Ta Ngoc Tan, director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration in Vietnam, visited Korea on September 17-23, (Check the dates) on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Korea-Vietnam diplomatic relations. During his stay week-long visit at the invitation of the Korea Foundation, Director Tan visited called on relevant public institutions and individuals in order to advance an to discuss bilateral exchange programs for government employees. He said, “We can’t help learning must learn from Korea, which resembles Vietnam as our two countries resemble each other very much in many ways,” he said, reflecting his favorable impression of Korea ways.” The following are excerpts of an interview of Ta Ngoc Tan.

Learning Korea’s Economic Know-how

“Korea was one of the world’s poorest agricultural agrarian countries with no decent few natural resources. However, But you have overcome this adverse conditions and become a global-leading economic power leader. I am here to learn this know-how for Vietnam, which is preparing for its second economic takeoff,” said Ta Ngoc Tan, (58) 58, a member of Vietnam’s Communist Party the Central Committee of Vietnam’s Communist Party and director (minister level) of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy (HCMA) of Politics and Public Administration (HCMA). He recently visited Korea at the invitation of the Korea Foundation. The HCMA is the premier academy of Vietnam’s Communist Party, which trains public servants, including local government employees, and high-ranking officials such as cabinet ministers and vice ministers, and senior party leaders. Director Tan is a prominent figure ministerial-level official who can offer his advice to the premier, Vietnam’s most influential leader, as well as the central government top leadership in his country.

This year, Korea and Vietnam mark the 20th anniversary of their diplomatic relations. Director Tan notes: “It is needless to say, but if it “If it just helps to develop Vietnam, we are ready to learn from any experience of any country in the world. However world,” said Director Tan. “But, most of all, we are interested in Korea because Korea’s development phases and processes of the past are very similar to those of Vietnam.” He continued: “Both as peninsular countries, Korea and Vietnam resemble each other very much culturally and socially as well as in the persistent character of our people our tenacious national character. Like Vietnam, Korea also underwent a war but on a foundation, you built an achieved economic success on the foundation of such experience. So, from the start, we couldn’t help learning had no other choice but to learn from Korea to achieve economic growth from a war-torn territory rebuild our economy from the ruins of war.” Director Tan admitted He said that Korea has been a model for Vietnam, a Socialist though a socialist country, since the country it introduced its Doimoi (Renovation) policy policies for economic reform and openness, or Doi Moi, in 1986.

Doi Moi Policy Needs Improvement

“Since a large portion of the Vietnamese our territory was devastated by a long war, we had to suffer suffered from a severe shortage of food, despite our having a in spite of very favorable climate conditions. Of the entire population, Some 76 to 78 percent of people the entire population experienced extreme poverty,” said Director Tan.
He went on: “The most remarkable result of the Doimoi outcome of the Doi Moi policy was that it brought down the percentage of the destitute poor brought down to less than 10 percent of the overall population. We take great pride in having elevated developing Vietnam from one of the poorest country countries in the world, shortly after in the wake of the war, to a medium level mid-tier economy now. For instance, before the introduction of Doimoi, we imported about 2 million tons of rice to solve the shortage of food before the introduction of Doi Moi, but now we are exporting about 7 million tons of rice every a year.”

“Apart from rice, “Not only rice but exports of other agricultural and marine products, such as tea, coffee, cacao, cashew nut, pepper, and shrimp have also increased greatly. The development of We are pushing ahead with infrastructure development, like harbor, airport and road projects, is not so satisfactory yet, but we are consistently pushing ahead with the improvements building harbors, airports and roads, though we have yet to reach a satisfactory level. Especially, the information and communications industry technology sector is rapidly developing. Currently, about 150 million mobile phones are in use in Vietnam, which is far more than the entire population of 85 million.”

However, Director Tan lamented the fact that Vietnam is now currently experiencing various a range of problems, like that which similar to those faced by Korea had suffered in the 1980s. “Financial problems and booms of real estate speculation boom, which occurred in the process of Korea’s economic development in the 1980s, are also big major problems in Vietnam now today. Currently, Interest rates of Vietnamese banks’ interest rates stand at 24 to 25 percent currently amount to 24-25 percent, and as I understand, Korea had a similar situation in the 1980s,” he noted said.

