By host Tom Ashbrook:
Thirty-plus years after the end of the Vietnam War, Hanoi is the center of the Asia-Pacific economic world for the next week. Leaders from twenty-one nations, including George W. Bush, will gather for a big economic summit in the land where 50,000 American soldiers died fighting communism.
Yesterday, the US Congress gave Vietnam a slap, failing to pass a bill that would rush normalization of US trade relations with the country. But Vietnam is doing just fine anyway, thank you.
Per capita income has doubled in five years. From Hanoi to Danang to Ho Chi Minh City, there’s a boom on.
This hour on Point we go to Vietnam, thirty years and counting after the war.
Quotes from the Show:
“It’s a tightly controlled one-party state.” Keith Bradsher
“Vietnam has eased up more than China in its repression of Catholic sects.” Keith Bradsher
“The country is very, very young. It’s a very hard working labor force. The literacy rate is pretty high.” Henry Nguyen
“What Intel sees in Vietnam is a long-term potential.” Henry Nguyen
“Culturally, it’s very exciting to be here [in Vietnam].” Nguyen Qui Duc
“There’s some pretty suspicious attitudes among the older [Vietnamese] people toward Americans but they are few and far in between.” Nguyen Qui Duc
“They [the Vietnamese] think of America as a kind, gentle nation. They don’t generally understand the policies of the government — like the war in Iraq.” Nguyen Qui Duc
Guests:
Keith Bradsher, Hong Kong Bureau Chief for the New York Times
Nguyen Qui Duc, former host and now senior editor for Asia of the public radio show Pacific Time, broadcast out of member station KQED in San Francisco.
Henry Nguyen, managing general partner, IDG Ventures Vietnam, the first and largest venture capital firm in Vietnam, with offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City
Raymond Burghardt, he served as Ambassador to Vietnam from 2001 to 2004.
