US embassy cable - 05HANOI1928

UNCLAS HANOI 001928 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV AND EB/TPP/BTA/ANA JBELLER 
STATE PASS USTR FOR EBRYAN and GHICKS 
USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
TREASURY FOR OASIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, PREL, VM, WTRO, WTO 
SUBJECT: DPM KHOAN STILL HOPES FOR DECEMBER ACCESSION 
 
REF: A) HANOI 1888 B) HANOI 1863 C) STATE 133130 
 
1. (U) Summary:  On July 27, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan 
spoke at an AmCham lunch attended by the Ambassador and over 
100 members of Hanoi's diplomatic, business and press 
communities.  After lauding the great progress in U.S.- 
Vietnam relations as a result of the Prime Minister's trip 
to the United States, and cooperation with the Embassy and 
AmCham, the DPM emphasized Vietnam's goal to accede to the 
WTO by the end of the year.  He answered questions about 
difficulties of doing business in Vietnam.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan addressed over 100 
members of the diplomatic, business and press communities at 
an American Chamber of Commerce lunch on July 27 in Hanoi. 
The Ambassador also attended.  Accompanying the DPM were 
Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Americas 
Nguyen Duc Hung, Vice Minister of Trade Luong Van Tu and 
Vice Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Bich Dat. 
 
3. (U) The Deputy Prime Minister began by stating that in 
his personal view, Prime Minister Khai's recent trip to the 
U.S. led to several important results.  The visit led to a 
high level consensus on bilateral U.S.-Vietnam relations and 
provided an opportunity to introduce Vietnam to U.S. 
business, media and NGOs.  The visit also allowed 
substantial progress in negotiations with USTR on the WTO 
accession, which the joint statement between President Bush 
and Prime Minister Khai underscored.  The DPM thanked the 
AmCham and U.S. business for supporting the trip and the 
bilateral relationship. 
 
4. (U) Regarding next steps, Khoan stressed the need to 
maintain momentum in the process for Vietnam's WTO 
accession.  He reiterated that the Hong Kong Ministerial 
remains the "best chance" for Vietnam to join the WTO, and 
pointed out that the benefits of accession would be shared 
by world business, including U.S. business.  He said he 
would continue to work with Ambassador Marine to implement 
all areas of agreement between the President and Prime 
Minister, including WTO negotiations. 
 
5. (U) During the question and answer period, a U.S. 
agricultural exporter working in the provinces said that 
increased red tape at the provincial level, as well as an 
apparent disregard for central government laws (especially 
taxes and customs) among local officials was causing him 
difficulties.  DPM Khoan responded that local officials must 
be accountable to the people, and that the role of elected 
bodies and the press must be strengthened.  He added that 
addressing this problem is a government priority.  The DPM 
said that the regulation limiting the number of foreign 
employees in a Vietnamese company to three percent needs to 
"be revisited." 
 
6. (SBU) Comment:  Despite the Ambassador's discussion with 
the DPM earlier this week regarding likely WTO accession 
date in 2006, DPM Khoan did not abandon the Government's 
long-held December accession target, at least not publicly. 
At the same time, Khoan continues to be very laudatory of 
our cooperation across a broad spectrum of issues and upbeat 
regarding future prospects. 
 
MARINE