VZCZCXRO8091
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #1950/01 3200900
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 160900Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6723
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 3951
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 001950 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS 
STATE PASS TO USTR DBISBEE 
USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
EEB/TPP/BTA/ANA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EIND EINV ETRD BEXP KTEX OTRA OVIP KIPR VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM "OPEN FOR BUSINESS": GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESSES 
ENTHUSIASTICALLY WELCOME SECRETARY GUTIERREZ AND HIS BUSINESS 
DEVELOPMENT TRADE MISSION 
Ref:  HCMC 1131 
 
HANOI 00001950  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez led a 
large-scale Department of Commerce Vietnam Business Development 
Mission to Hanoi on November 5 and 6.  This first Cabinet level 
business development mission to Vietnam carried the theme of U.S. 
business support for Vietnam's economic development, particularly in 
key infrastructure sectors such as energy, mining and minerals, 
transportation and telecommunications.  The highest levels of 
government and business enthusiastically received the Secretary and 
the accompanying business delegation of 22 U.S. companies.  The 
Secretary advocated for key commercial transactions with the Prime 
 
SIPDIS 
Minister, the President and Ministers of Planning and Investment and 
Information and Communications, while also raising key market access 
issues including trading and distribution rights and intellectual 
property rights protection.  Companies made important new contacts 
with potential business partners and with key government decision 
makers throughout relevant ministries.  Both new-to-market 
delegation companies and companies with experience in Vietnam on the 
delegation expressed their optimism with regard to the opportunities 
opening up in the country, but also urged the USG to continue its 
advocacy and market access lobbying efforts.  End Summary. 
 
Red Carpet Welcome 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Receiving the Secretary and his entire delegation in the 
Cabinet Meeting Room at the White House, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan 
Dung set a welcoming tone of openness and cooperation for the first 
ever U.S. cabinet-level-led trade mission to Vietnam by personally 
greeting representatives of each of the 22 companies and noting the 
significant improvement in the U.S.-Vietnamese trading relationship 
since implementation of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement 
(BTA).  The Secretary used the occasion to brief the Prime Minister 
on each company, noting their ambitions to find new trading partners 
and expand their presence in Vietnam, and asked for the Prime 
Minister's assistance in resolving as soon as possible outstanding 
issues several of the companies were experiencing in finalizing 
commercial contracts.  Dung reassured the Secretary and the 
delegation that it is the consistent policy of the Vietnamese 
Government to promote the commercial relationship between our two 
countries, and that in addition to being Vietnam's largest trading 
partner, he hoped that the United States would also soon become the 
largest investor in Vietnam.  In a separate bilateral meeting with 
the Prime Minister, the Secretary advocated for closure of key U.S. 
commercial deals, including the purchase of twelve 787 Boeing 
Dreamliners by Vietnam Airlines, completion of power plant deals by 
AES Corporation and Gannon, and an equity investment by GE Money in 
Vietcombank.  The Secretary further encouraged continued progress on 
key BTA/WTO implementation issues, including trading and 
distribution rights for foreign firms and intellectual property 
rights protection. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  President Nguyen Minh Triet echoed PM Dung's welcoming 
tone later in the morning by telling the Secretary and the business 
delegation that Vietnam was "open for business" in the halls of the 
Presidential Palace.  The President noted that he was deeply 
impressed by his official trip to Washington earlier in the year, 
particularly by the keen interest expressed by U.S. companies 
planning to do business with Vietnam.  He thanked the Secretary for 
the Department of Commerce's announcement on October 26 that the 
Department's analysis of the first six months of textile import data 
did not warrant self-initiation of an antidumping duty 
investigation, and expressed his trust that this was a harbinger for 
continued commercial cooperation.  Secretary Gutierrez congratulated 
the President on Vietnam's unprecedented economic progress and 
expressed his confidence that the companies in his trade delegation 
are well equipped to assist the country in its upward path to 
prosperity.  Companies laid out specific plans to build key 
infrastructure sectors such as minerals and mining, 
telecommunications and information and communications technologies 
(ICT), energy and transportation; and to increase U.S. exports to 
Vietnam in sectors ranging from enterprise software to environmental 
products.  President Triet wished the delegation success in finding 
businesses partners in Vietnam, and noted the importance of trade 
with the United States in assisting Vietnam to attain and maintain 
middle-income country status by 2010. 
 
Heavy Lifting at the Ministries 
------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU)  In a closed-door session, AmCham Hanoi's Board of 
Governors (BOG) advised Secretary Gutierrez of the key issues 
impeding American companies currently doing business in Vietnam. 
 
