Maryland Business Mission to Asia:
Final Stop: Hanoi Hop

Earlier Posts:
Wheels Up from USA
Shanghai Days
Nanjing: Dragon Boats
Beijing: The Great Dirt Wall
Maryland’s Got Seoul

Dear Chan:

Remember the rain? One half of a meter in 24 hours? Truly an amazing amount of water: cars floating on their bellies, scooters half-submerged, rivers running down streets, the incessant pounding.

Well, it’s quite a bit drier this time around for this short stop in Vietnam and the reception couldn’t be more sunny. The Governor is only on the ground for, quite literally, twenty-four hours and it turned out to be a rich, though hurried experience.

In a way, this return visit links to our past efforts at conferences related to the Environment in 2010’s Vietnam Environmental Forum, co-organized with the Maryland-Asia Environmental Partnership. It was like old school week and we saw a number of friends from the conference.

George Dang, Tony Hoang and Sandy Dang of Meiwah International, in partnership with CESAIS, were critical to getting this part of the itinerary put together and well-oiled, which included an exclusive meeting with the VN Prime Minister.

“I am more and more convinced that the end of this war will not be the end of our commitment in this area. There is so much here to be done….[and] it is in the areas of personal contacts where we are building something that can be called a foundation for the future. One thing that I have confirmed by coming out here is the universal constancy of human nature. People are people, no matter where you go.”

- Captain J.L.N. Violette, Air Force
Letters from Cam Ranh Bay AFB
May 1968

Leaps and Bounds

Embassy Briefing*

First stop was at the US Embassy, where we received a rapid-fire country briefing from Virginia Palmer.

The country is going through a period of “wild entrepreneurship.” The concepts of corporate law and standard accounting methods are being adopted. Hard and soft infrastructure, poor in many parts of the country, are key sectors. That means roads, bridges, utilities, wastewater treatment as well as education and workforce development. With a high (>90) literacy rate and relatively low unemployment. The economy is building quickly, but inflation is problematic, running at 20% per annum.

The US-VN bi-lateral trade agreement eventually led to VN’s accession to the WTO and the present negotiations under the TPP or Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional multi-lateral trade regimen, which is pushing VN to go to a “Gold Standard” with particular focus on improving the human rights situation and addressing environmental degradation. “This is great market” with very interesting demographics.

International Aspirations

Vietnam seeks to be fully integrated in a global context and assume the role it “should have played all along.” One of the challenges, regionally, is the over-arching presence of China, which is projecting its power far out of its own territorial waters, recently severing the cables on a petro-seismic exploration ship 1000 miles from the nearest Chinese shore. Vietnamese believe that China views Vietnam as its “poorer southern province” and has occupied and invaded the country on and off for a millennium. Joint cooperation between the US and Vietnam is growing and Vietnam is very keenly part of the current US administration’s political and trade strategy.

Gov O’Malley with George Dang, Meiwah International

Tony Hoang, Meiwah International

The US-VN relationship is increasingly multi-faceted and complicated—Ms. Palmer shared an idiom with the group: “Complicated,” in Vietnamese, is apparently “phuc tap” (pronounced “fook-dup”, say that three times fast.)

One of the areas of disagreement and a little phuc tap is human rights. The US pushes Vietnam to reduce the pressure on dissidents, advocating for increased openness, but without much effect. There are lively open debates about the economics of the country and a certain amount of media coverage of the political situation (the media are state-owned) but reporting should not get “too close to the bone.”

Religious freedom, on the other hand, is relatively open and improving. There are numerous Catholic churches, for example, in the cities and worship is unobstructed.

Within the context of the whole US-VN relationship, health diplomacy is a key part of the relationship and is generally non-controversial. It was one of the first areas of cooperation post-normalization.

Country experts perceive several serious brakes on Vietnam’s development: political freedom, infrastructure (including critical gaps in electricity production and distribution), integration of roads and ports and education. Still, there is a lot going for it, not the least of which is a youthful population.

MIAs

Another early area of cooperation has been the repatriation of US MIAs, beginning as far back as 1985, when the first recovery was made.

Vrooom

Colonel Keane gave a briefing on the recovery efforts and lauded his Vietnamese counterparts. “I have free reign to travel around.” A plaque, honoring US service personnel who served, was presented by the Governor and delegation member and Vietnam Veteran Dan Boccolucci to the Colonel. On average, 15 or so US soldiers are returned home each year.

War legacies continue to be problematic, including the area around Da Nang, where it is estimated that 30% of the land still has buried hazards: landmines and unexploded ordnance. Agent Orange/dioxin remediation efforts are ongoing, although a large effort is needed to reduce the soil contamination around Da Nang airport and other war-time storage locations. It is emotional and definitely phuc tap.

Environment

Two prime areas that make the business perilous for MD/US companies include a poor track record on intellectual property rights protection and environmental damage. To raise one-half of its population out of poverty over the past 15 years, the government adopted pro-growth policies and practices that have had a lasting negative legacy. Fossil fuels are the predominant source of energy. Coal, for example, is delivered around the city and used for cooking. The vendors make their rounds with a few hundred pounds of coffee-can-sized lumps of carbon.

