Vietnam finally wins the confidence of ASEAN

Vietnam finally wins the confidence of ASEAN

By Robert Templer

HANOI (AFP): After decades of being seen as a Marxist peril with an expansionist eye, Vietnam's patient diplomacy has finally won the confidence of its once virulently anti-communist Southeast Asian neighbors.

Now Vietnam's eventual membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is assured, the only question is how long it will take for Hanoi to overcome some of the administrative obstacles to joining the group.

While no doubts remain about Hanoi's political will to join -- opposition among hardliners in the government has been quashed -- ASEAN officials are concerned about its ability to meet financial and trade obligations.

Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has openly voiced doubts about Vietnam's readiness, saying during a visit here in March he did "not have the impression Vietnam was ready to join ASEAN now."

The Philippines has been the most eager of the six ASEAN members to see Vietnam join, but Hanoi has repeatedly intoned it will do so only when the time is right, though it has been pushing behind the scenes for quick admission.

Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cam said in an interview with the Bangkok Post last week that it would "not require much time" for Vietnam to fulfill any obligations to join ASEAN.

But with Vietnam raising tariffs to protect its sickly state industries, some countries have remained suspicious about its commitment to a free trade scheme being put together by the regional grouping.

ASEAN's secretariat is eager to see how Vietnam copes as a partner in the working groups it joined earlier this year before moving to full membership, which would involve officials from Hanoi in about 200 meetings a year.

Goh has said he wants to see Vietnam prove it would not be "a burden" to ASEAN but the Singaporean leader expressed optimism that Vietnam would soon be a "tiger cub" economy, although he described it as "30-to-40 years behind us in terms of development."

A diplomatic offensive by Hanoi's top leaders has overcome years of suspicion that prompted ASEAN's formation during the Vietnam War as a bulwark against the expansion of communism in Asia.

After the communist victory over South Vietnam in 1975, ties warmed slowly although relations between Hanoi and its neighbors soured again when Vietnam invaded Cambodia to oust the Khmer Rouge.

Seeing the move as part of Vietnamese ambitions to dominate Indochina, ASEAN members were in the frontline of opposition to Hanoi, imposing trade bans and working to isolate Vietnam.

Hanoi pulled its troops out in 1989 and two years later the Paris peace accords opened the way for renewed ties, with Vietnam gaining observer status in ASEAN in 1993.

Although ASEAN has been gaining confidence and become more willing to speak with one voice on key trade and political issues, it is wary of new members disrupting a carefully nurtured and sometimes fragile consensus.

But growing trade and investment links have broken down some barriers, with licenses granted to US$ 1.4 billion of projects from ASEAN members.

Singapore, once the region's most outspoken opponent of Vietnam, is ranked fifth among investors here and is second only to Japan as a trading partner.

Vietnam would become the least developed member of the grouping, way behind Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia and lagging even the Philippines.