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Viewing cable 07BANGKOK6236, EXBS VIETNAM: MEETINGS WITH BORDER SECURITY

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07BANGKOK6236 2007-12-21 07:40 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Bangkok
VZCZCXRO7414
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHBK #6236/01 3550740
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210740Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1175
RHMFIUU/US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION WASHINGTON DC
RHMCSUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RULSJGA/COMDT COGARD WASHDC
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 6448
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 0704
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCNEXC/EXPORT CONTROL AND RELATED BORDER SECURITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 006236 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR ISN/ECC KCROUCH, EAP/MLS BBLACKSHAW 
CBP/INA FOR RWATT 
DEPT OF ENERGY FOR NNSA TPERRY 
AMEMBASSY HANOI FOR PECKSTROM 
CONGEN HCMC FOR ADICKEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETTC KNNP KSTC MNUC PARM PREL VN
SUBJECT: EXBS VIETNAM: MEETINGS WITH BORDER SECURITY 
OFFICIALS 
 
 
BANGKOK 00006236  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SUMMARY 
 
1. (U) EXBS Advisor and local USG officials met with 
Vietnamese border security officials in Ho Chi Minh City and 
port, at Moc Bai border crossing with Cambodia, and at Border 
Guards headquarters in Hanoi, December 3-6, 2007.  Vietnamese 
officials were uniformly anxious for cooperation and 
assistance.  Vietnam faces a wide array of transnational 
threats, exacerbated by the country's burgeoning economic 
development and location along key trade routes.  U.S. 
assistance can play a valuable role in complementing 
Australian, Japanese and European efforts. 
 
HO CHI MINH CITY AND PORT 
 
2.  (U) EXBS Advisor and CONGEN officers met with Customs and 
Border Guards officials in Ho Chi Minh City.  The meeting was 
very cordial, with the Customs spokesperson expressing their 
pleasure with having the U.S. play a leading role in 
counterproliferation assistance.  He explained that Customs 
and the Border Guards have the lead for border security at 
land borders and seaports.  Immigration, under the Ministry 
for Public Security, has the lead at airports.  Most of their 
experience is in conventional smuggling and commercial fraud; 
countering WMD is a relatively new area for them.  They have 
little or no equipment with which to detect harmful nuclear, 
chemical or biological materials.  They fully support U.S. 
training and information exchanges, and have good 
anti-smuggling cooperation with Australia, including language 
training. 
 
3. (U) The Border Guards explained that whereas any cargo 
shipments of interest used to have to be inspected 
physically, now they can be done virtually via targeting 
techniques.  Passenger and cruise ships, on the other hand, 
are still done manually.  They expressed a need for equipment 
to help deal with the increased monitoring requirements 
associated with Vietnam's rapid economic growth.  The Border 
Guards' uncovering of cases of weapons and explosives 
smuggling have come from intelligence rather than detection 
devices. 
 
4. (SBU) Port officials stated that there are twelve 
different ports divided into four sections in their district. 
 Section three handled three billion USD in exports and one 
billion USD in imports.  There is a wide variety of cargo and 
volume is increasing, but staff and equipment are not keeping 
pace.  The Japanese government wanted to fund an x-ray 
scanner at the container port, but there isn't currently 
enough space to properly site it.  Closed-circuit television 
is being added to improve security. 
 
5. (U) A Taiwanese firm has been operating the container 
terminal since 1998.  Company executives stated that this was 
the only private port operation in Vietnam, with 290 staff 
and an additional six hundred contractors.  Last year the 
port handled 450 thousand containers, and they expect a 
thirty percent increase next year.  Present capacity is 900 
thousand TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units).  They service on 
average 22 vessels per week, and use U.S. software.  The port 
has three berths with a total length of 486 meters.  An 
additional berth is being added.  Unfortunately, wharfside 
draft is only ten meters, which limits ship size to 1400 
TEUs.  Consequently, only regional feeder ships call at the 
port.  A new deep water port is being built on the coast, due 
to open in 2009.  Hutchison Whampoa and Singapore Ports are 
the main contractors.  Draft will be 40 meters, which will 
handle ships up to 6000 TEU and allow direct shipments to the 
U.S. and Europe.  They expect to be able to handle 4300 ships 
annually, and up to 100,000 passengers and 20,000 
crewmembers.  A limiting factor is inadequate transportation 
infrastructure connecting the port to Ho Chi Minh City and 
the industrial areas in Dong Nai province.  Currently only a 
 
BANGKOK 00006236  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
single 110-km road provides this function. 
 
