Guest speech: Ambassador of S. R. Vietnam, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Ba Than

At the occasion of last May high-level state, when the Vietnamese State President accompanied with the Austrian President Fischer visited the IMC and addressed the IMC faculty audience, and also as the continuation of the ASEAN Experts - Guest Lecture Series of the IMC Export, under the auspices of the Chair for International Law and Global Political Studies, Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic invited H.E. Ambassador Nguyen Ba Than, current Ambassador of the S.R. Vietnam to Austria.

After a warm welcome and a brief introduction given by the Chairman Prof. Bajrektarevic, Ambassador Nguyen Ba Than started with a picture-show of the stunning and really impressive richness of Vietnam’s festivals (eg. Gia Lim, Thi Cam Rice Cooking Festival, Bamboo Dance, Ka Te Festival …) and world heritage (e.g. Halong Bay, Sung Sot Grotto, Titov Island, Son River, My Son world heritage and many more).

Afterwards H.E. Nguyen Ba Than held a very informative and comprehensive speech, which offered the listener a valuable, new view of Vietnam amidst booming Indochina and total Asian continent. Throughout the whole event a relaxed atmosphere prevailed created by Ambassador Nguyen Ba Than’s charismatic character. This added to the high quality of H.E.’s speech making it a very appealing event, which will be highly appreciated to come again.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Than began with briefly introducing Vietnam in general, which is located on the Indochina Peninsula and comprises a surface of 311.000 km2. It is bordered by China (North), Laos (Northwest), Cambodia (Southwest) and the South China Sea (East). With a population of over 86 million, the mountain- and forest-rich country is the 13th most populous country in the world. The two prevailing climate areas, 4-seasons in the North and Subtropical/Tropical climate in the South, still divide the country, which was reunited in 1975.

Furthermore, Ambassador Nguyen Ba Than briefly explained the Vietnamese History, stating the Vietnamese region as one of the cradles of civilization. After admitting mistakes in Vietnam’s economic and sociopolitical past, Mr. Nguyen Ba Than elaborated on the reform policy introduced in 1986, a milestone in establishing Vietnam as an equivalent trading partner for more than 170 countries. Since then Vietnam embarked on a steep economic uprising. The industrial sector eg. expanded from 22% of GDP in 1990 to 42% in 2005. Furthermore, the structure of services sector changed remarkably towards higher quality and unrestricted availability. These developments helped raise the living standard and great efforts were taken to fight poverty and analphabetism, also resulting in the implementation of compulsory primary education.

Moreover, H.E. laid further emphasis on the two most important economic topics for Vietnam at the moment, FDI and Tourism. On that note, Ambassador Nguyen Ba Than named four reasons making Vietnam an excellent business partner: its being part of the dynamic Asian economies, its young, well-educated workforce and relatively low wages, its greatly extended safety measures and, of utmost importance not only for Austria, its high amount of skilled employees with professional experience in German-speaking countries who understand German mentality. Concerning tourism, H.E. mentioned the ample variety of recreation possibilities Vietnam offers and its extensive cultural richness.

The last point covered in the formal part addressed the current financial crisis, which took a double-hit in Vietnam due to its situation as an exporting and developing nation. The explosion of the world’s oil price led to a steep fall of Vietnam’s economy, resulting in stagnation and inflation of up to 20%. However, a sound economic stimulus package helps in the normalization process and first signs of recovery could already be observed.

The lecture was followed by a discussion in which H.E. Nguyen Ba Than kindly shared his expertise with us and conveyed valuable first-hand information on all topics raised.

Firstly, bilateral relations were discussed with the short briefing on the outcome of the recent visit of Vietnamese Vice Prime Minster to Austria. Ambassador Ba Than Nguyen mentioned Vietnam’s strengthened relations with China, France and the US. The latter belongs to Vietnam’s most important trading partners and is the single biggest FDI investor. He emphasized that it is vital to leave behind the past and start looking ahead into a future characterized by increased cooperation. Other topics that were brought up for discussion included labor costs, FDI, the Paracel Islands, human rights, freedom of opinion and living conditions prevailing in Vietnam. Ambassador Ba Than Nguyen stated that there are differences in mentality and everyday life of people living in the North and those living in the South of the country, however, differences have declined over time and living standards are rising.

Further topics dealt with during the discussion included the Vietnam war and its impacts on the country’s economy.
Finally, possibilities regarding education and work placements in Vietnam were addressed. In the last few years, more than 100 new universities and colleges have been established.

The official part was followed by a cocktail and students were given the opportunity to discuss further topics of interest with Ambassador H.E. Nguyen Ba Than.

The Guest Lecture of Ambassador H.E. Ba Than Nguyen was the 65th event organized by Chairman Prof. Dr. Anis Bajrektarevic. The next in-house event will take place on 13th of May when the IMC EXP is hosting H.E. Ms. Eva Biaudet, former Finland’s Minister & Special OSCE Representative (Topic: “The Dark side of Trade – Human Trafficking / Recent Developments”).

Photos: Marketing, C. Neuherz & K. Fletzberger
Text: M. Weichselbaum (rev. A.B.)