01 MINUTE 03 SECONDS
ENGLISH SPEECH: 53 SECONDS
00'00
Vietnamese farmers tend their rice paddies. It is an image recreated in
countless films. But for many of us, there is a darker association. a war
that ended 25 years ago.

The cycle of rice sowing and planting goes on much as it did when the French
forces arrived to colonize Vietnam in the nineteenth century.
00'30
It was after the Second World War that Ho Chi Minh's Communist Party ousted
the French. His Mausoleum in Hanoi stands as a symbol to many Vietnamese of
the struggle both for independence. and ultimately reunification.

Ho Chi Minh wanted to end the partition of north and south Vietnam
which had followed French withdrawal - and was prepared to take-on a
Cold War super-power. Four million Vietnamese died in the War with
America. The United States lost fifty-eight thousand US soldiers.

Open hostilities with the US ended in 1973. But it was on April 30th,
1975, that the American embassy in Saigon was evacuated as northern troops
poured into the city to seize power.
00'50
At Vietnam's Army museum, there are triumphant reminders of the
victory. Wreckage of US planes represent the deadly air campaign
waged against the Vietnamese. Over one Christmas period alone
B52's flew 3000 sorties against the north. Bombs rained down - killing
hundreds.

Lake Kiem, central Hanoi. A place for two veterans of war to take in the
view. Both are in their eighties, and have lived through almost 30 years of
continuous war in Vietnam.
01'20
Trang Cong Khu was decorated with Vietnam's highest medal for his
service in the War Against America. He was motivated by more than
ideology.

TRANG CONG KHU, WAR VETERAN, VIETNAMESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
"We fought against America in the war firstly because we love our
country, not for communism. We were led by our President, Ho Chi
Minh. He was a man who loved our country and the reason we fought
was to be liberated."

02'00
Ng Dinh Le fought the French, surviving capture and
imprisonment. The landscape he surveys today is very different from
then.

NG DINH LE, WAR VETERAN, VIETNAMESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
"There are a lot of changes in our country, many good changes."

TRANG CONG KHU, WAR VETERAN, IN VIETNAMESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
"There are a lot of changes. One of the reasons is that we have tried and
put a great deal of effort into the country ourselves. And secondly, we
have had help, from other countries and they have helped us to have the good
days like today. And we consider all the nations in the world our friends."
02'30
In just a decade, the cities and towns of Vietnam have been
transformed. The collapse of the Soviet bloc - one of the main trading
partners - led Vietnam's communist leaders to think the unthinkable.

They relaxed the rigid economic controls.

Policies of collectivisation and nationalisation have steadily been thrown
away.

Foreign investment has been encouraged. Diplomatic and economic
links established with the United States. There is a new entrepreneurial
spirit in the country.

03'05
Businesses spring up every day. A population of over seventy million people
has embraced consumerism. And top of many a list of priorities is a
motorcycle. The Vietnamese have a passion for bikes. and a new car is out
of reach for most people in a country where the average earnings per year
don't exceed 400 US dollars.

03'30
This motorcycle dealership was set up four years ago by a woman
who saw the business potential in the huge increase in traffic on Hanoi's
streets.

Now around 30 scooters a month leave the showroom - that's a
turnover of some ninety thousand US dollars.

Nga is a twenty eight year old law graduate - and is determined to
cultivate the new attitudes.
04'00
NGUYEN THI THU NGA, MOTORCYCLE DEALER:
"They willing to... when they make money they're willing to spend. They're
willing to invest in their own business or they can join together to make
business, they can learn technology, these things they can learn."


In the countryside, the pace of change is slower. These brickworks
have used the same techniques for decades. Everything in the process
is done painstakingly by labourers, brick by brick. In many of Vietnam's
traditional industries there is a chronic lack of investment, and too much
bureaucracy. Vietnam can't compete with its more efficient Asian
neighbours.
04'50
The government has come up with what it thinks may be a more
immediate solution to the desperate quest for hard currency.
Paddy fields are giving way to golf courses across the country.

It would have seemed unthinkable 25 years ago that the favourite sport of
many a capitalist in the West would be used to entice tourists.

King's Island Golf Resort in the north east of Vietnam employs 450 people.
All its young caddies are women.

Trea is a regular on the course - each weekend she does several circuits of
the eighteen holes. Instead of doing back-breaking work in the fields with
her parents and eight brothers and sisters, she can take her earnings and
tips back to her family.

But she is worried the course is not attracting enough foreigners.
05'35
NGUYEN BA TREA, GOLF CADDY, IN VIETNAMESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
"If there were more golf courses in Vietnam and more visitors came then it
would create more jobs here. And make my job more secure. At the moment I
only work 15 days a month here and I would like to work more."

Golfers can tee-off at five other major golf courses across
Vietnam. But as yet not enough golfing holidays have been taken up.
The high cost of the tours and lack of transport links have
been blamed.

Those that play at King's Island are almost all foreign workers based in
Hanoi. The course is a joint venture don't correct a Thai investor and the
local tourist authorities.


It is only now, some years after opening, that it is making
money. Plans for other courses in the area have been shelved.

06'40
Jim Lafferrandre works for an oil company, one of many multi-nationals

looking to try and exploit the natural resources of the country. Like other
expats, he pays 15,000 US dollars a year for the privilege of spending his
weekends at the island. The club boasts 500 regular members. But only a
few of those taking to the greens are Vietnamese. Few can afford the high
price for access to the clubhouse.

Though as more people exploit the opportunities in Vietnam, membership is
expected to widen.

07'10
JIM LAFFERANDRE , GOLFER:
"It is a bit ironic I suppose, that after this class struggle over 20 years
ago that we're here in Vietnam playing golf now. But the newness has sort
of worn off and now I just enjoy it. And I think you see more and more
Vietnamese playing. It's really not only for the expatriates here in
Vietnam. You see more and more there are Vietnamese golf tournaments now and
actually you see some pretty good Vietnamese golfers."


With golf still only the preserve of the few, many Vietnamese have
discovered tennis. Public courts are booked solidly for weeks on end.
Sports shops are stocked full of equipment for those wanting to pick up a
racquet. Alongside the consumer boom has been the desire for more leisure
time - and more activities.
08'10
The greater opportunities for both work and play in Vietnam's towns
and cities is also proving tempting for thousands of migrants
from the countryside.

Many are leaving their farms to seek the new opportunities working in
foreign owned factories.
08'26
Vietnam is gradually shaking off its colonial past. It has jettisoned the
communist economic policies that were so abhorrent to the western powers 25
years ago.
08'40
For all that the bright lights have replaced the communist banners,
Vietnam remains a one party state with little hint the leadership wants to
relax its hold on power. The country is over-populated and half its people
live below the poverty line. Many Vietnamese say they won the war and lost
the peace. Now they have the economic muscle, the consumers of the
Socialist Republic may soon wonder whether political power will one day come
their way..ENDS

09'20