QUANG NAM PROVINCIAL LEADER TALKS ENVIRONMENT AND

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000139

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV SOCI ECON EINV KINR ETRD VM
SUBJECT: QUANG NAM PROVINCIAL LEADER TALKS ENVIRONMENT AND
DEVELOPMENT

REFTEL: A) 05 HCMC 1118; B) 05 HCMC 1092


1. (SBU) During a meeting with the Consul General in HCMC on
February 7, Quang Nam People's Committee Chairman Nguyen Duc Hai
expressed his concern about the lack of national environmental
planning and a weak environmental disaster alert and response
system. He was concerned about the potential impact of an
environmental incident on the tourist sector -- the crown jewel
of Quang Nam's development strategy. This point was driven home
by the lack of advance notification and coordination on an oil
spill that washed ashore on Quang Nam's and other Central
Vietnam beaches in early February. (According to press reports,
the oil spill, whose source has not yet been determined, forced
the closure of many beaches along the Central Vietnam coast,
including in the resort town of Hoi An in Quang Nam.)


2. (SBU) According to the Chairman, the first inkling the
provincial government had of the spill was from fishermen, who
reported something amiss at sea. The Central Government was
"passive," according to the Chairman, and only belatedly
provided any instruction to the province on the spill, well
after the province had mobilized local resources to collect the
oil from its beaches. The Central Government told the province
that it would have to shoulder the cost of the clean up. The
Chairman said that the clean-up was made more difficult by the
fact that the province had no experience or adequate equipment
to tackle environmental mishaps. He said he planned to send a
request to international organizations and foreign missions to
seek assistance and training on environmental protection and
disaster response issues.


3. (SBU) Tourism centered around China Beach and the UNESCO
world heritage site of Hoi An is central to Quang Nam's economic
development strategy. Starting from virtually zero in the early
1990s, the province now has 3,000 hotel rooms and is planning
many more, the Chairman said. In 2006, the province received
1.6 million visitors, of which 800,000 to 900,000 were
foreigners. The completion of the coastal highway linking Hoi
An to Danang -- with its international airport -- will
accelerate further the development of the tourist industry in
the province.


4. (SBU) The Chairman said that the province also continues to
look to the development of the Chu Lai Open Economic Zone
(reftel),which the U.S. built airfield, to anchor the
development of the southern end of the province. The province
hopes to develop Chu Lai as a tourist destination and a regional
hub for the services sector. Vietnam's Aviation Administration
will issue approval for a BOT project to renovate Chu Lai
aiport soon, the Chairman said, and is keen on U.S. investors.
The province will then begin the process of revising its master
development plan and try and get the airport project underway.


5. (SBU) The Chairman acknowledged that the province's vision
for Chu Lai was at odds with neighboring Quang Ngai province,
which is developing Dung Quat (which shares the same bay with
Chu Lai) as a petroleum refinery, heavy industry and
shipbuilding zone. The Dung Quat/Chu Lai area had good
development potential but the two provinces development
strategies needed to be harmonized, the Consul General said.
Chairman said he recognized the challenge and was planning to
meet with his Quang Ngai authorities to try to press them to
ensure that the environmental standards for Dung Quat are
adequate to protect Chu Lai and other tourist resorts in Quang
Nam.




6. (SBU) Bio notes: This was our first meeting with Chairman
Hai. He was promoted to provincial chairman in August, 2006.
(His predecessor, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, is now Principal Deputy in
the GVN's Government Office. Phuc is rumored to be in line for
promotion to head of the Government Office.) Hai, 45, appears
to be soft-spoken but frank. He has a Masters Degree in
finance. He directed the provincial Finance Department before
being promoted to the provincial People's Committee. Like his
predecessor, he expressed strong interest in working closely
with the Consulate on a range of social and economic issues and
in creating the best possible environment for foreign and
domestic private investment. End Bio Notes.

WINNICK