June 26, 2008, 2:25PM
Vietnam, State Department discuss Houston consulate
Prime minister meets with business leaders
By JENALIA MORENO
Please CLICK on the PICTURE to go to the source
Mayra Beltran: Houston Chronicle
June 26, 2008, 2:25PM
Vietnam, State Department discuss Houston consulate
Prime minister meets with business leaders
By JENALIA MORENO
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Vietnam's ambassador to the U.S. said in Houston today that his nation would like to open a consul general's office here.
"We have agreed in principle," said Ambassador Le Cong Phung, during a break in today's meeting between Vietnam's prime minister and Texas business leaders at a Galleria-area hotel. "We have got one office in the East, the embassy, and one in the West in San Francisco. The United States is a huge country. We cannot cover it all."
Nguyen Tan Dung and his delegation of more than 100 Vietnamese officials are meeting with Texas cotton producers, energy company officials and airline executives to discuss ways to expand trade between the two nations.
His meeting comes amid protests from members of the local Vietnamese community who claim Dung's government has one of the world's worst records on human rights.
Local business leaders hope his visit will strengthen economic ties between Houston and a regime the U.S. once considered an enemy.
"I think it will make a tremendous impact," Joe Knierien, president of International Trade Expo and organizer of the business forum, said on Wednesday. "We're very fortunate in the fact that the prime minister has selected our city."
Houston drew Dung because of its demand for Vietnamese products, such as coffee, and the goods and services it can sell to Vietnam, Knierien said.
With a Vietnamese community population of 85,000, the Houston area has the third-largest such community in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau.
Energy meetings
Dung is meeting with officials from energy firms to discuss investment in Vietnam's oil and gas industry. And he is meeting with airline officials to talk about offering flights to Vietnam, Knierien said.
"The airlines themselves are very interested in looking at Vietnam as the next market," said Knierien, a Vietnamese immigrant who left Vietnam 38 years ago.
The Vietnamese are also interested in buying Texas cotton and beef, said Don Sweat president of the Galleria Chamber of Commerce, one of the sponsors of the event.
Texas Cotton Producers — whose growers produced 5 million acres of cotton last year — are expected to sign an agreement with Vietnam offering more of the billowy, white substance to the southeast Asian nation.
"The United States cotton industry is already selling cotton to Vietnam, but we certainly want to increase the amount we sell to Vietnam," said Roger Haldenby, vice president of operations for Lubbock-based Plains Cotton Growers.
Exports of cotton
Exports of cotton shipped from Houston to Vietnam exceeded $1.9 million last year, according to the Greater Houston Partnership. Cotton made up some of the $86.7 million worth of goods traded between the Bayou City and Vietnam in 2007, according to the partnership.
Doing business
National trade with Vietnam exceeded $12.5 billion worth of goods last year, up 30 percent from the previous year, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. Trade with the nation increased in part because Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization last year.
Dung left Hanoi Sunday for a visit to the U.S., with a stop in Washington, D.C., where he commenced negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty.
Dung's trip follows a Phung's meeting in April with the Greater Houston Partnership.
'Jobs for our economy'
In Houston, 214 companies do business with Vietnam, according to the partnership.
"We're very pleased in the business community any time a country that is doing so much business with the U.S. and with this region looks for ways to take this trade to new levels," said Jeff Moseley, Greater Houston Partnership president and chief executive officer.
"These are jobs for our economy."
Most recommended comments
dchosen01 wrote:
Protest's at Westin Oaks (Galleria area) @ 9:00AM.
6/26/2008 1:00:48 AM
MeteorMan wrote:
Just keep them the hell out of here!
6/26/2008 4:08:16 PM
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Charli wrote:
What a wonderful way to honor the memory of those who were sent, against their will, to fight a war supposedly defending democracy. Then, as now, it appears those who died were only defending the right of a few to profit from war and one only need to reflect on Eisenhower's warning about the "military-industrial complex" as he left office to finally understand the Vietnam War and now the "war on terror."
We are a shameful nation.
6/26/2008 7:18:08 PM
JoeA wrote:
Charli, Easy! Thousands voluntarily enlisted in the military service and fought honorably in Vietnam. The tide turned as the war in Vietnam dragged on, as it is now turning in Iraq and for the same reason.
The focus today, however, is to protest the US conducting business with a country that has such a terrible record of human rights. We should demand change as a condition of trade and not turn a blind eye to corruption and human rights violations.
6/26/2008 9:57:58 PM
dchosen01 wrote:
I'm proud and honored to stand next to a toddler, a father, a mother, a grandfather, and a grandmother to enthusiastically vocalize THE TRUTH and expose the criminal acts of these money, leeching tyrants.
The sight of these VCs (COMMUNISTS) scurrying into the waiting cars, after the meeting, conjures up images of a car burglar or as if they were being bombarded with rotten tomatoes, WAS PRICELESS.
Please CLICK on the PICTURE below to watch the Video
Thank you Phan Thanh, for your excellent and thorough coverage. I would like to link.