From: Nhan Tran <tran@peora.sdc.ccur.com>
Subject: NEWS/VN: Better ties to help Hanoi join ASEAN
Originator: anh@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Organization: SCV Relay
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 16:47:52 GMT


=START=
12/17 0551

BETTER US-VIETNAM TIES TO HELP HANOI JOIN ASEAN

    By Moon Ihlwan
    SINGAPORE, Dec 17, Reuter - The U.S. move towards normalising ties with
Vietnam will help Hanoi return to the regional mainstream and join its
capitalist neighbours' club, analysts and diplomats said on Thursday.
    Vietnam already attends Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
meetings as an observer but big economic differences keep the communist country
from full ASEAN membership.
    A southeast Asian diplomat said most ASEAN countries did not regard the
difference in ideology as a major obstacle to Vietnam's ASEAN membership.
    ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore 
and Thailand -- have agreed to set up a free trade area by the year 2007.
    "Vietnam's economy should be developed before it could participate in
ASEAN's economic cooperation programmes without slowing the rest of us down," a
diplomat said.
    Vietnam needs to develop its infrastructure for further economic progress
and therefore "we need the lifting of the U.S. embargo for inflow of funds for
such development," said Luong Van Tu, head of Vietnam's trade office in
Singapore.
    "More investment will follow and Vietnam will have a bigger purchasing 
power which will naturally result in more trade with neighbouring countries," 
he said.
    "Once the U.S. embargo is lifted, the Vietnamese economy will grow big
enough to join ASEAN in a few years," he said.
    Businessmen and diplomats in southeast Asia welcomed President George 
Bush's decision on Monday to ease the trade embargo imposed against North 
Vietnam in 1964 and extended to all of Vietnam after the communist takeover in 
1975.
    "It is a plus factor definitely. As Vietnam grows and as it develops more
trade, it will be meshing into southeast Asia," Kaan Quan Hon, economist at DBS
Investment Research, said.
    Han Vo-ta, managing director of Vietnam Business Services business
consultancy, described Monday's move to allow U.S. companies to open offices 
and sign contracts as "something overdue."
    "It is certainly a step in the right direction. I hope the U.S. will allow
World Bank and IMF funds to flow into Vietnam to improve infrastructure there,"
he said.
    Diplomats said a prosperous Vietnam was in southeast Asia's interest as the
engagement of Vietnam in economic development would help prevent its frictions
with others.
    Nguyen Manh Hung, charge d'affair of the Vietnamese embassy in Singapore,
echoed the view: "Our top priority is to develop our economy. That's why we 
need good relations with all the countries, first of all our neighbouring 
countries."
    Last week, Malaysian Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim said expanding ASEAN to
include Vietnam and other Indochinese states would strengthen its voice in
international trade negotiations.
    ASEAN has boosted business and political ties with Vietnam since the 
October 1991 Paris peace accord ended a 13-year civil war in Cambodia.
    In July, Vietnam signed ASEAN's 1976 treaty of amity and cooperation, which
requires signatories to respect each other's territorial integrity and settle
disputes peacefully.
    Singapore has emerged as Vietnam's largest trading parter, with total
bilateral trade hitting Singapore $1.5 billion (US$940 million) last year,
according to Singapore figures.
    Consultant Vo-ta said the lifting of the American embargo will extend
Singapore's role to a "gateway of investment" as many multinational 
corporations use Singapore as a base in southeast Asia.