Seattle delegation builds on partnership with Hai Phong, Vietnam
While protesters take to the
streets today on the
anniversary of the World
Trade Organization
conference, a delegation of
Seattle officials and
entrepreneurs will be a
world away, building on an
already remarkable
relationship with Hai Phong,
Vietnam's third-largest city.
The aid-and-trade mission is
the culmination of several
years of groundbreaking
work by local business and political leaders, including Mayor Paul
Schell, who was approached last year by James Wolfensohn,
president of the World Bank.
Their meeting sparked the
creation of the Hai
Phong-Seattle Partnership, a
fledgling group whose
membership includes some
of the city's major
institutions, among them the
Port of Seattle, Greater
Seattle Trade Development
Alliance and University of
Washington.
For Seattle, the partnership
offers an intriguing
opportunity at a time when
long-standing trade barriers
are about to fall. After
President Clinton's visit,
Congress is expected to
ratify a bilateral trade
agreement with Vietnam. Tariffs levied on its exports are expected
to fall from a punitive 40 percent to 3 percent.
Trade with Vietnam is expected to flourish, with the World Bank
estimating that Vietnamese exports will increase by $800 million
annually.
During Clinton's visit, Boeing announced it had signed a letter of
intent with Vietnam Airlines under which it would buy three 777
extended-range airliners, valued at $480 million. Deliveries would
start in late 2002 if a final deal were struck.
"Vietnam is hot right now,'' said City Councilwoman Jan Drago,
who left for Vietnam yesterday.
Drago is leading the trip, which includes a swing through
neighboring Cambodia. "Sixty percent of the population is under 25
and don't even remember the war," she said. "They are highly
educated, they love America, and we have a very good relationship
with the people.''
Even small family businesses like Bamboo Hardwoods stand to
gain. The Seattle company imports about 40 containers a year of
bamboo products, including flooring and high-end furniture, from
Vietnam, said David Keegan, a manager.
"Hopefully, with the normalization of trade things will be a lot easier
in the future,'' Keegan said.
The Seattle-Hai Phong Partnership also has the backing of such
private groups as World Vision, an international aid organization
based in Federal Way, and the Greater Seattle Vietnam
Association, a largely humanitarian organization with a membership
of about 80 individuals and corporations.
Wolfensohn of the World Bank first approached Schell, in part,
because of Seattle's existing "sister-city" relationship with Hai
Phong, which was forged in 1996 after a trade mission three years
earlier. As president of the World Bank, Wolfensohn oversees a
global enterprise that focuses on assisting developing nations
through economic development and anti-poverty projects. All told,
the World Bank awards some $25 billion in aid annually.
One of the partnership's long-range goals is to provide technical
expertise and aid to Hai Phong in such areas as urban planning,
tourism and economic development. Cultural exchanges between
cities also are envisioned.
The UW could play a pivotal role by making available its faculty
and other specialists, though no commitments have been made, said
Betty Jane Narver, a senior fellow at the Daniel J. Evans School of
Public Affairs. The university also may consider opening its doors
to visiting students from Hai Phong. But at present it is in an
"exploratory" mode, assessing what needs and resources exist,
Narver said.
UW President Richard McCormick was scheduled to go to
Vietnam in December but canceled his trip due to labor strife on
campus.
The Port of Seattle is looking for trade opportunities with Hai
Phong, a bustling and noisy center of aquaculture and commerce in
what was once North Vietnam, along the banks of the Cam River.
It is an industrial town laced with ship yards and cement and glass
plants. During the Vietnam War, the city was heavily bombed.
Henry Sharpe, a city of Seattle manager and adviser to Schell who
has been on loan to Hai Phong, described it in a dispatch as "an
industrial city in one of the richest agricultural regions of the
country."
"Although Vietnam is moving toward a market economy gearing up
for exports, the most fundamental business imperative here is to
provide jobs," wrote Sharpe, whose stay is being underwritten in
part by the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership.
The Port of Seattle will send a second trade group to Vietnam on
Feb. 25. No more than 25 people are going, in part because the
Port is working to set up "tailored" meetings between Vietnamese
government officials and business leaders and each participant, said
Tara Van Vleet, the Port's business-development manager.
Joining Drago in Vietnam is a group of about a dozen business and
government representatives, including King County Councilman
Larry Gossett; Hung Lam, a manager with the state Office of
Community, Trade & Economic Development. and Darryl Vhugen,
representing the Seattle-Sihanoukville (Cambodia) Sister City
Association. A representative of the King County Convention &
Travel Bureau also was sent.
In addition to visiting Hai Phong, stops are planned in Ha Noi, Ho
Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville and Siem Reap. Drago
is to sign an agreement with officials in Sihanoukville, establishing a
sister-city relationship with that city.
By Mark Higgins - The Seattle Times - November 30, 2000.
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