CIA The World Factbook

YI: So Vietnam does not share some of the ASEAN members concern about China's potential dominance in the region.

Ninh: China's rise is a fact of life. Of course, ASEAN must, Vietnam included, to make sure that China will always take a cooperative approach. That is why we have the ASEAN plus three and ASEAN plus one framework, ARF and all under the East Asian Forum. And in all of these frameworks, we try to make sure that we know what China wants and that we set the rules of engagement. We want China to be a cooperative major power. Today, I don't think there is any country--- not even the US, not even Japan--- that would advocate a sort of hedging or engagement, but of course on what kind of setting, with what kind of strength we move into that relationship. I think if Vietnam's economy is strong and healthy, if we have many partners, then in engaging China we are not alone, we got a lot of friends, we belong to many clubs. That's what associations and multilateral organizations are also for. They are like visiting cards. The more visiting cards you have, the less isolated or vulnerable you feel. It seems to me Vietnam is trying to maintain a balance in its relationship with China, the US, EU and Japan. It is in Vietnam's interest to balance all those good relations together.

YI: What about internal Vietnam, which is growing so rapidly and people's purchasing power are rising. But poverty is still a problem. What is being done to narrow this economic gap?

Ninh: First of all, we have a nationwide poverty alleviation program which is aided by the World Bank, the United Nations in particular and international organizations in general. I think we are a success story together with Indonesia and China. This, in fact, we cannot work on our own. It is clear that from now on, we have to be aware of the increasing gap as the economy grows in a rather fast pace. We have to beware of the growing gap between regions, between ethnic minority areas, between the plains and the mountains, and inside the cities the gap in incomes. All of that are new challenges that come with accelerated growth. Now, the answer to that is mostly in trading and job-creation. Secondly, if you want to prevent extreme urbanization, we don't to see Mexico City or Rio de Janeiro cropping up in Vietnam. In order to do that, we have to keep the youth where they are in the countryside, still the majority. So it means job creation, not only in the cities. On the contrary, right in the countryside. And after the crisis of 1997-98, I remember that our government decided that the Ministry of Agriculture would become the ministry of agriculture and rural development. What that crisis made our government leaders aware of was that it's all very well to expand exports, and to have a high economic growth rate, but we must remember that the majority of the population, are still farmers living in the countryside. So if the situation is not sound and viable in the countryside, the locomotive might be in trouble, leaving everybody behind. So, the emphasis is making sure that we try to pull the rural population along, not to be left behind. We need technical innovations, and progress into the countryside for farming also. We have a mobile agricultural technical assistance so that programs are workable, sustainable. I don't think we can take this for granted at all.

YI: How serious is the level of corruption and what is the government doing to address it?

Ninh: Well, from the perception of public opinion, it is serious. Now, while I was a member of the National Assembly, because we heard our constituents, our voters thrust the urgency of the matter, we decided to upgrade the ordinance on corruption into a full-fledged law. And this was adopted. That law stipulates that the government would have to form an anti-corruption committee, which it has. And at the head of it is the deputy Prime Minister. And in the National Assembly, we have created a new committee with this new legislation and that is the judiciary committee. Earlier there was only the law committee, and now all judiciary matters are handled by this committee. And it is that committee which has been entrusted with oversight of the entire anti-corruption work of the government. The new National Assembly started on the 20th of July and ended on the 4th of August. The second session will in October, and would have to wait for the second session. Experience shows that in Vietnam, enforcement is the weak link. And because of that, the role of the oversight is crucial. It is through strong, effective oversight that you promote actual, serious rigorous enforcement of laws and regulations. That is why I'm emphasizing this. And in this regard, I stress in Vietnam the very active role played by the media on corruption. Most of the important corruption cases that have been uncovered have been uncovered by the press, by the media rather than by judiciary bodies or by the various anti-corruption units. The Ministry of Public Security also created a special anti-corruption unit. That is new too. So, I think the Prime Minister is very much under pressure to deliver on this. Expectations continue to remain high. He has taken a few actions like moving investigations as fast as possible. So, we still have the benefit of the expectations, I assume that in about a year, people will want to see the deliverables.

YI: Concrete results?

Ninh: Yes, concrete results, but at least there is structure and mechanism in place. Next year, we will see whether this will bring the kind of change expected.

YI: Whether it works?

Ninh: Yes.

YI: Reforms tend to awaken new demands in society. Is Vietnam ready for the consequences of its reform program, such as political reform? Right now, there is only one political party. Will there be a day when there is more than one party?

Ninh: I am often asked that question and the answer would be with the Vietnamese people. They would be the ones to decide how many parties they want. For those who find it difficult to understand how come there is just one party, I think you have to realize the specific, the particular history of Vietnam. This communist party has been associated from the very first years since independence against colonial rule and later, against US intervention. So, in the perception of most of the public, it has credentials. And because of Doi Moi just in time, and here I have to emphasize, some people say it's because of the perestroika in the Soviet Union then, that Vietnam is following suit, and all that. I tell them: remember, the Vietnamese reform or renewal, Doi Moi, officially it started in 1986 with the party congress. The Do Moi concept started at that congress under the aegis of party secretary-general then, Nguyen Van Linh. In 1986, the Soviet Union was still there. So I think there is a misperception because it's not well documented. People think we reformed because the Soviet Union collapsed. But back in 1986, the Soviet Union had not yet collapsed. And I remember that we got rid of the rationing in 1985, even earlier and I was in a non-aligned conference in Angola, that was when I got news that back home, we were getting rid of the food rationing and coupons. And as a woman, as a housewife, I was overjoyed. I really liked the idea. And everyone was very supportive of that. What I mean is, you have to remember, that the party leadership realized in time, that it had to reform. Of course, most of the reforms must first be economic. Some of them now are political. The National Assembly itself is evidence of this. The people are more assertive, taking a kind of more assertive role of the National Assembly now that it could never imagine 20 years ago. So, what I would say is, when there is to be a multi-party system I don't know. But, to make a kind of a joke, when I go to the United States, I once talked to a political science professor. I asked him, tell me, when are you going to have a third political party in the US? He answered, that will take a long time, I don't know when. In other words, their two-party system is so entrenched in the US political life, why can't there be more than two?