INVESTMENT MINISTER READIES FOR U.S. TRIP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000349 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USTR FOR BISBEE AND CLAMAN STATE FOR EEB/IFD/OIA GOETHERT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON OVIP PGOV VM SUBJECT: INVESTMENT MINISTER READIES FOR U.S. TRIP REF: Hanoi 345 (DNSA Price's Visit To Vietnam) This cable is Sensitive But Unclassified. For official use only, not for dissemination outside USG channels or posting on the internet. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Vietnamese Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc met with the Ambassador on March 26 to discuss his April 6 - 12 visit to the United States. Phuc and the Ambassador discussed the itinerary and the issues that were likely to come up during the visit, including concerns about human rights and backlogs in investment licensing. End Summary. ADDRESSING INVESTMENT DELAYS -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Minister Phuc said that his trip was aimed at promoting investment in Vietnam. In Houston (April 6-8),New York (April 9-10) and Washington (April 11-12),Phuc will participate at events organized by the Chamber of Commerce and the Asia Society. The Ambassador told him to be ready for questions about Vietnam's sometimes longwinded and muddled investment licensing process, citing the examples of Chevron, AES and Alcoa as investment projects that have been tied up in GVN red tape. "People will ask you: 'Why does it take so long, what does it take to speed up the bureacracy?'" Phuc nodded and said that he was ready to address these questions and, using the Ambassador's example of Alcoa, said that the GVN still intended to move forward with a bauxite mining project with the U.S. firm. HUMAN RIGHTS -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Phuc said that he was also ready to face questions on human rights, and agreed that Vietnam had a good story to tell on religious freedom. "You know our position very well," the Ambassador said, and raised the case of imprisoned Amcit activist Nguyen Quoc Quan as one of the ones on which Phuc was likely to be asked. INVESTMENT TREATY AND ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The Ambassador also told Phuc that his U.S. interlocutors would likely want to know more about Vietnam's stance on a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and on Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's ambitious "Project 30" of administrative reforms. "We and others would be interested in continuing [BIT] discussions and even setting timelines," the Ambassador said. Although Phuc did not address the BIT issue, two high-level MPI officials told us later that an MPI "expert" would accompany the delegation and seek a separate meeting with USTR on BIT. The Ambassador also told Phuc that U.S. audiences would also be interested in how Vietnam intended to address a possible global slowdown and domestic challenges like inflation. SCHEDULE AND MEETINGS -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador recommended that Phuc make time to meet with USTR and the NSC's Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor Dan Price, who met with Phuc in Hanoi on March 21 (Reftel). The Minister said that he would try to have both meetings, although his staff confided that it would be difficult to accommodate these two additional meetings in his schedule, and suggested instead that one of the members of the delegation see USTR on his own (PARA 4). Phuc's arrangements are being made by the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington and are thus far as follows: April 6: departure from Hanoi to Houston; April 7: free time (the Minister has relatives in Austin and plans to meet with them); April 8: meetings with ConocoPhilips, an address at Rice University, and a meeting with the Houston Vietnamese community; April 9: participate in a Chamber of Commerce - Asia Society forum, depart for NY; April 10: meeting with U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council Director Virginia Foote, attend another Chamber of Commerce - Asia Society forum, and leave to DC (by train); April 11: 8:45-10:50 meeting with World Bank VP for Asia James Adams, lunch with business people and reporters organized by the Chamber of Commerce, and meetings with USAID Administrator Fore and at State. COMMENT: AN IDEAL INTERLOCUTOR -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Comment: Phuc is one of our best GVN contacts, and is well-liked and respected by the business and donor communities. Because of this, he is well-suited to engage frankly with Washington on issues beyond investment and economics, including sensitive ones like human rights and government reform. End Comment. MICHALAK HANOI 00000349 002 OF 002 3