VABAW PARTIPICATES IN TRADE MISSION TO VIETNAM

by Thi Huynh with contribution from Thuy Nguyen-Leeper

On April 28, 2007, five VABAW board members along with 23 other participants traveled with Secretary of State Sam Reed on a nine-day trade mission to Vietnam with brief visits to Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Seoul. The group included individuals from business, government and nonprofit organizations as well as Vietnamese American business owners and community members.

Some of us had been back to Vietnam several times, for others it was their first time ever setting foot in a country their family had so perilously escaped from all those years ago. Some of our parents had urged us not to go, projecting their own trepidations about the Communist party on us. Many of their fears were difficult for us to understand as all of us were either very young or not yet born when the war ended. We had no memory of the re-education camps, the particular atrocities of war, or the trauma of escaping as refugees.

Coming back, we carried with us pieces of our parent’s past passed down to us. As we stood in the long customs/immigration line, those stories and warnings crept into our thoughts. Are they going to detain me? Do I need to slip a $10 bill in my passport? Will they find out that my uncle worked with the CIA? But one by one we watched each other pass through the turnstiles. On the other side we asked each other, “What did they ask you?” like nervous students comparing answers after a midterm. It turns out the worst of the questions was, “where were you born?” and “where are you going to stay?” The experience turned out to be no more frightening than crossing the Canadian border. Obviously the workers behind the booths weren’t screening for former South Vietnamese secret agents.

Passing through to the baggage claim area, we could see outside the throngs of people and the bustling activity of Saigon. Any fear or dread we felt quickly vanished and in its place was a sense of excitement and wonder. Looking around, we were surrounded by people whose faces looked like us but we obviously did not fit in; our dress, speech, and mannerisms gave us away as Americans.

Once cleared of the airport, we were en route to the New World hotel, where President Clinton stayed during his historic visit in 2000 as the first US president to visit Vietnam since the end of the war. Along the way, everyone’s faces was turned toward the streets below. Mopeds, or ‘Hondas’ as they’re known locally, flowed around us in what seemed as chaos, but somehow orderly at the same time. There were no lanes really, and the traffic rules just seemed to be understood. When someone wanted to turn left, they do not stop and wait until traffic clears and makes a 90 degree turn. If they did, they would could never make the turn. Instead, the moped actually travels against oncoming traffic, forcing the vehicles to part around it. Slowly, the moped veers farther against the oncoming traffic until it has makes it across at an angle. (having actually experienced this on the back of a moped, I can say it is truly a harrowing experience for the faint of heart.)

We saw entire families of four somehow squeezed on the slender seats; bags of rice stacked five high balanced precariously while weaving in traffic; and an entire pig strapped on its side on its way to the market.

We arrived at the New World and entered a world of opulence and luxury compared to the streets we had traveled through. It is still odd to fathom a five star hotel and Luis Vuitton shop in a place where the average factory worker gets paid $40 per month. It’s easy for a traveler to be cordoned off from the real Vietnam, but fortunately what set our group apart from other visitors to the New World is that we were more than tourists; we got to travel through the countryside and actually take part in some of the things ordinary people do there. The following day we visited the Cao Thang Technical College where students learned technical skills and a seafood and produce processing plant that prepared goods for export.

Vietnam's Potential

Vietnam has a 90% literacy rate and a growing demand for skilled technical workers. It’s easy to see the reason for the demand in the numerous internet cafes and the new $1 billion Intel investment for a chip testing plant being built. At Cao Thang Technical College we were shown how the students learned how to use advanced machining tools, a skill undoubted that will be helpful in a manufacturing job. We saw optimism in the students faces; they knew a future awaited them so long as they were willing to work for it. The officials from the college had actually visited Olympic College in Bremerton in March of this year to establish relationships between the schools. In an article in the Kitsap Sun, Tran Van Thanh, one of the officials showed a willingness to look to the future when he said, “Vietnam has closed the door of the past.”

To the left are some of the teachers at the college. 

Back on the bus, we set off towards the Mekong Delta, which is the bread basket of Vietnam where just about all of the produce and most of the rice is grown. In My Tho, we visited a brand new seafood and produce processing plant owned by a Washington State businessman. Inside, the workers had to wear rubber boots, face and head coverings and gloves. We toured the facilities and saw how the fruit passed through the machines and ended up in vacuum sealed packages complete with nutrition information.

Early the next morning, we began with a commercial breakfast briefing with the U.S. Consular and Commercial Service officers and the American Chamber of Commerce. They provided information about the current political and economic climate in Vietnam and answered our questions. We found that they were very open and helpful in addition to being knowledgeable. We would recommend anyone considering doing business in Vietnam to contact the local offices there.

Vice Mayor of Ho Chi Minh City

Later, we had a meeting with the Vice-Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hong. She was dressed in a beautiful ao dai, or traditional Vietnamese dress and greeted us warmly. For many of us, she probably did not fit the image of a Communist official they were expecting. It was obvious that she showed a particular interest in the Vietnamese American delegates. She spent a considerable amount of time after the formalities to ask us personal questions and learn more about us. Towards the end of the meeting, Secretary of State Sam Reed presented her with a bottle of Washington wine. Immediately, she had the bottle opened and glasses brought out. We ended the meeting on a high note with a tinkle of glasses full of Washington wine.

 From left to right: Thao Tran, Thi Huynh (VABAW), Peter Chu (VABAW), Kim Tran (VABAW), Ho Chi Minh City Vice Mayor Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hong, Buu Lam, Thuy Nguyen-Leeper (VABAW), and Lam Nguyen-Bull (VABAW)

Tourists Day

What most don’t realize is a full day of meetings and briefings is quite exhausting. While some of the officials were elegant and brief, many others threw out so many facts and figures that they became meaningless. Fortunately, we had one “tourist day” in the city where we visited various sites in the city. One place was the Reunification Palace, (which is now a museum) where the North Vietnamese tanks rolled and marked the fall of Saigon in 1975. It was interesting to see the perspective of what they call the “American War.” We also toured Notre Dame Cathedral right in the center of the city. To someone unfamiliar with Vietnam’s history and the legacy of French colonialism, it would be a surprise to see a huge catholic gothic cathedral in the middle of Vietnamese city.