VZCZCXRO9250
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHHI #0175/01 0461013
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151013Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7181
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 4299
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000175 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, DRL/AWH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KWMN PHUM PGOV VM
 
SUBJECT: IRI Explores Possibilities in Vietnam 
 
 
HANOI 00000175  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  While the conversations were mainly introductory 
and exploratory, the unprecedented level of interaction by 
Government of Vietnam (GVN) offices during the International 
Republican Institute's (IRI's) recent visit was a positive sign the 
GVN may be more willing to meet with NGOs and USG organizations with 
a good governance agenda.  IRI Representative Johanna Kao's 
inquiring approach, which focused on learning more about ongoing GVN 
grassroots democracy and women's empowerment efforts, was also 
well-received.  In Hanoi, Ms. Kao was able to hold all meetings that 
were requested and she was impressed by the level of engagement of 
her interlocutors.  Meetings in Ho Chi Minh City also went 
relatively smoothly, except for reports from several lawyers who 
said they were discouraged by security officials from meeting with 
IRI.  Overall, Ms. Kao said she came away with a better 
understanding of the challenges and opportunities for NGOs in 
Vietnam and would be sharing her assessment regarding potential 
opportunities for IRI in the near future.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Ms. Johanna Kao, the Indonesia Country Director from the 
International Republican Institute (IRI), visited Hanoi and Ho Chi 
Minh City, January 23-30, to gain a better understanding of 
political reform, women's empowerment and grassroots democracy 
efforts the GVN is undertaking and to explore potential 
opportunities for IRI to offer assistance with these efforts.  While 
in Hanoi, Ms. Kao met with USAID officers, various GVN offices, the 
Vietnam Women's Union and several NGOs.  In HCMC, Ms. Kao met with 
two City Council members, representatives from the Ho Chi Minh City 
Bar Association and several GVN offices with responsibilities for 
women's issues and NGO's. 
 
Building Capacity for Women Leaders 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Ms. Duong Thi Xuan and Ms. Pham Hoi Giang, representatives of 
Vietnam Women's Union (VWU), a mass organization with responsibility 
for all women's issues, gave a thorough explanation of their role in 
Vietnamese society, including their activities in maintaining the 
VWU museum, running a publishing house for in-house publications, 
managing a microcredit program for female entrepreneurs, conducting 
vocational training for women, and addressing relatively new social 
issues like combating HIV/AIDS and trafficking in persons.  Citing 
their major challenge as the need for capacity building at all 
levels, particularly for provincial and commune-level staff, Ms. 
Giang noted the VWU is endeavoring to train women leaders and 
encourage women's participation in advocacy activities.  Ms. Kao 
shared details regarding an IRI program focused on women's political 
participation in Indonesia, which drew much interest and many 
questions from the Women's Union representatives. 
 
¶4. (U) The HCMC Fatherland Front (the pro-Communist Party and GVN 
umbrella group that oversees all mass governmental and 
non-governmental organizations in Vietnam) told Kao they are 
actively pursuing the GVN's national target of 30 percent 
participation by women in the government, noting that the People's 
Council Chair and Vice Chair of the People's Committee, two of the 
most powerful positions in HCMC's government, are held by women. 
Together with the HCMC Women's Union, the Fatherland Front selects 
and prepares strong female candidates for public office and believes 
they have achieved about 40 percent representation by women in 
HCMC's government thus far.  Fatherland Front Vice Chairwoman Dr. 
Luong Bach Van noted while HCMC has been a leader in promoting 
women's participation, traditional attitudes and lack of capacity 
have made work in the provinces more challenging.  Kao said IRI has 
come across similar issues with its program in rural China and would 
welcome the opportunity to share more of their experiences with the 
GVN. 
 
Positive Feedback from Former IRI Intern 
---------------------------------------- 
¶5. (U) At the National Assembly, Ms. Kao met with one of the Vice 
Chairmen of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ngo Duc Manh. 
Vice Chairman Manh was very familiar with IRI, having interned with 
IRI in Washington in 1996 during his two years as a Fulbright 
Scholar and Georgetown Law School.  Vice Chairman Manh expressed his 
interest in having IRI work with the National Assembly, noting that 
"it's time to renew this relationship."  He pointed out that many 
National Assembly members are interested in the U.S. political 
system and learning more about the relationship between the 
executive and legislative branches of government, even suggesting 
these might be areas where IRI could assist with workshops and 
visits by U.S. experts.  Manh said as the National Assembly becomes 
a more independent and representative body, lobbying is increasingly 
becoming a topic of interest among its members.  Manh was positive 
about the many opportunities for cooperation between IRI and the 
National Assembly. 
 
