VZCZCXRO6441
RR RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0234/01 0741432
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151432Z MAR 07
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2217
INFO RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 1587
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 2391

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000234 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM SOCI PREL PGOV KIRF PREF VM
SUBJECT: THE AMBASSADOR IN THE CENTRAL MEKONG: FOCUS ON ETHNIC KHMER, 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TIP ISSUES 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 342 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000234  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Discussions on economic development, 
trafficking in persons, religious freedom and NGO 
activities headlined the agenda during the Ambassador's 
March 4-7 visit to the Mekong Delta provinces of Soc Trang, 
Vinh Long and Dong Thap.  Vinh Long's more favorable 
geographic locale and more progressive leadership appears 
to be the driving force behind the province's success in 
creating a favorable environment for businesses and NGOs 
alike.  Meanwhile, in Dong Thap, poorer transport links to 
Ho Chi Minh City and local officials' apparent skepticism 
of foreign organizations and the private sector have 
translated into a comparatively lower per capita GDP and 
tight control over NGOs.  In Soc Trang, government 
officials and a prominent ethnic Khmer Buddhist monk 
separately denied that there was a crackdown against ethnic 
Khmer monks and pagodas in Soc Trang, as reported reftel. 
However, despite the province's economic growth -- which 
appears to benefit ethnic Vietnamese and ethnic Khmer alike 
-- there appears to be at least some underlying suspicions 
that cloud relations between ethnic Khmers and the local 
government.  End Summary. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TOP PROVINCIAL PRIORITY 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) During a visit to the Mekong Delta provinces of 
Soc Trang, Dong Thap and Vinh Long March 4-7, Party and 
government leaders emphasized to the Ambassador that 
economic development, particularly attracting foreign and 
domestic investment, is their top priority.  The provincial 
leaders said that private capital is needed to fuel mid- 
teen double-digit growth targets over the next five years. 
Senior officials in each province expressed similar plans 
to shift their economies away from agriculture toward 
industry, commerce and services by focusing on 
infrastructural improvements and administrative and 
licensing reforms.  Soc Trang provincial leaders told the 
Ambassador that they hope that the GVN will complete four 
new highways and a deep-sea container port in the province 
by 2008.  Soc Trang People's Committee Chairman Huynh Thanh 
Hiep added that the province recently sponsored business- 
promotion conferences in HCMC and Can Tho to attract 
investors to its three industrial parks.  The province also 
announced a reduction in land usage fees and implementation 
of administrative reforms.  Both Soc Trang Chairman Huynh 
Thanh Hiep and Dong Thap Party Secretary Huynh Minh Doan 
noted that the provinces in the Mekong require strong 
budgetary support from Hanoi.  But Doan acknowledged that 
the central government often only provides "encouragement." 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador noted that more than improved 
infrastructure is needed to develop the provinces. 
Provincial leaders need to do more to combat corruption, 
improve education and training, increase the speed and 
transparency of land allocation and eliminate the bias in 
favor of State-owned enterprises at the expense of the 
private sector.  The Ambassador suggested that the 
provinces in the Mekong should work together more 
effectively to represent common interests at the central 
level.  For example, the region's National Assembly 
delegates could be a powerful asset in Hanoi.  The 
Ambassador praised the political leadership in Vinh Long 
for its proactive efforts to improve the business climate 
there.  The Ambassador noted that the province ranked 
fourth in the 2006 national Provincial Competitiveness 
Index.  Although still very modest, Vinh Long's 40 million 
dollars in FDI is ten times that of Soc Trang and Dong 
Thap. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In all of his meetings, the Ambassador also 
stressed the importance of continued progress on religious 
freedom.  The officials in all three provinces said that 
religion is an integral part of Vietnamese culture and 
history and that they were committed to the full 
implementation of Vietnam's legal framework on religion. 
The Ambassador emphasized that provincial leaders need to 
ensure that the process of implementing the legal framework 
is consistent, positive and transparent to avoid 
misunderstandings.  With regard to Protestantism, official 
guidelines should be published to ensure that house 
churches are registered properly with the government.  The 
Ambassador also emphasized the U.S. commitment to work with 
the GVN and provincial authorities to combat Avian 
Influenza and HIV/AIDS.  He encouraged the provincial 
leaders to be leaders in stamping out prejudice against 
people living with HIV/AIDS. 
 
