complex by Srixon
of Japan, a 12,140 sq.m. residential area, and a 16,000 sq.m. area for
villas.

A highway is now being built to give better access and help construction
of the new city.

(VNA)

03-07 1343

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Vietnam Licenses 211 Foreign_Funded Projects In 6 Months 

Hanoi, July 3 (VNA) - The Ministry of Planning and Investment has granted
licences to 211 more foreign-invested projects with combined registered
capital of US$2.15 billion in the first six months of this year.

This brings the total number of effective projects to 1,729, with combined
registered capital of US$27.89 billion.

Investment capital implemented by foreign-invested enterprises in the
first half of the year reached US$1.6 billion, a 62 percent increase
compared to the same period last year, bringing to combined implemented
capital of nearly US$10.1 billion.

Also in the same period under review, these enterprises, except those
in the oil and gas industry, obtained an export turnover of US$460 million,
up by 31 percent over the previous corresponding period.

State-owned businesses make up a large proportion of Vietnamese parties
to joint ventures, accounting for 96 percent of the projects and 99 percent
of the invested capital.

More than 700 companies from over 50 countries and territories have invested
in Vietnam, providing jobs for 200,000 people and employing tens of thousands
of others to work on construction sites.

(VNA)

03-07 1340

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Vietnam Industrial Parks Focus On Infrastructure 

Hanoi, July 3 (VNA) - The Amata Bien Hoa Industrial Park Development
Company has invested over US$14 million on the park's infrastructure
development over the past two years.

It has finished a 3.2 km-long main road and a 1.2 km auxiliary road,
as well as a water supply and drainage system inside the park, and at
Dong Nai province, east of Ho Chi Minh City.

A waste water treatment plant with a capacity of 4,000 cubic metres/day
and a 120 MVA power plant are in the pipeline.

At present, two Japanese companies have started operations at the park,
with a total investment capital of US$40 million.

Three companies from Thailand and Taiwan have also signed land rental
contracts.

The Amata Bien Hoa is the first among an estimated 15 IPs to start
infrastructure construction in Dong Nai province. 

A joint venture between the Bangpakong Industrial Park 2 of Thailand
and the Dong Nai Industrial Park Development Company, it has a total
investment capital of US$46 million, to which the Vietnamese side contributes
30 percent.

(VNA)

03-07 1338

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Vietnam Foreign-Funded Projects Exempted From Import Duty 

Hanoi, July 3 (VNA) - Construction materials imported by foreign invested
projects to form fixed assets will be tax free, according to a tax regulation
applicable to foreign-owned projects, issued by Vietnam's Prime Minister
Vo Van Kiet late last month.

All foreign-invested projects licensed prior to 23 November 1996 are
subject to the regulation.

They are exempted from import duty for construction materials until they
complete construction work.

The regulation also stipulates that foreign-built hotels, offices and
residences, hospitals, schools, tourist attractions and recreation centres
will also enjoy a one-time tax exemption for imported interior furniture
and equipment, in accordance with investment licences granted to them
prior to 23 November 1996.

The Prime Minister also instructed the Ministry of Trade and relevant
ministries and agencies to promulgate tax regulations to encourage and
protect domestic production of high-quality mechanical engineering, electric
and electronics products to raise the competitiveness of locally made
products.

(VNA)

03-07 1336

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Vietnamese Union Leader Asks Nike to Toe the Line 

HANOI, July 3 (AFP) - The vice-chairman of the Vietnam Labour Confederation,
Hoang Thi Khanh, asked that Nike ensure its subcontractors toe the line
on labour conditions in Vietnam, a report said here Thursday.

Khanh had reportedly told labour officials in the United States that
Nike should "pay more attention to workers who brought income to Nike
and that taking care of workers is also a form of investment."

She also suggested that Nike could ensure better labour relations by
setting up its own facilities here, according to the Nguoi Lao Dong,
or the Labourer newspaper.

"Nike can invest directly, not necessarily through subcontractors," she
said.

During a visit to the United States in late June, Khanh told a conference
sponsored by the "US and Indochina Reconciliation Program" that there
were many questions concerning Nike's role in Vietnam.

Nike's subcontractors in Vietnam have been plagued with labour disputes
in the past two years, including one last week in which a Taiwanese supervisor
received a six month prison sentence for worker abuse.

Nike subcontracts shoe production to five Korean and Taiwanese firms
located in southern Vietnam employing about 35,000 workers.

Though Nike has no investments of its own in Vietnam, the giant US shoe
and apparel company closely supervises operations at its suppliers.

Nike appointed a dedicated labour practices manager in Vietnam last year
to oversee the operations at five plants turning out products made exclusively
for Nike.

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