Outgoing US Ambassador Michael W.
Michalak who will end his tenure and leave Vietnam later this month after three
years in the Southeast Asian country addressed a farewell press conference on
January 6 in Hanoi.

What impressed you most during your tenure in Vietnam?
Have you got any message to the Vietnamese youths?

I am very impressed by the Vietnamese people. They are
passionate, straightforward, enthusiastic, business-minded, and success-driven.
And I think all those characteristics have helped Vietnam become a middle income
country and soon a developed one in the future.

For young Vietnamese people, I advise them to try to learn
English well. The language is key to engaging themselves in the country’s
economic growth.

What is the biggest challenge to Vietnam?

If I have to point out the biggest challenge, I believe it
is a world-class education system.

We need people with intellect and equipped with knowledge
tools to analyze and think up solutions to any problem in the economy,
infrastructure, politics, and so on. We are entering an era of knowledge-based
economy so we very much need a good educational system…

Educational cooperation was a top priority during your
tenure in Vietnam. Will it also be true to your successor?

Education was my highest priority. It is good for Vietnam’s
growth when there are a lot of Vietnamese students studying in the US and other
countries…

I worked with David Shear [who is expected to succeed
Ambassador Michael W. Michalak] and I know that he also gives a high priority to
education. One of the first things I would tell him, as an elder brother does to
his younger, is continue the good progress in educational cooperation here …

How would you like yourself to be remembered? What do
you think about human rights issues in Vietnam?

I would like to be remembered as an ambassador who has
helped strengthen ties and deepen trust and mutual understanding between Vietnam
and the US, although I have faced many complex problems and got involved in
tough dialogues.

We have seen progress, positive signs from Vietnam
regarding its human rights. It has made great strides in alleviating poverty and
expanding the operations of religious groups. There are still some concerns,
however.

I have met many times with President Nguyen Minh Triet and
talked with him a lot about human rights. When I did not mention them, it was
him who offered to refer to the issues.

Still, we both have differences but we have one thing in
common: through open and honest dialogues, we will try to reconcile those
differences.

I am proud to say that we are still friends despite the
frank discussions about the human rights issues.

And I also would like to say that through our dialogues on
human rights and other matters, we have come to one point: what were once
considered sensitive issues are now not sensitive any longer and we can discuss
them freely.

As a result, we have gradually bridged the gap, once big,
between us.

How would you evaluate the changes in Vietnam society?

I have witnessed positive changes in Vietnam. The American
Bar Association, for instance, has recently been allowed to operate in Vietnam
after 5 years of application for the approval. In a farewell meeting with me,
Vietnam’s Minister of Justice said he would like to cooperate with the group.

However, Vietnam should accelerate its procedures of
approving NGOs’ operations and establishment.

What do you regret not doing in your term? How would you
imagine the Vietnam-US relation to be in the next 15 years?

I wish I had helped Vietnamese and American universities
cooperate to found a US-style university in Vietnam. I wish I had been able to
bring Vietnamese military officers to the US for training.

I also wish the US had spent more money bringing more
American health care experts to Vietnam to help fight against HIV/AIDS and
improve the health care system.

I want to see an independent, rich, and powerful Vietnam in
the next 15 years.

I believe the United States is a good partner of Vietnam
which is one of the most important countries in Southeast Asia.

Source: Thanh Nien/Tuoi Tre