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.