HANOI 00001950  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Chief among these are implementation by the Vietnamese Government of 
key WTO commitments.  Specifically, BOG members charged that the 
Ministry of Industry and Trade's recently issued Circular 9 on 
trading rights is inconsistent with article 147 of the Working Party 
Report of Vietnam's WTO accession, and that the Ministry is also 
applying "retail" restrictions to industrial buyers, not just 
consumers.  BOG members further noted that key infrastructure sales 
(mostly to State-Owned Enterprises), such as Boeing's pending sale 
to Vietnam Airlines, are a political, not a "free-market," process 
and continue to require strong advocacy by the USG.  Select BOG 
members echoed these sentiments to the business delegates during a 
business panel luncheon, advising new U.S. companies that it is 
critical to maintain a presence in country in order to be 
successful, and to be prepared to advocate to the Government of 
Vietnam for favorable policy change toward fulfillment of WTO 
obligations when setting up shop in Vietnam. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  In meetings with Minister of Planning and Investment Vo 
Hong Phuc, Minister of Information and Communications Le Doan Hop, 
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem and later 
with Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang in Ho Chi Minh City 
(reftel), the Secretary privately raised these specific market 
access issues and concerns about individual commercial deals. 
During the portion of the meetings attended by all company 
representatives, delegation companies expressed their interest to 
the Ministers for individual projects and asked specific regulatory 
questions relevant to their business sectors.  The ministers 
addressed each inquiry, answering questions directly or providing 
guidance to the individual companies on how to proceed in finding 
suitable answers.  The ministers offered their on-going support to 
the companies in completing individual business transactions, and 
Minister Hop pointed to the recent commencement of the Vietnam-U.S. 
ICT Dialogue as a positive forum to address ICT related issues or 
concerns.  Minister Phuc noted strong commercial cooperation between 
our countries on recent U.S. commercial deals such as Vietnam's 
purchase of the Vinasat Satellite from Lockheed Martin and Intel's 
ongoing project to build a chip testing and packaging facility in 
southern Vietnam.  He articulated his trust that many more 
transactions will soon follow, and expressed his Government's keen 
interest in soon finalizing a bilateral investment treaty with the 
United States. 
 
Commercial Cooperation:  The Engine of Growth 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU)  Secretary Gutierrez topped off the Hanoi leg of the 
Business Development Mission by addressing a capacity crowd at the 
"Vietnam -U.S. Relations: A New Dynamic Development Phase" 
conference hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Vietnam 
Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the USA - Vietnam Friendship 
Society.  He pointed to United States - Vietnam economic cooperation 
as "the engine of growth" for the bilateral relationship, resulting 
in measurable economic benefits to both of our societies, and called 
for continued progress in good governance and transparency in the 
Vietnamese commercial environment.  Vietnamese counterparts should 
expect American companies to be good neighbors, he further stated, 
as exemplified by the local corporate citizenship efforts of Ford, 
Cargill, Conoco Phillips and many other U.S. companies currently 
doing business in Vietnam. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Celebrating the U.S. corporate citizenship theme at a 
festive motorbike helmet donation ceremony at the Dich Vong A 
primary school in Hanoi, the Secretary applauded the efforts of the 
U.S.-founded Asia Injury Prevention Foundation in utilizing the 
latest U.S. technology to produce high quality, affordable helmets 
at its non-profit Protec helmet factory in Hanoi.  Accompanied by 
the entire business delegation, the Secretary's participation in the 
ceremony underscored the message that corporate social 
responsibility is key to development, because it recognizes the 
needs of society as a whole. 
 
Media Coverage:  Extensive and Positive 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (U) Secretary of Commerce Gutierrez's visit to Hanoi received 
intense media attention and garnered extensive and positive 
coverage.  All major newspapers, national and local television, 
online news outlets and national radio, as well as several major 
international media outlets, carried frequent in-depth reports in 
advance of and throughout his two-day visit. 
 
¶9. (U) Press coverage began with an Op-Ed from Secretary Gutierrez, 
 
HANOI 00001950  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
which ran in its entirety in the popular daily Tuoi Tre just days 
before his arrival.  Media then enthusiastically followed the 
Secretary and business delegation through their official meetings 
 
SIPDIS 
with the Vietnamese President and Prime Minister, as well as at 
other Ministerial-level calls.  At a press conference on November 5, 
the Secretary fielded questions from Vietnamese and international 
journalists on a wide range of business and trade issues, 
reiterating his message that this Trade Mission reflected the 
growing interest of American business in the Vietnamese market, and 
the strengthening bilateral relationship between our two countries. 
 
 
¶10. (U) The Secretary's major policy speech on November 6 at the 
"Vietnam -U.S. Relations: A New Dynamic Development Phase" 
conference, in which the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Planning 
and Investment also participated, was covered widely in both 
Vietnamese and international outlets as well, with several dailies 
carrying the full text of his remarks.  Secretary Gutierrez' final 
Hanoi event was a sentimental favorite of delegates and the press, 
however.   Coverage of the Secretary and Ambassador Michalak 
presenting helmets to over 400 six year olds at a local elementary 
school was covered extensively and several journalists plan to write 
follow up stories about Protec and Vietnam's coming helmet laws. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (U) After having participated in over one hundred individual 
business meetings with government decision-makers and potential 
business partners, business delegation members departed Hanoi for Ho 
Chi Minh City on November 6 with a deeper understanding of the 
marketplace and of the government's role in Vietnam's economy. 
Business participants uniformly congratulated the Secretary, the 
Department of Commerce, the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee 
and U.S. Embassy Hanoi for delivering a timely and highly relevant 
Business Development mission.  One U.S. manufacturer summed up the 
attitude of several of the delegation members by noting, "We now 
realize that staying out of Vietnam is no longer an option." 
 
 
MICHALAK