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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() An international aid package of U.S. $2.4 billion for 1998 was approved in December 1997 at a World Bank-chaired donor consortium meeting in Tokyo, from donors that included the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations Development Program, Japan, France, Sweden, and Australia. On June 13, major donors met in Hue with Vietnamese government officials to press for economic and legal reform, privatization of more than 6,000 state-owned companies, measures to address corruption, and greater financial transparency. On September 8, the World Bank approved three loan agreements totaling U.S. $193 million dollars for agricultural development, higher education, and urban transportation projects in Vietnam. On the same day, the ADB announced a lending package of U.S.$300 million a year for each of the next three years, contingent on Vietnam showing progress on economic reforms, particularly of state-owned enterprises. Japan
European Union and the United States
In the third year of normalized diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Vietnam, the U.S. took tentative steps towards establishing trade relations. In March, President Clinton issued a waiver of the Jackson-Vanik emigration requirements in order to allow U.S. companies that do business in Vietnam to obtain credits from the Export-Import Bank and loans and political risk insurance from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). On June 3, Clinton extended the waiver for one year. The Houseof Representatives voted on July 30 against a resolution to overturn the waiver. On March 19, OPIC signed an agreement with Vietnam, despite the results of OPICs own investigation of labor rights abuses (a precondition for receiving OPIC assistance), which pointed out the lack of freedom of association in the workplace, lack of collective bargaining, and other serious abuses. In May, the State Department held another meeting in its bilateral human rights dialogue with Vietnam, but the dialogue produced no immediate results. For the first time, as requested by Congress, the talks took place at the level of assistant secretary of state. In September, the United States praised the prisoner release, stating that the amnesty would improve relations between the two countries, but urged the Vietnamese government to release everyone detained in violation of international human rights standards. |
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