MOC BAI BORDER CROSSING 
 
6. (U) EXBS Advisor and CONGEN officers traveled to Moc Bai 
to meet with security officials at the border crossing into 
Cambodia.  Both Customs and Border Guards officers welcomed 
the visit, and welcomed any assistance that would improve 
security without impeding the flow of trade.  Officials 
stated that to date in 2007, twenty-two thousand vehicles 
(approximately eleven thousand in each direction) and 1.2 
million people have passed through the checkpoint (11,500 
U.S. citizens).  Up to 5000 persons transit in a day.  Value 
of trade is 82.7 million USD.  Out of six thousand customs 
declarations, there were 204 cases of smuggling and 
commercial fraud.  From 2002 to 2007, twelve weapons and 
ammunition were confiscated, three individuals with 3500 
amphetamine tablets were arrested, and several trafficking 
cases of Vietnamese and North Korean women were uncovered. 
Communication with other crossing points and Cambodian 
counterparts is by telephone.  Language training in 
Cambodian, Laotian and Thai is provided to border officers. 
The Australian government has provided equipment for 
detecting fraudulent documents, but other requirements exist. 
 Suggestions were made to share watchlist information, 
provide border inspection training and equipment (radiation, 
drug and explosives detectors), and provide communications 
equipment. 
 
HANOI - MEETING WITH BORDER GUARDS 
 
8.  (U) In Hanoi, EXBS Advisor and EMBOFF met with senior 
Border Guards officials, who provided a comprehensive 
overview of the Border Guards' mission.  The Border Guards 
was founded in 1959.  Initially under the Ministry for Public 
Security, they were subsequently transferred to the Ministry 
of Defense.  Their mission is to manage the border line and 
guard against intrusions.  They monitor both people and 
vehicles crossing the border, and coordinate with local 
authorities.  The challenge is considerable, given Vietnam's 
4570-km land border and 3260-km sea border.  Twenty-five 
provinces border other countries; twenty-eight provinces have 
a seacoast.  There are 179 international and national 
(bilateral) border crossings, and 145 seaports.  The most 
common challenges are "non-traditional security threats," 
including smuggling of weapons and drugs, illegal immigration 
and trafficking-in-persons.  The Border Guards has three 
organizational levels: the national headquarters, which 
provides management and support functions and reports to the 
Ministry of Defense; Provincial Commands; and checkpoints. 
The Border Guards also operates patrol ships, which provide 
security out to 24 nautical miles and also perform Search and 
Rescue. 
 
9. (U) In 2007, the Border Guards processed three million 
international visitors, eight million national (bilateral) 
visitors, and 700,000 vehicle crossings.  At the seaports, 
they processed 67,000 ship calls, 386,000 foreign tourists 
and one million crewmembers.  There were ten cases of false 
passports and 586 other violations, including overstaying 
visas and other document irregularities.  There were 26 cases 
of illegal currency transfers, amounting to ninety thousand 
renminbi and 400 million VND.  There were six cases of 
weapons smuggling and hundreds of drug cases.  The Border 
Guards are appreciative of previous EXBS training and 
equipment, and work closely with Customs to facilitate 
requests to visit border facilities.  Requests for additional 
assistance include training on immigration management, 
transborder crimes and "non-traditional security threats"; 
equipment to help secure land and sea borders, including 
binoculars, contraband detectors (nuclear, explosives, etc.), 
communications systems, and patrol boats; and study visits to 
the U.S. 
 
BANGKOK 00006236  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
 
10. (SBU) In summing up their remarks, the Border Guards' 
Deputy Commander emphasized the importance of working 
together against common threats, including sharing 
information and coordinating with border officials from other 
countries.  Improved English language capability is a key 
facilitator.  Vietnam's proximity to the Golden Triangle and 
major transportation routes means it will always face a wide 
array of transnational threats.  With the Cold War in the 
past, the task now is to foster cooperation and trust, to 
address common challenges in a collaborative manner. 
 
COMMENTS 
 
11. (U) Border security officials are uniformly cooperative 
and anxious for assistance which improves security while 
facilitating to increasing trade flows.  Australian, Japanese 
and European agencies are currently providing different types 
of assistance, but Vietnam's rapidly expanding economy and 
need to modernize allows for additional targeted efforts. 
The EXBS program can provide strategic trade control related 
training, such as seaport land border interdiction training, 
and basic inspection equipment.  The EXBS program advisor 
will work with relevant agencies to coordinate additional USG 
assistance to meet border guards' needs. 
BOYCE