NGOS NEED A FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT, JUST LIKE BUSINESS 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000234  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador visited four NGO projects focusing 
on maternal health, anti-trafficking, avian influenza, 
flood prevention and educational exchange.  In Vinh Long, 
Catholic Relief Services (CRS) appeared to have a 
productive and strong relationship with local and 
provincial authorities.  CRS officials took the Ambassador 
on a tour of two projects they were sponsoring in the 
province:  a restored flood levee and an innovative 
Internet-based exchange program between the province's 
premier high school and high school students in San 
Francisco.  In contrast, the operating environment in Dong 
Thap for NGOs is more challenging.  The Ambassador's two 
meetings with CARE and ADAPT (the An Giang Dong Thap 
Alliance to Prevent Trafficking) faced near cancellations, 
bureaucratic delays and tight control by the local chapter 
of the Union of Friendship Organizations (UFO), the agency 
tasked with liaising with NGOs.  CARE was told the night 
before the meeting with the Ambassador that its 
representatives would not be permitted to travel to the 
district where the project was located.  Only after the 
Ambassador raised the issue with provincial leadership were 
visits to the two CARE Avian Influenza projects able to go 
ahead as planned.  Similarly, the province also initially 
wanted to block the Ambassador's scheduled visits to the 
home of scholarship beneficiaries sponsored through the 
ADAPT program.  Again, a clear message from the Ambassador 
was enough to remove the bureaucratic barrier, although 
Dong Thap People's Committee Chairman Truong Ngoc Han 
warned that investors and NGOs alike need to be vetted by 
the government in order to ensure they were engaging in 
legitimate activities and not "undermining social stability 
and order." 
 
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
---------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Ambassador, accompanied by ADAPT 
representatives, visited a middle school located in a poor 
Cambodian border district, where 64 at-risk girls receive 
education scholarships.  The ADAPT program is co-funded by 
USAID.  The families of the children are too poor to pay 
for school; without the scholarships, the girls involved 
would be forced to quit school and work to support their 
families.  With limited education and marginally employed, 
these women would be prime targets for traffickers.  The 
Ambassador also visited the home of a former scholarship 
beneficiary, a 12-year old girl named Tham Nguyen.  Despite 
receiving assistance from ADAPT, Tham's family recently 
forced her to quit school to care for her disabled 
grandfather and young cousin.  Speaking to Tham's aunt, her 
sole guardian, the Ambassador encouraged Tham's return to 
school.  The aunt, who is in her 20s and herself a high 
school dropout, lied and told the Ambassador that her niece 
was already 15 and did not need additional schooling. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The ADAPT program manager told the Ambassador that 
Tham's case was just one example of the many challenges her 
organization faces working with Dong Thap provincial 
officials.  Despite repeated requests for the Women's Union 
to compel Tham's family to send her back to school, no 
official action has been taken.  (Note:  A provincial 
Education Department official accompanied the Ambassador on 
his visit to Tham's family, and also pushed the aunt to 
allow Tham to go to school.  End Note.)  She also 
complained that the provincial Women's Union is 
"stonewalling" their push to launch reintegration and 
vocational training for TIP victims, even though ADAPT had 
received permission from the provincial People's Committee 
to launch the initiative.  However, the Vice Chairwoman of 
the Provincial Women's Union later told the Ambassador that 
the People's Committee does not believe that ADAPT's 
consortium partner, Pacific Links Foundation, is qualified. 
We are seeking clarification from the province. 
 
