Communist Vietnam eyes better ties with US
Unlike North Korea, whose Stalinist regime continues building nuclear arsenals at the expense of economic development, threatening its neighbours and challenging the United States, Vietnam's Communist regime concentrates on more development and openness and stronger cooperation with Washington.
The Hanoi regime, of course, still needs to take further steps to gain credibility, particularly with regard to the issues of democratisation and human rights.
But it has, at least, launched economic reforms since 1986, when the ruling Communist party introduced a broad reform package called Doi Moi or "renovation".
With Doi Moi and the consequent departure from a centrally planned economy and improvement in the business climate, isolated and backward Vietnam has rapidly become a centre of focus for foreign investors.
This has not only helped the country be part of regional economic groupings, but has also turned it into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Recent figures show that in 2004, Vietnam's GDP grew 7.8 per cent, inflation which stood at an annual rate of 300 per cent in 1987 dropped to 9.5 per cent, investment increased three-fold, domestic savings quintupled and per capita income which had been $220 (Dh807) in 1994 rose to $550 (Dh2,018).
Simultaneously, agricultural production doubled, transforming Vietnam from a net food importer to the world's second-largest exporter of rice.
In the first five months of this year, the foreign-invested sector realised a capital of $1.5 billion (Dh5.5 billion) and gained revenue of $11.3 billion (Dh41.4 billion), up by 8 and 33 per cent respectively from the same period last year.
Since the beginning of the year, 350 projects worth $1.9 billion (Dh7 billion) have been approved, an increase of 24.6 per cent in terms of number of projects and 2.3 times with regard to amount of capital.
Following its victory in the war and the unification of South and North Vietnams, Hanoi has shown no interest in establishing contacts or ties with Washington.
Apart from its verbal criticism of US policy and alliance with Moscow during the last decade of the Cold War, the Vietnamese have also shown no intention to seek revenge or incite against the US or its people.
However, Hanoi was quick to realise the dramatic change in the world caused by the demise of the Soviet Union, leading it in 1991 to begin the process of normalising Vietnam-US ties.
As a result, Washington's objection to bilateral and multilateral lending to Vietnam was dropped in 1993, the US embargo against Vietnam was lifted in 1994, diplomatic relations were established in 1995, and ambassadors were exchanged in 1997.
In addition to exchanging visits at ministerial levels, the period from 1997 to 2000 witnessed Washington's decision to grant a Jackson-Vanik waiver to Vietnam, support for Vietnam to enter into the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum and the signing of an agreement allowing America's Overseas Private Investment Cooperation to operate in Vietnam, and two other agreements to facilitate financial cooperation.
First visit
All this, however, was little compared to what happened after October 2000, when President Bill Clinton paid a visit the first by a US president since the end of the war.
The visit helped boost bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, culture, education and science.
It also opened the door for US naval warships to dock in Vietnamese ports and for greater cooperation in recovering and identifying the remains of more than 500 American soldiers killed or missing during the war.
Another crucial turning point in US-Vietnam relations was the signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the two countries.
Since December 2001, when the agreement came into force, two-way trade has dramatically increased from $1.5 billion (Dh5.5 billion) in 2001 to 6.4 billion (Dh23.4 billion) in 2004, up 20 fold from 1995.
Vietnamese exports to the US, which mainly include textile, seafood, footwear and wooden furniture, jumped from $800 million (Dh2.9 billion) in 2001 to $5 billion (Dh18.35 billion) last year.
The number of Americans travelling to Vietnam has grown, particularly after the resumption of direct flights between the two countries last year.
In 2004 alone, nearly 250,000 US nationals travelled to Vietnam. The number was second only to China.
On the other hand, the BTA, with its many provisions on trade in goods and services, enforcement of intellectual property rights, protection for investment, and transparency, has fundamentally changed Vietnam's trade regime and contributed to facilitating the country's negotiation process for accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's visit to the US last week was a historical move by Hanoi to re-affirm its policy of putting aside the past and looking to the future.
This was evident in Khai's visit to Boston, where the founding-father of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh had stopped in the early 20th century to show his respect for the US people and government and to seek their help in liberating and developing his country.
Top on Khai's agenda was the signing of several new bilateral agreements, including one concerning cooperation in the exchange of intelligence on terrorism, drug smuggling, piracy, money-laundering and nuclear proliferation and another concerning the training of Vietnamese military officers in the US medical and English language institutions.
This move to forge security and military cooperation alone shows how far the relationship between the two countries has advanced since the establishment of diplomatic ties.
Another purpose was to seek US President George W. Bush's personal support for Vietnam's bid to join the WTO. While Hanoi wants to join the world body as soon as possible, Washington insists on further negotiations to settle many outstanding issues.
It is worth recalling that last year Washington placed Vietnam on its list of countries imposing restrictions on religious freedom.
This could be a response to pressure exerted by the more than 1 million Vietnamese Americans, some of whom were seen demonstrating against Khai, describing him as another Saddam Hussain and calling for an end to political and religious persecution in Vietnam.
By Abdullah Al Madani - Gulf News - June 26, 2005.
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