Vietnam's Ministry of Finance Reaches Out

UNCLAS HANOI 000232 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS TREASURY FO OASIA SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS EO. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ECON EINV VM SUBJECT: Vietnam's Ministry of Finance Reaches Out ¶1. (SBU) Summay: In a letter dated January 23 from Vietnamese Vic Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha to U.S. Treasuy Undersecretary for International Affairs Timoty Adams, Ha formally expressed the Government ofVietnam's (GVN) interest in receiving technical ssistance in developing three areas: tax administraion, capital and bond markets, and the insurancesector. This long-anticipated letter from Ha prvides the USG with an excellent opportunity to bcome more involved in Ministry of Finance (MOF) ina year that will likely see major changes to Vietam's financial sector. A USG presence in MOF onthese issues would allow us an opportunity to see that many of these financial sector changes happe in ways helpful to U.S. investors, U.S. policy,and U.S. interests in the region. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Ha's seven page letter, transmitted direcly to Treasury from MOF, calls for workshops, seinars, short-course training sessions, and inforation exchanges on the topics outlined above to egin as soon as possible. His letter then presentsseveral specific areas for proposed technical asistance. In the area of taxation, the Vice Miniter asks for assistance with human resource manaement, internal investigation capacity building, mnagement training, and training in international axation policies and methodology. In capital bod markets, Ha asks for assistance with implementng the Securities Law, passed last year, and with completing the legal framework regulating securites. He also asks for assistance in developing reulations for investment funds and a credit guaratee fund. Finally, in insurance, Ha proposes U.S. technical assistance help Vietnam build a financal risk management framework for insurers in Vietnam. All of Ha's proposals specify areas for cooperation and potential deliverables as a result of cooperation. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: This request for technical assistance comes as a critical moment in Vietnam's financial sector development. The donor community has made it clear that Vietnam must take some major steps in 2007 and 2008 to meet the expectations of its aid partners and its international investors. That MOF presented the USG with such a detailed, well-thought out proposal presents us an opportunity toprovide targeted, effective assistance at a time wen Vietnam is already determined to undertake seious reforms. We should use this chance to shapethe nature of Vietnam's financial sector and to ffirm the Government of Vietnam's decision to movein this direction. End Comment. MARINE