GVN SEEKS COMMENTS ON PROPOSED TEXT AND EARLIER DATES FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 HANOI 000998 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS NSC FOR ASIA/HOLLY MORROW BANGKOK FOR PC DIRECTOR JOHN WILLIAMS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PREL EAID VM SUBJECT: GVN SEEKS COMMENTS ON PROPOSED TEXT AND EARLIER DATES FOR NEGOTIATING A PEACE CORPS AGREEMENT REF: (A) HANOI 888 (B) EAP/MLS E-MAIL MAY 23 ¶1. Action Request - Please see para 7. ¶2. (SBU) Summary/Comment/Action Request: EconCouns met with Ministry of Education and Training and MFA officials on May 24 to notify them of planned travel of Peace Corps (PC) officials to negotiate a Country Agreement. The Vietnamese welcome the team, and handed over a Vietnamese-language text of their proposed agreement (see unofficial Embassy translation in para 6) to facilitate discussion, even in advance of formal talks. The Vietnamese draft differs in format from the standard Peace Corps Country Agreement template. Its provisions, while indicating forward movement by the Vietnamese on some key points, still appear lacking in other areas. MOET and MFA request that PC negotiators move up the talks to June 5 and 6 due to a scheduling conflict. End Summary/Comment/Action Request. ¶3. (SBU) Comment and Action Request: Given the GVN desire to reach an agreement on Peace Corps in advance of the visit of President Nguyen Minh Triet, we believe we now have maximum leverage to demand and extract changes to the GVN's frustratingly consistent approach on the limits to the size and duration of the program. Please pass comments and suggested changes, or a new text, to us ASAP for transmission back to MOET and the MFA. Embassy also requests Peace Corps response to earlier dates for the negotiations, as proposed by the GVN. ¶4. (SBU) Following receipt of Ref B, Econ Counselor met with Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) International Cooperation Department Director General Tran Ba Viet Dzung and Senior Officer Le Duc Long, accompanied by MFA Deputy Department Director (Americas) Nguyen Ba Hung at MOET on May 24 to inform them the PC proposal to send Regional Director Jay Katzen and General Counsel Leanne Galloway to negotiate the Country Agreement in Hanoi on June 7 and ¶8. The Vietnamese officials welcome this decision, but ask that Peace Corps officials to arrive earlier in order to negotiate on June 5 and 6 instead because of a serious schedule conflict with a MOET-organized conference. ¶5. (SBU) The Vietnamese also provided a text of a draft agreement which Embassy staff unofficially translated (see paragraph 6 below). The text provides more clarity on the eight points previously made by Dzung and reported in Ref A. The Vietnamese asked for written comments on the text in advance of the negotiations. ¶5. (SBU) Reiterating points that the Embassy has made with GVN officials over the course of the past several months, EconCouns responded that, in general, the PC standard practice was to have a Country Agreement on general principles that did not contain the detailed elements of a given project. Thus, there were still major differences with the proposed Vietnamese approach. Without prejudice to any other issues, he also noted in principle there appear to be outstanding differences with regard to such matters as the size of the staff, the number of volunteers, limits to the length of the agreement and restriction of the program to teaching in "English for special purposes." He also noted that, while we have indicated our willingness to allow PC volunteers to be referred to as "friendship volunteers" in Vietnamese, English-language references should use the term "Peace Corps." ¶6. (SBU) (Unofficial Translation) BEGIN TEXT DRAFT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONCERNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE U.S.-VIETNAM FRIENDSHIP VOLUNTEER PROJECT FOR ENGLISH TEACHING IN THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (hereinafter Vietnam) and the Government of the United States of America (hereinafter United States),recognizing the importance of developing mutually advantageous relationships and cooperation between their countries, in the principle of equality and national sovereignty, and in compliance with the laws and policies of each country, have agreed as follows: ¶I. General provisions: HANOI 00000998 002 OF 004 -- The Government of Vietnam represented by the Ministry of Education and Training (hereinafter MOET) and the Government of the United States represented by the Peace Corps, called in Vietnamese: To chuc Tinh nguyen vien Huu nghi Viet Nam - Hoa Ky (U.S.