Embassy Hanoi and Consulate General Ho Chi Minh - OIG - US ...

SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED
The Ambassador has reestablished a law enforcement coordination mechanism
to improve one of the weakest aspects of bilateral relations. The regional security
office, with its own investigative obstacles in Vietnam, would be a member of any
law enforcement grouping.
WELL-LED CONSULATE GENERAL HO CHI MINH CITY
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, spearheads Vietnam’s economic renaissance.
It is the transportation nerve center of the country and the hub of significant
economic activity. The industries, the shipping conglomerates, the farms, the
banks, in short the investors in Vietnam’s economic future, are there. Ho Chi Minh
City has an attractive American consulate general with the sixth largest immigrant
visa (IV) and largest fiancé(e) visa program in the world. At the time of the inspection,
there were three agencies in addition to the Department located in Ho Chi
Minh City. DHS has three American positions; the Foreign Commercial Service
employs two Americans; and Foreign Service nationals (FSNs) cover the Foreign
Agricultural Service. The Department has 37 American officers, and overall, the
post has 226 FSNs. The FY 2005 funding for program, International Cooperative
Administrative Support Services (ICASS), and DS is estimated at $4.1 million.
Two excellent officers lead the consulate general, and upbeat morale is evident
among American and Vietnamese employees. The front office pays considerable
attention to the development of entry-level officers, meeting with them as a group
every six weeks or so, bringing them into representational functions, sending them
out as speakers, and providing them with out-of-cone experience, such as opportunities
for political reporting. The consul general provides firm direction to his staff
for harvesting trade and business opportunities, supporting the Department’s
economic policy initiatives, and encouraging economic and political reform. He
oversees a large consular section beset by serious visa, fiancée, and adoption fraud.
Vietnam fought a civil war to eliminate internal political divisions, but an
economic and psychological gulf still divides the more prosperous south from the
rapidly developing North. Unfortunately, regional rivalries and perspectives too
often creep into embassy-consulate general relations. In years past this led to an
unhealthy rivalry and resentment between the two American posts. Recently, both
posts have been working together more productively. Nevertheless, the Ambassador
agreed with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) that the embassy requires a
more proactive effort to better integrate Consulate General Ho Chi Minh City into
the country team. The Ambassador announced his intention of requiring the
12 . OIG Report No. ISP-I-05-28A, Inspection of Embassy Hanoi and CG Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, September 2005
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED