350 Meet to Promote Vietnamese Reforms
They came from around the world to pursue a goal that may not even be accomplished in the next decade: pushing for democracy and economic development in Vietnam.
About 350 people from 11 countries gathered at the third triennial Vietnamese Professional Society conference Saturday to discuss how to press for democratic reforms while the Communist government vows to maintain political control.
“Development is a direct consequence of a free and democratic political system,” said Diem Do, spokesperson for the society. “The two must go hand in hand.”
The group seeks to further the interests of the Vietnamese people and culture by connecting professionals throughout the world who can attack the Southeast Asian country’s problems through social, political, economic and spiritual means.
President Clinton decided a little more than a year ago to establish relations with Hanoi, but economic benefits have been slow in coming, mostly because the Vietnamese Communist Party, in conducting its first party congress in five years, has reaffirmed its intent to maintain the status quo.
At Saturday’s conference at the Anaheim Hilton and Towers, which will continue today, participants were debating new ways in which to motivate people to participate in the national development.
Ten workshops are being held, ranging from the threat of AIDS in Vietnam to a policy for helping to improve higher education. A new software designed to translate English writing into Vietnamese will also be unveiled.
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