VZCZCXRO7128
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0238 0920423
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 020423Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5575
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY 0130
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 3687
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 5811

UNCLAS HO CHI MINH CITY 000238 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, USAID/ANE, EEB/TPP/BTA/ANA 
USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
USTR FOR BISBEE 
TREASURY FOR CHUN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINV CVIS KFRD KPAO SOCI PGOV VM
SUBJECT: MANY AMERICANS IN HCMC FEEL THE UNWELCOME PINCH OF 
CORRUPTION 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  One leading Ho Chi Minh City developer best 
summed up the pervasive nature of corruption in Vietnam by 
declaring to the Consul General, "corruption is in the air that 
we breathe."  A recent informal survey ConGen HCMC conducted 
found that more than one in five American citizens responding to 
a simple voluntary survey reported having been asked for an 
informal payment at some point in Vietnam, whether while doing 
business, completing paperwork or simply traveling around the 
country.  Corruption and transparency are major issues that 
directly affect the lives and business interests of Americans in 
Vietnam.  Mission will continue to press interlocutors at all 
levels on issues of transparency and corruption and more broadly 
through the strong support of assistance programs like the STAR 
program.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) As part of on-going efforts to better understand the 
wider economic climate, the Consulate General developed a brief 
survey to provide American citizens with the opportunity to 
voluntarily and anonymously report whether they had ever been 
asked to make an informal payment while traveling or conducting 
business in Vietnam. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Of 118 completed surveys, 26 (22 percent of 
respondents) reported requests for informal payments.  Those 
reporting such requests included 21 men and five women who were 
in Vietnam for a wide range of purposes, including visiting 
family (14), conducting business (10) and even getting married 
(4).  Seventeen of those who responded positively volunteered 
that they were ethnically Vietnamese and six said they were 
Caucasian, while three responded "American."   Nearly equal 
numbers of people aged 21-35 (8), aged 36-50 (10) and aged 50 on 
up (8) reported having been asked to make an informal payment. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Two respondents volunteered additional information. 
One had been asked to make a $5 payment upon arrival at a 
Vietnamese airport and another was asked to pay $300 at a 
provincial Department of Justice office.  Others did not include 
specific information on the nature of the inappropriate request 
for payment. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment:  Corruption in Vietnam is not an abstract 
development issue -- our informal survey shows it has directly 
affected 22 percent of those American citizens who volunteered 
to complete our survey.  From billion-dollar development deals 
to routine bureaucratic approvals, opportunities to solicit 
informal payments abound in HCMC.  This survey was particularly 
useful because it provided a snapshot of the "grass roots" 
corruption that impacts ordinary Americans, including tourists 
and which is less likely to come to our attention than large, 
corporate issues.  To counter corruption at all levels, Mission 
will continue to engage GVN interlocutors at all levels to press 
for transparency and anti-corruption measures.  The USAID-funded 
Support for Trade Acceleration (STAR) program work on 
transparency and good governance (including work on the legal 
system) and State Department programs to support investigative 
journalism are particularly useful, and should be expanded. 
Mission will seek to work more closely with the American Chamber 
of Commerce in Ho Chi Minh City to push forward this critical, 
shared interest. End comment. 
 
¶6.  (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
 
DICKEY