US embassy cable - 00HANOI1420

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001420 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV, INR/EAP/SEA, EB/TDC 
SECDEF FOR ISA/EA/LSTERN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL, ECON, VM, SR 
SUBJECT: VISIT OF FRY FM JOVANOVICH TO HANOI:  MORE SYMBOLISM THAN SUBSTANCE 
 
REF:  99 HANOI 1241 
 
1.   SUMMARY:  FRY FOREIGN MINISTER JOVANOVIC'S JUNE 4-8 
VISIT TO VIETNAM FOCUSED ON LITTLE OF REAL SUBSTANCE.  THE 
EMPHASIS ON ECONOMIC "INFORMATION-SHARING" PROMISES LITTLE 
FOR TRULY STRENGTHENING ECONOMIC RELATIONS.  HANOI'S 
COVERAGE OF THE VISIT WAS MEASURED AND REHASHED CRITICAL 
RHETORIC FROM LAST YEAR'S NATO KOSOVO INTERVENTION.  THE 
VISIT WAS HEAVIER ON SYMBOLISM THAN SUBSTANCE.  THE SERBIANS 
NO DOUBT FIND VIETNAM A RARE COUNTRY WHERE THE WELCOME MAT 
IS OUT.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.   FRY FOREIGN MINISTER ZIVADIN JOVANOVIC VISITED VIETNAM 
JUNE 4-8.  IT WAS THE SECOND VISIT BY A HIGH-LEVEL SERBIAN 
OFFICAL IN FOURTEEN MONTHS (WHEN DEPUTY FM NOVAKOVICH PAID A 
VISIT JUST AS NATO BEGAN ITS KOSOVO INTERVENTION).  HIS 
DELEGATION VISITED HANOI AND THE NORTHERN SEASIDE RESORT OF 
HA LONG BAY.  IN HANOI, JOVANOVIC MET WITH CPV POLITBURO 
STANDING BOARD MEMBER PHAM THE DUYET, PRESIDENT TRAN DUC 
LUONG, MINISTER OF PLANNING AND INVESTMENT TRAN XUAN GIA, 
MINISTER OF CONSTRUCTION NGUYEN MANH KIEM, VICE TRADE 
MINISTER MAI VAN DAU, AND VIETNAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND 
INDUSTRY CHAIRMAN DOAN DUY THANH, AS WELL AS HIS 
COUNTERPART, FM NGUYEN DY NIEN.  JOVANOVIC CAME WITH A LARGE 
BUSINESS ENTOURAGE WHICH HELD AN "INFORMATION-SHARING" 
SEMINAR WITH RELATED VIETNAMESE COMPANIES.  THE VISIT 
PRODUCED AN AGREEMENT ON VISA EXEMPTIONS FOR DIPLOMATIC AND 
OFFICIAL PASSPORT-HOLDERS, AND A PROTOCOL ON COOPERATION 
BETWEEN THE TWO FOREIGN MINISTRIES.  NIEN AND LUONG ACCEPTED 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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INVITATIONS FOR VISITS FROM JOVANOVIC AND MILOSEVIC. 
 
3.   PRESS ACCOUNTS ON BOTH SIDES CONTAINED PREDICTABLE 
EXPRESSIONS OF FRATERNAL SOLIDARITY AND TRADITIONAL 
FRIENDSHIP.  SPARSE AND RELATIVELY LACKLUSTER VIETNAMESE 
COVERAGE INCLUDED DE RIGEUR LANGUAGE CONDEMNING NATO 
INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO IN 1999, AND SUPPORTING THE FRY'S 
FULL RE-INTEGRATION INTO INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS.  THERE 
WAS LITTLE TO NO DETAIL ON JOVANOVIC'S DISCUSSIONS WITH 
NIEN, OTHER THAN NOTING THAT THE TWO COUNTRIES DISCUSSED 
BILATERAL AND INTERNATIONAL ISSUES OF MUTUAL CONCERN AND 
AGREED ON UNSPECIFIED MEASURES TO BOOST TIES.  FRY (BUT NOT 
VIETNAMESE) ACCOUNTS NOTED THAT THESE TALKS WERE "HIGHLY 
CORDIAL, WARM, AND FRIENDLY."  FRY MEDIA WERE ALSO FORWARD- 
LEANING ON BILATERAL ECONOMIC POTENTIAL, OF WHICH MORE MUTED 
MENTION WAS MADE IN THE VIETNAMESE PRESS. 
 
4.   ON JUNE 22, AFTER PERSISTENT REQUESTS, POLOFF MET WITH 
MFA EUROPE 1 DEPARTMENT DEPUTY DIRECTOR TRAN HUU TUNG FOR A 
READ-OUT OF THE VISIT.  TUNG STRESSED THAT THE VISIT WAS 
WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF NORMAL EXCHANGES BETWEEN THE TWO 
COUNTRIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR "OLD TRADITIONAL 
FRIENDSHIP," AND WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH VIETNAM'S POLICY OF 
MULTILATERALIZATION OF ITS FOREIGN RELATIONS. 
 
5.   TUNG SAID THE MAJOR FOCUS OF THE VISIT WAS EXPLORING 
OPTIONS FOR INCREASING BILATERAL ECONOMIC TIES, WHICH 
"SUFFERED DURING THE 1990S."   JOVANOVIC WAS ACCOMPANIED BY 
A BUSINESS GROUP REPRESENTING NINE LARGE FRY CORPORATIONS 
SPECIALIZING IN FIELDS SUCH AS ELECTRONICS, MACHINERY, 
CONSTRUCTION, OIL, MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, FOOD PROCESSING, AND 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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TOBACCO MANUFACTURING.  THIS GROUP MET WITH VIETNAMESE 
BUSINESSPEOPLE AND ATTENDED A BUSINESS CONFERENCE, THE 
PURPOSE OF WHICH WAS TO LEARN ABOUT POTENTIAL FOR BILATERAL 
COOPERATION IN VARIOUS FIELDS.  TUNG COMMENTED THAT PAST 
INFORMATION ON POTENTIAL PARTNERS HAS BEEN VERY LIMITED, AND 
THIS VISIT PRESENTED A VALUABLE OPPORTUNITY IN THAT IT WAS 
THE FIRST CHANCE FOR MANY OF THE FRY COMPANIES TO GET TO 
KNOW THEIR VIETNAMESE COUNTERPARTS.  ASKED TO COMMENT ON 
JOVANOVIC'S REMARK AT A HANOI PRESS BRIEFING THAT THE TWO 
COUNTRIES HAD EXPLORED CONCRETE OPPORTUNITIES FOR TECHNOLOGY 
TRANSFERS, HOWEVER, TUNG SQUIRMED BUT DID NOT OFFER ANY 
DETAIL, SAYING THAT THE TWO COUNTRIES ARE JUST AT THE 
INFORMATION-EXCHANGING STAGE.  BUSINESSES FROM THE TWO SIDES 
NEED MORE CONTACTS TO LEARN ABOUT EACH OTHER'S CAPABILITIES, 
AND TO WORK OUT SPECIFIC DETAILS OF ANY VENTURES.  (COMMENT: 
TUNG CLEARLY APPEARED TO BE BACK-PEDALLING FROM JOVANIC'S 
STATEMENT.  END COMMENT.) 
 
6.  POLOFF ASKED TUNG FOR HIS VIEWS ON THE PROSPECTS FOR 
BOOSTING OVERALL ECONOMIC TIES; TUNG REPLIED ONLY THAT 
VIETNAM WISHES TO NORMALIZE ITS ECONOMIC RELATIONS WITH ALL 
COUNTRIES, INCLUDING YUGOSLAVIA.  HE DID COMMENT THAT 
"EFFECTIVENESS," MEANING COMPATIBILITY, IS THE KEY IN ALL 
BILATERAL RELATIONSHIPS.  COOPERATION IS ONLY POSSIBLE IF IT 
MEETS THE WISHES AND INTERESTS OF BOTH SIDES.  VIETNAM'S 
WISH, OF COURSE, IS TO IMPROVE ECONOMIC TIES, BUT MANY 
FACTORS HAVE TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, AND THE OUTCOME OF 
BILATERAL EFFORTS REMAINS TO BE SEEN. 
 