“We haven’t yet controlled these have yet to control the high interest rates and this is negatively affecting our trade and investment, too. If we fail to solve this financial problem, it will definitely hamper investment and development in other fields as well sectors in the future. So, we’d like to learn how Korea solved these similar problems in the past. In addition, as Vietnam is being rapidly industrialized, industrial complexes are fast increasing and we are having expanding to drive us into trouble in controlling pollution and treating waste with pollution control and waste disposal. We also want to learn how Korea overcame this problem, too.”

This is Director Tan’s second visit to Korea. Ten On his second visit to Korea, Tan said that at the time of his first visit 10 years ago, he visited as was the dean of the journalism department of the HCMA, accompanied by and led a Vietnamese press corps that traveled on a trip to all over Korea to confirm observe its successful development. Of the places he visited at the time, he still remembers the beauty of Jeju Island. He said that of all places he visited at the time, he vividly remembers Jeju Island for its beautiful scenery.

Exchange for Training of Public Officials

During his stay in Korea this year current visit, Director Tan has visited a number of public institutions, such as including the Korea Land & Housing Corporation, Central Officials Training Institute, Green Growth Korea, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, Korea Development Institute, Korea Industry Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Research, and Korea Agricultural and Rural Research Institute. At He gave a lecture at the Central Officials Training Institute, he gave a lecture. “Every institution gave offered me a lot of information and I deeply appreciate the help. their assistance,” he said. “They were all equipped with large stocks of all have produced enormous research outcomes, but they didn’t stop at simply research only and but put their knowledge to practical use to produce reap great effects. We really envy such an attitude and I think that believe this is what we have to learn from Korea, for sure.”

Director Tan has a particular focus on agriculture as the field to pay special attention to, in connection with expressed particular concern about rural problems in the process of economic development. He said, “Currently, about 70 percent of Vietnam’s population resides in agricultural areas and they make a living by rural areas, earning their livelihoods from farming. But for public projects, such as the construction of infrastructure, it is Therefore, it is inevitable to expropriate their land for public projects such as infrastructure construction. Unfortunately, about this problem, I didn’t get any satisfactory solution from any institution in Korea. So, I hope that we will find an answer through a joint research about this problem. Yet, I got a possible idea from the Korea Land & Housing Corporation. I think, arranging housing for displaced people or offering them ownership of shopping districts are good ideas,” he said. I haven’t found any solution from my visits to public institutions here. So I hope we undertake joint research to find solutions together. But I got a clue at Korea Land & Housing Corporation. It appears to be a good idea to provide displacees with housing or ownership rights for shopping malls.”

One of ives for Director Tan’s visit to Korea was also hopes to promote exchanges of both countries’ government employees between the two countries. “We made an agreement with Korea about a plan agreed with the Korean side to send about 120 Vietnamese high-ranking officials, including heads of departments and bureaus, and vice-governors, to Korea for special training sessions. At the same time, Korea has agreed to dispatch government its officials in related fields to Vietnam and give deliver us the their know-how through lectures and or seminars.”

Born Director Tan, born in Phu Tho, some 80 km north of Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, Director Tan was so patriotic that he voluntarily joined the army to participate in the “Liberation War” at age 17, immediately after entering Vietnam National University, Hanoi. He was also a brilliant talent. He worked as a staff reporter for the Communist party organ, Nhan Dan (The People), and after graduating from the journalism department of HCMA, he went to the former Soviet Union to study at the Russian Academy of Social Sciences (ASS) after graduating from the journalism department of the HCMA, and Sciences, where he earned a doctor’s degree at the ASS doctorate. Korea and Vietnam once pointed guns at each other. But he says: “I “Korea and Vietnam once pointed guns at each other. But I am well aware that Koreans didn’t do it out of their own will. I feel very friendly close to Koreans because they know how to hold others dear and respect them, and how to open their minds to others to make friends as they respect others and open their hearts first to make friends with others,” he said.

Lee Man-hoon
Editor, Sisa Media
JoongAng Daily The JoongAng Ilbo