677View
3m 51sLenght
1Rating

English/Nat XFA President Clinton's historic trip to Vietnam is aimed at cementing ties with America's former enemy. During his presidency, there has been cautious re-engagement -- most recently with an agreement on trade. Vietnam is now the second largest population in southeast Asia, and changing fast. Dawn over the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, and the rising of the sun brings the older generation out for morning exercises. Vietnam treasures its culture and traditions, but things are changing fast. The majority of the growing population of 76 million (m) people are now under 30 and attitudes and lifestyles are taking new directions since the communist party decided in 1986 to move towards a market economy. But some analysts in the west doubt that Vietnam is ready to relinquish all the controls of the past, and believe that talk of opening up to the West was -- just talk. Vietnam believes it's going at the right pace -- especially considering the Asian economic crisis of recent years -- that poverty is reducing and positive reforms are continuing. When the Vietnam war ended, the country was having to import rice. Now it's the world's third largest rice exporter. Hanoi, a city just a few years ago of relatively quiet streets, is now filled with roaring motorbikes. Clinton lifted a U-S trade embargo in 1994. Since then more than 400 U-S companies moved in. The country wants more foreign investment, but red tape and corruption have also turned it away. And there are lots of tales about manufacturers bringing in money and "know-how" (knowledge), only to have it stolen by a local partner. It's been a story of mixed fortunes. Ford cars built this assembly plant three years ago. But sales have been a struggle. In 1998 Ford said it sold 365 vehicles, and 325 in 1999. This year has been better -- so far it's sold 957. This plant is working at only about 10% of its capacity. But Ford says the long-term future is bright. SOUNDBITE: (English) "One of the things that happen in Vietnam is that they leapfrog other countries in their developmental steps. Four years ago, there were very few motorbikes in this country. Now it's the third largest motorbike capital in the world. A few years ago there were very few telephones except in state owned enterprises and government and some business. Now, everyone has a mobile phone." SUPERCAPTION: Deborah J Aronson, General Director of Ford Vietnam Some analysts estimate that Vietnam would increase exports to the U-S by 800 million (m) dollars a year if the U-S--Vietnam trade agreement, signed last July, is ratified. In a village outside Hanoi, workers pack pottery vases and cram them into a container bound for France. This ceramics company, Hamico, is a typical of Vietnamese businesses which would benefit from the agreement. It already sells a large range of ceramics, from traditional Vietnamese tableware to Santa Claus figurines, to Australia, South Korea, Japan and Europe, . The business is already worth millions (m) of dollars. So far the company has found import tariffs too high in the U-S, but it believes that once the agreement is ratified the U-S will be a huge market. SOUNDBITE: (English) "The population, the U-S-A population is over two hundred and fifty million and high salary. If we can sell our goods in there, I think it's going to be big quantity." SUPERCAPTION: Luong Ngoc Quang, Vice Director HAMICO At the National University in Hanoi, students listen to a lesson on International Studies. President Clinton is coming here to address these students. They want to see attitudes change. SOUNDBITE: (English) SOUNDBITE: (English) You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/45dc73db79bb84607494c035097ab6b6 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork