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RR RUEHHM
DE RUEHHI #0482/01 1160918
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250918Z APR 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7696
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 4642

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 000482 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KCOR KPAO SOCI PREL VM
 
SUBJECT: EXPANDING HANOI'S JURISDICTION HIGHLIGHTS VIETNAM'S 
TOP-DOWN DECISION-MAKING CULTURE 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) The GVN's handling of the expansion of Hanoi municipality 
underscores the fact that, despite recent talk of decentralization, 
decision-making in Vietnam remains very much a top-down affair.  As 
Hanoi's explosive growth continues, the Communist Party of Vietnam 
has initiated a jurisdictional reorganization aiming to empower 
Hanoi municipal authorities to direct development to outer areas of 
the city.  The 14-member Politburo broached the idea of expanding 
Hanoi in late 2006 and "guided" the Government as the latter worked 
on details.  Support from Party officials and people in the areas 
that will join Hanoi made reaching consensus easier and helped 
propel the proposal forward.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) has decided to enlarge 
Hanoi's municipal jurisdiction to include parts of neighboring Vinh 
Phuc and Hoa Binh Provinces and all of Ha Tay Province to help ease 
movement of central government offices to areas beyond the center of 
the city and facilitate implementation of large-scale projects such 
as a high-tech corridor, a national university complex and a 
national culture and tourism complex.  With a steady stream of 
villagers coming to the capital and its environs to find work, the 
Party also wants Hanoi authorities to direct housing and 
infrastructure development toward outer areas of the city. 
 
How the Party Decided 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The CPV's 14-member Politburo reportedly broached the idea 
of expanding Hanoi's jurisdiction soon after the 10th Congress in 
¶2006.  The Party's 160-member Central Committee (CC) then took up 
the idea, discussing it in general terms at its semi-regular plenary 
meetings.  In early 2007, the CC provided "guidance" to the 
Government on the plan, assigning the latter to work out the 
details.  The Ministry of Home Affairs' (MOHA) Local Government 
Department (LGD) then decided on exact areas to fold into the 
capital and on how to incorporate Party officials in the affected 
areas into a new Hanoi governing structure. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Under the LGD's reorganization plan, Ha Tay provincial 
Party and Government authorities will assume newly created deputy 
level positions in the new and larger Hanoi governing structure. 
The Ha Tay People's Committee Chairman, for example, will become one 
of several Hanoi People's Committee vice chairmen.  Ha Tay officials 
holding deputy provincial Party positions will assume lower-level 
positions in the new structure.  For their part, district and 
commune level Party and Government officials in Ha Tay, Vinh Phuc 
and Hoa Binh Provinces will continue in their positions, but will 
report up to a new Hanoi chain of command. 
 
Rolling Over Weak Resistance 
---------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Many officials in Ha Tay, Vinh Phuc and Hoa Binh supported 
the plan, arguing that the areas that will become part of Hanoi will 
benefit from the capital's socioeconomic policies.  Others are happy 
because land prices in some of the annexed areas have spiked. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Some Ha Tay provincial level officials expressed 
reservations about the plan because they will assume lower level 
positions in the new structure.  Indeed some Ha Tay provincial 
officials even face the prospect that they will lose their jobs 
altogether; Vietnamese law stipulates the maximum number of deputies 
a province or municipality can have.  Under the reorganization, 
Hanoi Party and GVN bodies will have more deputy positions than 
allowed by law.  If the law is not amended, these Party authorities 
will lose their jobs. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Ha Tay provincial authorities' efforts to scuttle the plan 
were unsuccessful largely because, once the Politburo signed off on 
it, officials at lower levels had no other choice but to accept it. 
In addition, Ha Tay Province has only one representative on the 
powerful CC, which took a final vote on the LGD's detailed plan at 
its last plenum (Ref. A).  A contact at the National Assembly (NA) 
told us that the NA is scheduled to approve the LGD plan to expand 
Hanoi in late May.  MOHA contacts, mean while, told us they expect 
an expanded Hanoi to become operational in early 2009. 
 
Comment: Hanoi's Top-Down Political Culture Holds 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The Party's relatively quick work in devising and approving 
a plan to expand Hanoi's jurisdiction shows that, once Vietnam's top 
leaders decide on a major issue, the rest of the bureaucracy is 
likely to fall in line.  Support from many people in the affected 
areas certainly helped Party officials reach consensus quickly and 
push the process forward.  Decision-making on more controversial 
issues has proven to be more painstaking and time-consuming, but 
Vietnam's top-down political culture is not likely to change any 
 
HANOI 00000482  002 OF 002 
 
 
time soon. 
 
MICHALAK