American veteran journalist hails Vietnam's 50-year journey from isolation to global player

Hiebert is a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., where he previously served as deputy director of the Southeast Asia Program for six years. He is currently the Head of Research at the Bower Asia Policy Advisory Group and has maintained a long-standing connection with Vietnam for nearly five decades.

He first visited Hanoi in 1976 at the age of 33, when he was a journalist. Even then, he could feel the immense challenges Vietnam faced in rebuilding after the war. Hiebert had served as a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review across Southeast Asia and later as the Asia correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, closely following Vietnam's journey from isolation to global integration.

In the early 1990s, Hiebert was based in Hanoi for the Far Eastern Economic Review, reporting on Vietnam's economic reforms and its opening to the world. He joined the Review's Bangkok bureau in 1986, covering political and economic developments in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. He has authored two books on Vietnam, "Chasing the Tigers" and "Vietnam Notebook".

Murray Hiebert speaks during a working session with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy in 2017. Photo by the Center for Strategic and International Studies

In a recent interview with VnExpress, Hiebert reflected on Vietnam's integration and development, drawing on his extensive experience both as a foreign journalist based in Hanoi and as a leading expert on Southeast Asia.

From your first visit to Vietnam to your most recent return, what changes have you observed?

My first visit to Vietnam was in June 1976, just 13 months after the war ended. At that time, Hanoi was very poor, with many areas of Kham Thien Street still a wreck. Nothing worked very well. The lights didn't work very well and the electricity was unstable.

The main form of transport was bicycles. Everybody else was on bicycles, and there must have been a million of them. There were only a few Soviet-made Ladas for government officials or diplomats. Food was scarce, and people were very poor, as their clothes were patched together and very simple, mostly black or gray. But I understood what had happened, given that Vietnam had just emerged from the war.

Diplomats stayed in hotels like the Metropole, which was very run-down. They had their bedroom and office there. United Nations offices were in there. Some also stayed at the Thang Loi Hotel near the West Lake.

Today, Vietnam has built up and rebuilt itself. Both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have completely transformed in terms of infrastructure, each with its own metro line. It's a totally different atmosphere. There's a lot of enthusiasm. The last time I visited in 2023, there were many cars and motorcycles, and a lot of very good restaurants. They could tell the road to modernization was going to be very hard and slow, but I think it happened faster than many people thought.

So it's very different now, and you can see the confidence among officials and staff when you go into a government ministry. There's so much confidence, as many of them have received high-level education abroad. Actually, to think of where Vietnam was in 1975 and where it is in 2025, it's the difference between night and day, or Mars and Venus.

In the 1990s, you were an Asia correspondent, covering Vietnam during its attempts to break free from isolation and integrate into the region. What memories stand out from that time?

One interesting story is from around 1993-1994, when Scott Marciel, who was the first diplomat from the State Department to come to Hanoi. He was unable to transfer money through banks because there was a trade embargo and all the sanctions against Vietnam. He had to carry in himself all the cash he needed for food and transportation from Bangkok. That told the story of how isolated the U.S. and Vietnam were from each other at that time—so different from now, where we obviously can use credit cards or money transfer.

In the early 1990s, Vietnam was opening up but was still under embargo. The Cambodia issue had just been resolved, and the conflict with China wasn't entirely settled. The U.S. was moving slowly to lift sanctions and normalize relations with Vietnam. Afterward, it really did take a while for Vietnam to integrate into ASEAN. Each of these steps was a long road, and you couldn't just snap your fingers and say, "Now we've normalized relations." There were many challenges, and it took time to actually establish trade and investment. It wasn't as easy as it may seem now. On paper, the formal agreements were in place, but the practicalities were a bumpy road.

I was there in Hanoi when the embargo was lifted in 1994, and it was a big celebration. People were enthusiastic, seeing it as another step toward normalizing relations with the world. Coca-Cola even put up a big balloon, about four or five meters tall, in front of the Opera House. It was around that circle, and everyone passing by saw a giant Coke bottle. It was kind of funny.

Because the normalization process was a bit slow and difficult, I thought U.S.-Vietnam relations would move slowly. The U.S. finally set up an embassy in 1995, but even after that, progress was slow. The 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis also slowed things down, as the ASEAN region was hit hard. There was a lot of concern about how the relationship would develop, which really slowed the process. It took some years before things started to take off.

I'm not sure exactly when, but certainly by the 2000s, things began to move, and by the 2010s, diplomatic exchanges really picked up, with relations gaining momentum. The bilateral trade agreement had been signed, companies were coming in, and many U.S. businesses became more interested in Vietnam.

Now, the two countries have upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. I wasn't sure when that would happen—I certainly didn't expect it in 2023—but it happened much more quickly than I thought.

US ambassador to Vietnam Douglas Peterson delivers a statement to the press and a crowd of one hundred Vietnamese and Americans attending a welcoming ceremony held at Hanoi airport May 9, 1997. Peterson, a former Vietnam war veteran, is the first U.S. ambassador to Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. Photo by AFP

Looking back on Vietnam's journey from a nation under siege and embargo to being an active member of ASEAN and a strategic partner of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, what is your assessment?

Among the great powers, there is a lot of tension, but Vietnam has managed to balance between these powers effectively. I was very surprised that it worked.

Vietnam has been proactive in its relationships with major powers, especially with China, the U.S., and even European countries. Vietnam is very active in trying to build trade relations and expand its ties.

This is a "multidirectional" foreign policy, and Vietnam's approach has been very well conceived and very well received. Vietnam's diplomatic achievements have truly surprised people, reflecting its strategic thinking and proactivity. In the places where I've lived and worked, they now look carefully at what Vietnam is doing.

In Washington, it's quite a difficult place for an embassy to be noticed, but Vietnam is incredibly dynamic. Many people have shared with me, "Oh, I don't know how Vietnam has so many contacts on Capitol Hill and all the departments of the government."

And I say, I don't know, they're just very active. "You guys sit in the embassy and wait for that sun to shine and the Vietnamese just get out there and walk on the pavement and go meet people and they see that also in economic terms."

There's a lot of envy about how Vietnam has managed to grow so fast and have so many economic partners, many trade agreements, many more than their neighbors.

Companies that go across Southeast Asia looking for where to invest often end up settling in Vietnam.

Companies choose to invest in Vietnam partially because the Vietnamese are very good at recognizing what the company wants. While some other countries just wait, Vietnam doesn't let a company leave without trying every possible approach and convincing them to return to the negotiation table. It's economic diplomacy.