-Vietnam Friendship Volunteers, hereinafter UVFV) shall implement a project for teaching English for special purposes in the areas of natural sciences, engineering and technology in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City for 27 months, effective from the date of signing of this Agreement. -- During a period of 27 months, UVFV will send a maximum of 20 volunteer teachers to teach English in Vietnam. -- Vietnamese establishments that receive volunteers shall be universities that provide training in the areas of natural sciences, engineering and technology in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. -- The volunteer teachers shall be granted visas valid for 12 months; thereafter, the Vietnam side will consider the extension of their visas. -- MOET shall enable UVFV to send two (2) representatives to Hanoi. The two representatives and volunteer teachers of UVFV shall be exempted from all taxes on income that they receive from their work with UVFV. -- The personal effects of UVFV's two representatives and the volunteer teachers, and UVFV items introduced into Vietnam for English-language teaching purposes under the above project shall be exempted from import duties, value-added taxes (VAT) and the special consumption tax. When the two representatives finish their term of assignment and the volunteer teachers finish their teaching terms in Vietnam, the property and goods shall be re-exported and export duty exemption shall be applicable. -- Regarding automobiles and motorbikes being used by UVFV representatives and volunteer teachers introduced into Vietnam for their use, only one vehicle of each kind for each household shall be exempted from import duties, VAT and special consumption tax. -- The two UVFV representatives and volunteer teachers are exempted from visa fees. II. Provisions for Project Partners: For the Vietnamese party, the project partners include: the Ministry of Education and Training and the establishments that receive the volunteer teachers; for the U.S. party, the project partners are the U.S. Embassy, UVFV representatives and volunteer teachers. -1. The Vietnamese Party: a. Ministry of Education and Training: -- Shall obtain the operating license for the project. -- Shall provide UVFV a list of establishments that will receive volunteer teachers. -- Shall assist in obtaining visas and extending visas for the UVFV representatives and volunteer teachers. -- Shall give its opinion regarding the reception of volunteer teachers within 30 days after receiving from UVFV a list of volunteer teachers and resumes. -- Shall make comments on the selection of UVFV representatives in Hanoi to the U.S. Embassy and UVFV. -- Shall cooperate with the receiving establishments to receive volunteer teachers. -- Shall cooperate with the U.S. Embassy, UVFV, receiving establishments, and volunteer teachers to resolve any problems that arise between volunteer teachers and the receiving establishments. b. Receiving Establishment: -- Shall be in charge of making arrangements for the volunteer teachers' work and managing them. -- Shall provide monthly allowances for volunteer teachers as may be agreed to between UVFV and the receiving establishment. -- Shall assist volunteer teachers in finding suitable lodging and in obtaining visas and extending expired visas. -- Shall inform in writing MOET, the U.S. Embassy and UVFV of any dispute arising between the receiving establishment and volunteer teachers. -- Shall prepare six-month periodic evaluation reports on the volunteer teachers to MOET, the U.S. Embassy and UVFV. -2. The U.S. Party: a. U.S. Embassy in Hanoi: -- Shall be the U.S. Government point of contact in Vietnam (on behalf of the U.S. Government as one signatory to this agreement). The U.S. Embassy in Hanoi is responsible for coordinating with MOET in supervising and assisting volunteer teachers' activities, discussing with MOET and UVFV the implementation of the project every six months; coordinating with MOET to resolve any disputes arising between volunteer teachers and the receiving establishments in the event the UVFV representatives in Hanoi are not able to reach resolution. -- After project termination, the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi shall HANOI 00000998 003 OF 004 discuss with MOET the results of project implementation, and based on that result the two sides will discuss the extension of the project for English teaching in Vietnam. At the same time the U.S. Embassy will discuss with appropriate agencies of Vietnam the possibility of expanding UVFV activities to other fields. b. U.S.