VZCZCXRO8669
RR RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0168 0461137
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151137Z FEB 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2139
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1531
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RHEHNSC/WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2309

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000168 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EINV KCOR VM
SUBJECT: FORMER PM KIET: STILL PRESSING REFORM 
 
REF: 06 HCMC 229;  B) 04 HCMC 1383 
 
¶1. (SBU) Former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, one of the 
fathers of Vietnam's economic reform and a doyen of the 
Communist Party, told the Consul General February 12 that 
improved U.S. ties was one of the biggest milestones for 
Vietnam in 2006.  The "full normalization" of ties with the 
United States, Vietnam's membership in the WTO, and its 
ongoing economic boom were set in motion 20 years ago when 
he helped launch Vietnam's "Doi Moi" (economic renovation) 
policy.  In 1986, Kiet said, Vietnam was "grasping towards 
reform" and "undecided about the United States."   Today, 
he claimed, there is full political consensus on these core 
questions within Vietnam's political elite.  Kiet saw the 
planned visit of Prime Minster Nguyen Minh Triet to the 
U.S. for the leadership of the two countries to continue to 
build a "more realistic appreciation of each other." 
 
¶2. (SBU) Kiet said that he "fully supported" the economic 
agenda of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung to focus on 
accelerating the overhaul of Vietnam's state-owned sector. 
Kiet is confident that the foreign-owned and private 
sectors in Vietnam will thrive in a WTO environment. 
Similarly, those State Owned Enterprises (SOES) that have 
already equitized are now managed professionally and can 
compete just as well.  Therefore, the GVN's emphasis on 
"overcoming the inertia" of those SOEs that have thus far 
resisted equitization is sound.  It is those SOEs that are 
the biggest source of waste, fraud and corruption in 
Vietnam's economy, Kiet argued. 
 
Corruption 
---------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Building on the theme, Kiet said that corruption 
is the single biggest threat to the Communist Party and the 
nation.  The issue of corruption has been the subject of 
intense internal debate and the Party has taken some steps 
to try and combat it.  Echoing some of the pro-reform 
comments that Kiet and his allies made before the 10th 
Party Congress in April 2006 (ref A), he noted that it 
would be impossible to triumph against corruption without 
"political Doi Moi" in Vietnam.  There must be a review of 
the entire Party and State apparatus and its role in socio- 
economic activities, Kiet said. 
 
ARVN Cemetery 
------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Responding to a question from the Consul General, 
Kiet confirmed that PM Dzung in November 2006 signed an 
order transferring control of the former Army of the 
Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) cemetery at Bien Hoa from 
military to civilian control.  (According to press reports, 
the transfer to civilian control will be effective July 
¶2007.  Caretakers at the cemetery have told us that there 
are at least 20,000 ARVN soldiers buried at the 58 hectare 
dilapidated facility.)  Kiet said that he has long 
advocated that the cemetery be opened to the families of 
the dead, many of whom now are Vietnamese-Americans.  Such 
a decision would be a powerful symbol of reconciliation, 
Kiet argued.  However, he does not know if the GVN intends 
to maintain the property as a cemetery -- a solution he 
favors -- or to sell the land for economic development. 
Kiet noted that he has met with many Vietnamese-Americans 
who are aware of the cemetery issue and expressed concern 
about its future use. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment:  Although nearing 90, Kiet was healthy 
and in full possession of his faculties.  He remains the 
doyen of the reform wing of the Party.  Although he put a 
brave face on it, Kiet's comments on the pace and scope of 
economic reform in Vietnam were far more restrained and 
less enthusiastic than in late 2004, when debate between 
conservatives and reformers in the Party over the pace and 
scope of economic reform was just getting into swing.  At 
that time (ref B), Kiet argued that Vietnam was on the 
verge of divesting all but a few "strategic" state owned 
enterprises and creating a level playing field to foster 
entrepreneurship and spur economic growth.  In the 10th 
Party Congress, Kiet's push for comprehensive economic 
reform and a "level playing field" lost out to 
conservatives who demanded that the State and the Party 
retain the "commanding heights" of the economy.  Kiet's 
comments on political reform do not call into queston 
single-Party rule.  Rather, he is pushing for greater 
internal democracy and the creation of a system of checks 
and balances within the Party and GVN.  While Kiet's 
faction did not fare well in April 2006, he continues to 
press for economic and political reforms.  End Comment. 
 
WINNICK