The environment is at a critical point and degradation is affecting Vietnam’s quality of life. Sea level rise results in salt-water intrusion into the two big deltas (Red River in the North, Mekong in the South). This affects the ability to grow crops, notably in the rice-producing areas of the south. A sizable amount of donor aid goes towards mitigation efforts, however, the implementation of environmental programs into projects takes a long time because ministerial-level provisions are slow to trickle down to enforceable regulations. Finally, many of the necessary economic incentives (or penalties) are just not in place (or unenforced).

Coming and going

Governor O’Malley, Dan Bocolucci and Col Keane

Family Outing: Vietnam Mini-Van

Many critical needs are concentrated in the villages and in the countryside. For example, loose garbage sequestration and poor landfill practices have caused the contamination of drinking water.

Some solutions to deforestation and topsoil erosion seem natural. The steamy climate is ideal for bamboo, which has many positive attributes: first, it has many uses in flooring, furniture and construction. Secondly, it grows quickly and can stabilize erosion-pone areas. It also has the benefit of restoring damaged crop areas. So it goes with Vietnam, where solutions might be at-hand, but resolve is low or conflicts exist with other interests. For instance, while programs are aimed at mitigating the damage to coastal areas from sea level rise, the Vietnam authorities are also attempting to boost the economic contribution from the country’s myriad islands through trade, food production and tourism.

One of the familiar and friendly faces we saw during our visit was co-organizer in the VEF program last year, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Ly. She was the first Vietnam student to attend the University of Maryland after normalization of ties began, attending grad school in 1992 under a grant program. She is a true pioneer and has been working as an Environmental Engineer, with a notable recent project studying and base-lining the many, many lakes in the Hanoi area. A great many of them are dying because of all manner of urban pressures. The effort to baseline may lead to awareness and future mediation. She calls them the “sleeping beauties” of Hanoi that need to be re-awakened.

Nguyen Ngoc Ly and the Governor

Ho: An Iota of History

During an afternoon bus tour of the city we pass by Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, where “Uncle Ho” is entombed in “a crystal coffin” according to our tour guide. “He looks like he is sleeping. Do you think it is really him there?” Ho left Vietnam when he was in his early 20s  (just prior to WWI) to go abroad and study French culture and understand how to lift the yoke of oppression from France. Ultimately petitioning the French government and, post-WWII President Truman to seek independence for Vietnam. He was rebuffed and the rest, they say, is history.

With over-simplifications noted, Vietnam was a victim of the fragmentation of crumbling post-colonial France and the end of WWII power shuffling that left Indochina in disarray and an open wound that the US would step into after France’s withdrawal. Vietnam has over 1000 years of a culture that has been inculcated to opposing occupying forces. So, it’s really no wonder that the Viet Minh and the forces of the Viet Cong were steel-hardened and committed to driving out the occupying forces of the French, Japanese (the US helped VN during WWII) and ultimately, the US.

We enjoyed a quick tour around the city and a visit to the notorious “Hanoi Hilton,” built around the turn of the 20th C by the French to jail dissidents during their rule. It was later used by Vietnam, of course; Senator John McCain was interned there for a number of years during the conflict. It is a somber, painful place with a near-supernatural eeriness.

Ho Sleeps Here

Touring Maison Centrale

BlueWing Environmental signs with MONRE

Signing Agreements

Highlights of the day’s events were signing ceremonies conducted between several Maryland businesses and partners in Vietnam. The first MD-Vietnam Sister State partnership was signed with Ninh Thuan Province (in the South). Cam Ranh Bay is located in Ninh Thuan and hosted one of the biggest airport facilities during the “American War.” As our friend Nathan Sage says:  “Ninh Thuan is a like Baja Mexico.  Lots of potential, but mostly sand and sea.”

Another signing occurred between BlueWing Environmental (Ted Gattino was with us last year) and MONRE. BlueWing manufacturers a “floating island” technology that is used to cleanse damaged waterways.

And Meiwah inked agreements with hotels in Nha Trang.

It’s a Wrap

The delegation enjoyed one final formal banquet on the last night before scattering before the winds. It was cheers and goodbyes and bon voyages, but mostly it was, see you again.

STAMEQ

My own good fortune continued after the delegation officially disbanded, staying on another day and having the chance to meet the families of our good friends and early partners Madame Le Huong Huong and Ms. Nguyen Mai Sinh. STAMEQ has been a strong supporter of the dialogue between the US and Vietnam and has been co-organizer of our conferences over the years.

Through mutual interest and cooperation, one adds friends to a rich portfolio of associations. We enjoyed a great lunch of shrimp cakes “Ho Tay” and Hanoi Bia overlooking West Lake.

Which brings me to a final thought.

Chao Juliet, Sandy, Ted & Sujuan

Madame Le, Ms. Nguyen and Family

Lucky Man

Chan, I guess you might glean that I rather enjoy the anthropological aspects of travel; it is by seeing with your own eyes, one appreciates the rich and varied substance of the human species. Habits, traits, culture and customs come alive.

The reverse is also true. By joining with our brethren overseas we give them a glimpse of US society. How do they feel when they meet us? One hustler in front of the Rex Hotel in Saigon was persistent. He told me: “You are a lucky man” and he meant it. Lucky? Because I get to come and go, nearly as I please. He, and his offspring, will be on the streets of Saigon, tricking and treating for anything they can.

Very lucky indeed.

Mike Violette

Heading Home

June 2011

*All observations, notes, statistics and factoids in this document are the sole responsibility of the author. Apologies in advance for any inaccuracies or misstatements and I welcome comments, clarifications and criticisms.

Ho Tay: Okay!

Play Ball!