Flex our own muscles, says Vietnam
elder
HANOI - Vietnam recognises the importance of
foreign investment but must give top priority to tapping the country's
internal resources, elder statesman and wartime prime minister Pham
Van Dong said.
The ageing but lucid Dong also chided the current communist
leadership -- although he did not mention the Communist Party by
name once -- for not performing well enough and said he maintained an
active role in politics.
Dong, who says he is 95 although he is officially listed as 93, is one of
Vietnam's most prominent 20th Century figures, having played a
frontstage part during one of the most turbulent periods in the nation's
history. He was prime minister from 1954-1987.
``Of course we attach much importance to (foreign investment).
However, at the same time we always consider that the prime force is
our internal resources, our internal strengths,'' Dong told Reuters
Television on Thursday.
``We do not just rely on foreign resources, although this is very
important,'' added Dong, speaking at his modest villa near the ornate
Presidential Palace in Hanoi.
His comments were not exactly music to the ears of the foreign
investment community in Vietnam and reinforce Hanoi's official line that
what counts is the country's own muscle.
Dong did not name the nation's internal strengths, but they usually mean
the industriousness of Vietnam's people, a wealth of natural resources
and an estimated several billion dollars stashed under mattresses to
avoid the shaky banking system.
Some foreign economists have questioned this internal focus, which
gained momentum last year, and said what Vietnam needed was to
open the country to new technology and ideas.
Wearing a grey suit and dark glasses -- he has suffered from near
blindness since the 1980s -- Dong said he was healthy and closely
monitored events in Vietnam.
``People would not believe it if I told them my daily working schedule.
I have a working programme every day, and I work all day,'' he said.
He even gently lectured the current leadership, with whom he had
``very regular and close relations.''
``They are doing what they have decided to do. However their work
has not been as good as it should have been. They have a lot of work
to do,'' Dong said, without elaborating.
Although widely respected, Dong's political influence has declined with
the passing years and he makes rare public appearances. Nevertheless,
some analysts believe he can wield clout on major decisions.
Indeed none other than Communist Party General Secretary Le Kha
Phieu arrived to met Dong just before Reuters Television left.
Phieu and other top leaders installed in the past 18 months represent a
clear break from the revolutionaries that fought French colonialists until
1954 and then the U.S.-backed Saigon regime during the Vietnam
War that ended in 1975.
An intellectual, Dong ranks in terms of stature alongside military veteran
General Vo Nguyen Giap and was considered personally close to late
president Ho Chi Minh.
As with Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam watchers have debated whether Dong
is at-heart a true communist, or a nationalist who was drawn into the
collective socialist system he helped create.
Unlike contemporary Vietnamese leaders, who partly praise
Marxism-Leninism for the country's achievements, Dong did not
mention ideology during the interview.
``I feel proud of our country and believe the Vietnamese nation will
strive to build a strong and more beautiful country and improve
people's living standards,'' he said.
``Our nation will forever remain Vietnamese, a nation that will never
forget its roots, its past and history.''
Reuters - February 11, 1999.
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