7.   TURNING TO OTHER AREAS OF THE VISIT, TUNG SAID THAT 
VIETNAM AND YUGOSLAVIA HAD CONSULTATIONS ON "BILATERAL 
ISSUES AND TOPICS OF MUTUAL INTEREST," BUT DECLINED TO GO 
INTO DETAIL.  HE SAID THAT THE MFA COOPERATION PROTOCOL 
RESEMBLED THOSE REACHED WITH OTHER COUNTRIES, PROVIDING FOR 
NORMAL ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS VISITS AND DIALOGUES, WHICH 
VIETNAM CARRIES OUT WITH MANY NATIONS.  ASKED ABOUT 
JOVANOVIC'S ACTIVITIES IN QUANG NINH, TUNG SAID IT WAS 
SIMPLY AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FOREIGN MINISTER, AS A FRIEND 
FROM AFAR, TO SEE SOME OF VIETNAM'S SCENIC BEAUTY.  (NOTE: 
FRY PRESS ACCOUNTS STATED JOVANOVIC ALSO HAD A MEETING WITH 
QUANG NINH PROVINCIAL PEOPLE'S COMMITTEE DEPUTY CHAIR NGUYEN 
VAN MIEN.) 
 
8.   COMMENT:  AS FAR AS WE CAN SEE, THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE 
SUBSTANTIVE PROGRESS IN VIETNAM-FRY RELATIONS SINCE DEP FM 
NOVAKOVICH'S VISIT TO HANOI IN MARCH 1999 (REFTEL).  MFA 
OFFICIAL TUNG WAS GUARDED AND VAGUE IN HIS REMARKS AND HAD 
LITTLE DETAIL TO OFFER ON THE VISIT.  HE SEEMED AT SOME 
PAINS TO EMPHASIZE THE ROUTINE AND NON-NOTEWORTHY NATURE OF 
THE VISIT AND ITS CONTENTS.  ALTHOUGH THE STATED FOCUS WAS 
ON DEVELOPING ECONOMIC TIES, TUNG WAS ABLE TO OFFER LITTLE 
OF A CONCRETE NATURE ON ACTUAL PROSPECTS OR MUTUAL BENEFIT. 
THIS, ALONG WITH SPARSE COVERAGE IN VIETNAM'S STATE- 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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CONTROLLED MEDIA, UNDERSCORES HOW LITTLE EACH COUNTRY HAS TO 
OFFER THE OTHER IN REAL ECONOMIC TERMS. 
 
9.  COMMENT CONT'D:  A WESTERN DIPLOMAT WHO WATCHES FRY 
ACTIVITIES HERE REMARKED THAT VIETNAM AND YUGOSLAVIA APPEAR 
TO HAVE FEW CONCRETE MUTUAL INTERESTS OTHER THAN A STAUNCH 
OPPOSITION TO THE NATO INTERVENTION IN KOSOVO.  SEEN IN THIS 
LIGHT, THE VISIT WAS HEAVIER ON SYMBOLISM THAN SUBSTANCE. 
IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN WHETHER "INFORMATION-SHARING" ON TRADE 
AND INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES WILL LEAD TO REAL FORWARD 
MOVEMENT ON BILATERAL ECONOMIC TIES.  THE FRY EVIDENTLY 
FINDS IN VIETNAM A RARE COUNTRY WHERE THE WELCOME MAT IS OUT 
FOR ITS OFFICIALS.  END COMMENT. 
PETERSON 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED