AMBASSADOR URGES VIETNAM TO PASS NGO LAW, CARRY OUT LOCAL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000227

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/MLS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EINT ECON EFIN PGOV PREL VM

SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR URGES VIETNAM TO PASS NGO LAW, CARRY OUT LOCAL
ELECTIONS

HANOI 00000227 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary: The Ambassador met with Minister of Home Affairs
(MOHA) Tran Van Tuan on March 6, 2009. MOHA oversees all Government
of Vietnam (GVN) personnel appointments, public administration
reform (PAR),government records and archives, and Vietnam's 2
million civil servants and public service employees. Tuan will lead
a delegation to the United States April 19-25 to learn about the
U.S. federal personnel system and public sector employees at the
state and city level. Tuan said the GVN would shelve local
elections indefinitely in favor of improving local administration.
The Ambassador urged Vietnam to pass the long-delayed "NGO Law."
End Summary.


2. (SBU) The Ambassador met with Tran Van Tuan, Minister of Home
Affairs (MOHA) on March 6. MOHA was formed in 2002 after it was
upgraded from the Government Committee on Organization and
Personnel. Tuan, appointed Minister in 2007, has a PhD in Economics
and is a member of the Communist Party Central Executive Committee.
MOHA oversees all GVN personnel appointments, from vice-minister
down, working in coordination with the Communist Party of Vietnam's
(CPV) Personnel Commission. The Ministry also oversees public
administration reform (PAR),government records and archives, and
Vietnam's 2 million civil servants and public service workers.


3. (SBU) Tuan said public service workers included police, public
works, transport and postal workers, and those working in the
medical and education sectors. In November 2008, the National
Assembly passed the "Law on Civil Servants," which eliminated
lifetime employment and established a code of conduct for Vietnam's
600,000 federal workers. The law will take effect on January 1,

2010. Tuan told the Ambassador that a forthcoming law would cover
Vietnam's 1.4 million public service employees.

Visit to the United States
--------------


4. (SBU) Tuan will lead a ministerial delegation to Washington,
Boston and New York City April 19-25 to learn about the U.S. federal
personnel system and public sector employees at the state and city
level. While in Washington, the delegation hopes to visit the
Office of Personnel Management, and the Ambassador suggested a visit
to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional committees that have
oversight over the U.S. civil service, including the House Committee
on Oversight and Government Reform.

Public Administration Reform
--------------


5. (SBU) In 2001, MOHA launched a ten-year Public Administration
Reform (PAR) effort, supported by the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP),to reduce red tape and corruption and improve
Vietnam's bureaucracy to help it meet the demands of a market
economy. PAR includes Project 30, a USAID-funded program carried
out by Support for Trade Acceleration (STAR) and the Vietnam
Competitiveness Initiative (VNCI) that reviews GVN administrative
procedures and recommends simplification. Tuan said the GVN had
reduced the number of ministries from 26 to 22 and that reform would
continue, particularly in the areas of public finance,
administrative procedures and local government. He called PAR a
"long-term effort."


6. (SBU) The Ambassador expressed concern that a reform-driven pilot
project to streamline local government by abolishing local People's
Councils would conflict with the Party's long-stated goal to
introduce direct election of local officials. Tuan confirmed that
the National Assembly and Politburo would shelve local elections for
now in favor of improving local administration. He said the GVN
still planned to introduce local elections in the future.

NGO Law
--------------


7. (SBU) The Ambassador also inquired about the status of the long
delayed "Law on Associations" (or "NGO Law") and urged the
government to act. In the absence of clear legislation, local
organizations and international NGOs are forced to navigate an
opaque and complicated process to register and operate in Vietnam.
Tuan agreed that he would like to see the law pass and acknowledged
it was long overdue. He was unable to predict when it might happen,
however, saying only "bottlenecks [had] arisen." The Ambassador
noted that most of the issues delaying the law's passage were
unrelated to the registration and operation of NGOs.


8. (SBU) Comment: Rapid economic growth continues to pose
challenges to Vietnam's legislative and regulatory framework. As
the lead ministry in charge of reform, MOHA may find itself at the
center of important bilateral issues during Minister Tuan's tenure.
Continuing U.S.-Vietnam engagement via USAID-funded Project 30, in

HANOI 00000227 002.2 OF 002


combination with MOHA's role as a legislative and regulatory
reformer, make Minister Tuan an important Embassy interlocutor.

MICHALAK