-Vietnam Friendship Volunteers (UVFV): -- Shall provide volunteer teachers at the request of MOET; teachers will be approved by MOET to teach English in Vietnam. -- Shall provide MOET with lists of volunteer teachers and their resumes at least 30 days in advance of their arrival in Vietnam. -- Shall recruit U.S. citizens who will have at least a university degree with a background in natural sciences, engineering and technology to act as volunteer teachers in Vietnam. -- Shall provide volunteer teachers with skills in teaching English for special purposes and with a basic knowledge of Vietnam in such areas as culture, customs, law, cross-culture. -- Shall provide volunteer teachers with equipment that MOET and UVFV find is necessary to facilitate the accomplishment of the volunteer teacher teaching missions. -- Shall pay wages, allowances and other expenses for volunteer teachers. c. UVFV representatives: -- After obtaining permission, shall be allowed to rent office space, rent housing, and recruit Vietnamese office staff (from three to five people) through the Diplomatic Service Bureau. If there is a need to increase the number of staff, approval from MOET and other concerned Vietnamese agencies must be obtained. -- UVFV representatives shall be responsible for supervising volunteer teachers, cooperating with MOET and the U.S. Embassy in regularly overseeing them and assisting their activities and resolving all issues that may arise between volunteer teachers and the receiving establishments; and discussing with MOET and the U.S. Embassy the project implementation situation every six months. -- UVFV representatives shall be responsible for ensuring that none of its staff undertake profit-making activities or other activities that are not related to the implementation of the English-teaching project in Vietnam. -- UVFV representatives shall be responsible for ensuring all family members and volunteer teachers do not undertake professional and specialized activities without the permission of MOET and other concerned Vietnamese agencies. -- UVFV representatives and their family members and office staff must respect and abide by the prevailing laws and regulations of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. d. Volunteer Teachers -- Shall, along with their family members, be responsible for respecting and abiding by the prevailing laws of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. -- Shall take assignments from MOET and the receiving establishments of Vietnam. -- Each volunteer teacher shall teach for 20 hours per week maximum, and shall not be allowed to undertake other activities not related to their project without the permission of MOET and UVFV. -- Shall inform MOET, the U.S. Embassy and UVFV of any disputes with the receiving establishments. -- After 30 days of sick leave, a volunteer teacher shall be allowed to terminate if a medical diagnosis reveals that one's health condition does not permit accomplishment of the assignment. -- When volunteer teachers have medical problems, the receiving establishments will provide medicine and arrange for hospitalization and facilities on the same level and basis as treatment provided to Vietnamese teachers of similar rank. If volunteer teachers are seriously ill and need treatment at a Vietnamese central hospital or an international hospital inside or outside Vietnam, UVFV will cover all expenses related to transportation and hospital charges. III. Other provisions: -1. Equipment: --The U.S. Government shall provide volunteer teachers and UVFV representatives with the equipment necessary to facilitate the effective implementation of the volunteer teachers' mission. --This equipment will be free of import duties, VAT and special consumption tax. The resale of this property will take place in accordance with the law of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, in which tax exemption provisions will apply if re-exported. -2. Dispute resolution: --Appropriate representatives of the two governments will periodically discuss the issues related to volunteer teachers and projects so that this Agreement is well implemented. -- Any dispute arising during the implementation of this Agreement will be resolved by the two governments in a spirit of cooperation HANOI 00000998 004 OF 004 and good will. In cases of disputes related to law, Vietnamese law will be applied. -3. Implementing provisions: -- This Agreement may be amended with the mutual agreement of the two governments. Any amendment must be agreed by both parties in writing. -- This Agreement will be effective for 27 (twenty-seven) months from the date of signing. Made in (city) on (date) in two copies, one in Vietnamese and one in English, both being equally valid. ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM: Vice Minister of Education and Training ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam END TEXT ¶7. (SBU) Comment and Action Request: Given the GVN desire to reach an agreement on Peace Corps in advance of the visit of President Nguyen Minh Triet, we believe we now have maximum leverage to demand and extract changes to the GVN's frustratingly consistent approach on the limits to the size and duration of the program. Please pass comments and suggested changes, or a new text, to us ASAP for transmission back to MOET and the MFA. Embassy also requests Peace Corps response to earlier dates for the negotiations, as proposed by the GVN. MARINE