Vietnam's APEC membership hailed

Vietnam's APEC membership hailed

WASHINGTON (Kyodo): A senior U.S. official said she supports
Vietnam joining the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
forum in November 1996 -- the next time new membership will be
considered.

"Completely on a personal note, I think that Vietnam would be
the next natural addition and that would be a strong step toward
integrating it into Southeast Asia," Sandra Kristoff, coordinator
for APEC at the State Department, told a Center for Strategic and
International Studies forum Thursday.

President Bill Clinton announced Tuesday the normalization of
diplomatic relations with Vietnam 20 years after the end of the
Vietnam War.

Against this backdrop, Kristoff said the issue of Vietnam's
membership "has just begun and will have to be looked at, not
only by APEC members, but within the U.S. government in terms of
our systematic approach to enhancing one by one ties with
Vietnam."

But she said it will not become the main agenda during the
annual APEC meetings in November in Osaka.

"Ministers won't be confined with that decision until Manila
(APEC meetings) in November of 1996," Kristoff said, noting, "So
I may expect to see Vietnam debated much for next year."

"We have asked...senior officials to produce some papers...to
lay out criteria and evaluate new members," she said.