Tale of Two Councilmen 
---------------------- 
 
HANOI 00000175  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶6. (U) Ms. Kao also had the opportunity to meet with two 
representatives from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council.  The 
Council, a body of 95 elected deputies who in turn choose the 
thirteen representative members of the People's Committee, are 
ostensibly the ones who bring constituent issues to the Committee's 
attention.  Self-nominated two-term Councilman Dang Van Khoa 
described himself as an "ordinary guy representing ordinary people," 
and emphasized his role as the public's spokesman on key issues like 
the city's infrastructure, education, environment and social welfare 
programs.  Khoa said he was one of the few on the Council with a 
reputation for being outspoken, noting that many Council members 
were "dozers-off" or too busy with their other occupations to attend 
sessions regularly.  In contrast, Khoa's long and impassioned 
speeches before the Council have earned him the nickname of "the 
monologuer."  HCMC University of Social Sciences Rector and City 
Councilman Vo Van Sen also spoke of the Council's important role in 
"checking" the People's Committee, noting that the Committee had to 
submit detailed reports of expenditures to the Council for their 
review and hold off on passing measures if the Council requested 
more information about them.  [Note: It was unclear from these 
conversations how much actual autonomy the People's Council truly 
has, despite the elected status of its members.  All candidates are 
vetted closely by the Fatherland Front and the majority of the 
Council are Party members.  Though both Council members spoke 
positively of grassroots democratic reform, they did not offer much 
in the way of concrete details.  End note.] 
 
GVN-NGO Coordination 
-------------------- 
¶7. (U) In Hanoi, Ms. Kao also had the opportunity to visit the 
People's Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM), the lead government 
agency for registration of NGOs doing business in Vietnam, to learn 
about the requirements necessary for NGO's to function at various 
levels within Vietnam, and had several frank discussions with 
U.S.-based NGOs operating in Vietnam about the challenges of 
beginning work here.  The process is long and not necessarily 
transparent, and Ms. Kao gained a realistic perspective on what IRI 
can expect, should the organization wish to begin conducting 
programs in Vietnam.  In HCMC, Ms. Kao also met with International 
NGO umbrella group the HCMC Union of Friendship Organizations 
(HUFO), who work closely with PACCOM to facilitate the work of NGOs 
in HCMC and the southern provinces.  They were enthusiastic about 
Ms. Kao's description of an e-government program in Indonesia that 
helped local officials communicate more efficiently with their 
communities using Internet and SMS text technology.  The project was 
so successful that the province was able to mobilize a highly 
effective rapid relief effort during a major earthquake last year. 
HUFO President Le Hung Quoc said such a program might work very well 
in some of Vietnam's rural provinces. 
 
¶8. (U) In meetings with local women's issues NGOs in Hanoi, Ms. Kao 
was briefed on their activities and discussed ways in which IRI's 
goals and methods might be effective in partnership with such 
organizations.  She was impressed by the amount of activity 
occurring at the grassroots level, with a great deal of potential 
for enhancing the role of Vietnamese women in the political process. 
 Ms. Kao ended her stay in Hanoi with calls on the National 
Committee for the Advancement of Women and the Department of 
International Organizations at Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Both 
organizations were open and frank with Ms. Kao about their roles and 
activities, and welcomed Ms. Kao's desire to meet with them on 
future visits. 
 
Legal Eagles Want More Exchanges 
-------------------------------- 
¶9. (SBU) Though four lawyers from the HCMC Bar Association were 
invited to meet with Ms. Kao in HCMC, only two, Mr. Dang Dung and 
Mr. Le Cong Dinh, came to the meeting.  Both said all four were 
called by the Minitry of Public Security (MPS) prior to the meeting 
and encouraged not to meet with IRI.  Dung and Dinh also believe 
that newly-confirmed HCMC Law School Rector Madame Quy likely 
declined IRI's meeting request due to pressure from authorities. 
[Note:  Post believes it is more likely she bowed out due to 
political sensitivities related to her recent battle to win the top 
spot at the HCMC Law School.  As acting rector, she met with IRI 
several times previously.  End note.]  Both lawyers believe IRI 
could play a positive role in helping to promoting legal reform by 
supporting educational and professional exchanges between Vietnamese 
and American lawyers.  Ms. Kao said she was hoping to assist in 
efforts to link up the HCMC Law School with U.S. universities that 
have continuing education or mid-level professional programs in 
support of this goal, but welcomed more ideas. 
 
¶10. (U) Comment: Overall, Ms. Kao indicated that her meetings in 
Vietnam were very productive, a marked contrast with unsuccessful 
past efforts by IRI and all the more remarkable given IRI's stated 
goal of democracy promotion.  Ms. Kao was able to meet with a wide 
variety of interlocutors and discuss possible programs, primarily in 
 
HANOI 00000175  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
the areas of grassroots democracy and women's participation in the 
political process.  Both GVN and NGO representatives engaged Ms. Kao 
in discussion, expressed a desire for more information, and looked 
forward to building a relationship with IRI.  This initial visit was 
exploratory in nature; the true test will come if/when IRI decides 
to attempt a program, either solo or in partnership with a local 
organization. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The message received by Ms. Kao from those NGOs already 
operating in Vietnam was that it is important to spend a great deal 
of time building relationships here in the initial stages.  Then 
begin with something small and seemingly insignificant to gain the 
trust of GVN interlocutors, before attempting to establish a full 
program.  While PACCOM plays an important role in permitting NGO 
operations, NGOs on the ground advised that applications to PACCOM 
should be a long way down the road, and indeed could come after 
activities have commenced.  The difficulties and frustrations HCMC 
lawyers outlined also demonstrated that not all GVN entities are on 
board with having IRI in Vietnam.  Overall, post believes Ms. Kao 
gained an accurate picture of both the challenges and opportunities 
for NGOs wishing to enter Vietnam, particularly those engaged in the 
work of promoting good governance and citizen's political 
participation. 
 
¶12. (U) This cable was jointly drafted with Consulate General Ho Chi 
Minh City.