Vietnam Isn’t North Korea—and 50 Years of Australian Aid Has Helped

Australia constructed the first bridge across the Mekong River in Vietnam in 2000, Australia’s largest development project to that time. Colloquially known as the ‘Australian bridge’, it remains a very visible symbol of the depth of the relationship. Tertiary education has also been an important vector to build people-to-people ties, including through scholarships provided under the development program.

As Vietnam’s needs and objectives have changed, so too has the nature of Australia’s cooperation. Today the centerpiece is the Vietnam Australia Centre embedded within the Ho Chi Minh National Academy. The center draws on Australian expertise to provide training, capacity building, research activities and policy input to support Vietnam’s national and provincial leadership.

Australia has not shied away from difficult topics. One focus of Australia’s development support is on women’s equality and leadership. Since 2002, Australia and Vietnam have regularly held human rights discussions, with the 18th Human Rights Dialogue taking place in Hanoi earlier this year. Australia has adopted a peer support model in which each country shares its human rights challenges and encouragement is given to meeting international human rights commitments. While this isn’t as cathartic as condemning Vietnam for its human rights abuses, of which there can be no doubt, it does provide an opportunity to influence thinking and approaches over the long term.

All of this shows that Australia has been a genuine partner in helping Vietnam meet its development goals despite significant ideological differences. Australia’s pioneering engagement with Vietnam has built huge reservoirs of goodwill. It has helped Australia develop a significant profile in Vietnam, which is useful for trade and other links, and an outsized level of access to Vietnamese policymakers.

So does this mean that Australia can tell Vietnam what to do? That is neither realistic nor desirable.

Influence is about creating a region that Australia wants to live in, where neighbors are meeting their development goals. This means that the focus of the development partnerships shouldn’t be on short-term, transitory outcomes or benefits.

The measure of success is that Australia has helped shape Vietnam in a way that suits Australia’s broad long-term interests in fostering a peaceful, stable and predictable region.

Perhaps the best argument in favor of a long-term investment in development, diplomacy, trade and defense is the counterfactual one. Imagine Vietnam had developed in the way that North Korea did. That’s actually not hard to conceive. Not only would it be a negative for Vietnamese people, it would be devasting for the region.

For those who are inclined to be fatalistic about Australia’s ability to impact international affairs, the Australia–Vietnam relationship is an object lesson in what can be achieved with a commitment to shaping a shared future and the intelligent, long-term use of Australia’s tools of statecraft, including its aid program.

Don’t judge Australia’s development program by whether a country’s current political leader is pro-Australia. Judge it by the trajectory of 50 years.

Melissa Conley Tyler is executive director of the Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy & Defense Dialogue. This article is published courtesy of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).