VZCZCXRO5510
RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #2605 2841038
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111038Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3665
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 1959
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1134
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS HANOI 002605 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND EB/TPP/BTA/ANA 
STATE PASS USTR DAVID BISBEE 
STATE PASS DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION VARNEY/HALL/CARLTON 
COMMERCE FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON ETRD VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM COMMENTS ON BILATERAL MARITIME AGREEMENT 
 
 
SENSITIVE - DO NOT POST ON INTERNET 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Post met with the Vietnam Ministry of Transport 
(MOT) on October 5 to urge speedy approval of the U.S.-Vietnam 
Maritime Transport Agreement (MTA) and inquire as to the reasons for 
hold-ups in the government approval process.  MOT says that it too 
wants approval of the agreement to be approved as soon as possible, 
but claims that MOT is powerless to move other ministries any 
faster.  Though the GVN has not finished vetting the text, the 
official provided several comments on the current draft.  Tuong said 
MOT does hope to try to visit the United States in late October or 
early November to meet and finalize the text so that even if there 
is no signing of the agreement, perhaps an announcement of the 
finalization of the text could take place when the President visits. 
 Significantly, after the meeting, Nguyen Tuong pulled aside Econ 
Assistant and told her privately that the Ministry of Trade was 
holding up the agreement until Vietnam's WTO entry took place.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Econoff met with Vietnam Ministry of Transport (MOT) Deputy 
Director General for International Cooperation Nguyen Tuong 
regarding the U.S.-Vietnam Maritime Transport Agreement on October 5 
in order to press for a speedy clearance of the MTA by the 
Government of Vietnam (GVN) and to inquire why the approval process 
is moving so slowly.  Mr. Tuong, accompanied by an MOT lawyer, 
stated that the MOT is eager for an agreement to move as quickly as 
possible and is interested in having the agreement finalized before 
President Bush's visit to Vietnam in November.  Tuong said he sees a 
Presidential deliverable working in two ways: 1) a signing of the 
agreement around the time of the leaders' meeting, or 2) an 
announcement of the finalization of the agreement without a signing. 
 Officially, Tuong said another three weeks to one month is 
necessary before the GVN is fully prepared to fly to Washington to 
finalize the agreement.  After the meeting, however, Tuong pulled 
aside Econ Assistant and told her privately that the Ministry of 
Trade was delaying approval of the text until after Vietnam's WTO 
entry because it "is worried about MFN (Most Favored Nation)" issues 
that the agreement might raise within the WTO.  (Comment: Because of 
the still ongoing negotiations on WTO accession in Geneva, the 
concerns expressed by the Ministry of Trade make it unlikely the 
Ministry of Transportations will be able to visit Washington as 
early as they have suggested. End Comment.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) During the meeting Tuong added that he wished to speak 
"informally" and provide several comments on the current draft which 
the GVN will raise at the finalization meeting in Washington. 
Though speaking informally, he asked that these be communicated to 
Washington in order to give U.S. authorities some time to prepare a 
response.  (Note: There may be other comments as well, but he was 
certain MOT would raise these issues.  End note.)  The points were 
as follows: 
 
--Article 3.1: Tuong stated that the inclusion of "organized under 
the laws" in the paragraph, as suggested in ref A, could be 
misconstrued.  The GVN wants the paragraph to specify that the 
entities that will be open for investment will only be Vietnamese 
firms wholly owned by Vietnamese citizens, not those which are 
organized under the laws of Vietnam but which are foreign-owned. 
"If we could find an alternative, that would be appreciated," he 
said. 
 
--Article 3.4: Tuong asserted the GVN believes the paragraph needs 
to state specifically that the entities of each arty shall have the 
right to fund the constructin of ports and to operate such ports or 
their anillary facilities "in accordance with the laws of he 
country where such port facilities are to be onstructed."  Tuong 
said the MOT is flexible as t the exact language, as long as it is 
clear thatthe laws of the country receiving the investment gvern 
the investments. 
 
--Annex: Tuong noted tht, given that the U.S.-Vietnam WTO 
negotiations ave been concluded, that part of the annex to theagreement should 
be deleted.  Specifically, the wods "upon 
signature of a bilateral agreement betwen the United States and 
Vietnam relating to Vienam's accession to the World Trade 
Organization"are no longer relevant, he said. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Tuong,who took an extremely cooperative tone, pledged to 
continue providing informal comments on developmnts within the GVN 
regarding the MTA. 
 
ALOISI