ETHNIC KHMER ISSUES 
------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In Soc Trang, the Ambassador met in private with 
a prominent leader of the ethnic Khmer Buddhist community, 
the Venerable Duong Nhon, at his pagoda.  The monk 
repeated what the Ambassador had heard earlier from 
People's Committee Chairman Hiep, namely that there is no 
GVN crackdown against ethnic Khmer monks, despite 
allegation by overseas Khmer groups (reftel).  The monk 
said that reports that police had blocked access to four 
pagodas or had defrocked or detained ethnic Khmer monks 
were incorrect.  He explained that two of his young monks 
were stopped in a routine traffic stop by transit police 
enforcing helmet and passenger restrictions.  The monk and 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000234  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
provincial officials blamed alarmist reports for causing 
monks in the area to subsequently protest the alleged 
arrest of their fellow monks.  The ethnic Khmer leader 
emphasized that the misunderstanding has been cleared up 
with no aftershocks. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The monk said that -- in the past -- there were 
tensions between ethnic Khmer Buddhists and the Protestant 
community in Soc Trang.  The Buddhists were angered by 
Protestant missionary work among Buddhists, as well as the 
rejection of ancestor worship.  These activities caused a 
"split" in the ethnic Khmer community, the monk said. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Speaking more broadly on socio-economic 
conditions for the ethnic Khmer community, the Venerable 
Nhan emphasized that the ethnic Khmer community in Soc 
Trang receives assistance from the government through 
various programs to assist the poor.  He asserted that 
there are no land disputes between the government and 
ethnic Khmer in Soc Trang.  The government also 
facilitates the operation of Khmer pagodas and allows the 
Khmer community to organize business clubs that promote 
entrepreneurship.  These business clubs are open to 
overseas ethnic Khmer, who have personal ties to the 
various local communities in the province.  From his 
office in the pagoda, the monk also showed the Ambassador 
a vocational training school that is being built in 
cooperation between the Khmer pagoda and local government. 
The pagoda has donated land for the project, while the 
government funds the construction.  Once it is completed, 
the government also will cover the operating costs of the 
school.  The school will be open to ethnic Khmer and 
ethnic Vietnamese in the community. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Venerable Nhan was subtly critical about what he 
viewed as an insufficient level of ethnic Khmer 
representation in political system.  For example, he noted 
that there need to be more ethnic Khmer representatives in 
the National Assembly, as well as in the local government. 
He was also critical of GVN efforts to combat trafficking 
in persons.  He stated that there are "many cases" of 
people trafficked to Cambodia who returned to Vietnam with 
HIV, suggesting that more government assistance is needed 
to facilitate care and reintegration of victims. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) We did not see any unusual police activity in the 
vicinity of the Khmer pagoda or in surrounding villages. 
Indeed, the pagoda and its associated villages appeared 
reasonably prosperous, suggesting that the Mekong's 
relatively recent economic takeoff -- largely driven by 
aquaculture -- is also benefiting the ethnic Khmer. 
However, despite the assurances of our Buddhist 
interlocutor that things are going well between the ethnic 
Khmer and the government, the visit suggested some 
underlying tensions or suspicions still exist between the 
ethnic Khmer community and the local government. 
 
¶13. (SBU) All Mekong Delta provinces face the same 
development challenges: a low value-added agricultural 
sector, limited infrastructure and a relatively low level 
of education.  Of the three provinces visited by the 
Ambassador, Vinh Long was the most progressive, not only in 
its approach to business but also in its attitudes toward 
foreign NGOS.  Not surprisingly, it has the highest per 
capita income and has attracted the highest level of 
foreign investment of the three provinces.  Of course, it 
also benefits from its smaller population and its relative 
proximity to Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho, the largest city 
in the Delta.  Conversely, Dong Thap, whose leaders told 
the Ambassador that private business is only acceptable if 
it also does not undermine "social stability," has one of 
the lowest per capita GDPs in the Mekong.  End Comment. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Bio Note:  In addition to his role as a leading 
Khmer Buddhist cleric, Venerable Duong Nhon, 77, is a 
member of the National Assembly (a role he intends to give 
up this year) and a Vice-President of the National Board of 
the GVN-recognized Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS).  He also 
chairs the provincial chapter of the VBS.  In addition, he 
runs the Pali Supplemental High School, the most important 
Buddhist training academy for ethnic Khmer in the Mekong 
Delta. 
WINNICK