Ex-Vietnamese prime minister Kiet dies
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PyrateJohn
Jun 11, 2008, 12:22:01 PM6/11/08
to Obituaries_online
Ex-Vietnamese prime minister Kiet dies
By BEN STOCKING
Associated Press Writer
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_KIET
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/E/ecd4b61c-cf06-4597-8821-71e75ecb8e88-sm...
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Former Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet,
an
economic reformer who led the Communist nation away from poverty and
isolation and backed the normalization of ties with the United
States,
died Wednesday. He was 85.
Kiet, who was prime minister from 1991 to 1997, died in a Singapore
hospital, where he was taken Saturday after suffering a stroke,
government officials said.
His body was to be transported later Wednesday to Ho Chi Minh City,
the
city in southern Vietnam where he held a number of top Communist
Party
and government posts.
Born into a peasant family in southern Vinh Long province on Nov. 23,
1922, Kiet fought the French and Americans for almost four decades,
joining Communist revolutionary forces at the age of 16.
As prime minister, Kiet helped craft policies that attracted billions
of
dollars in foreign investment, vastly expanded trade and enabled the
economy to grow at an annual rate of better than 8 percent.
Impatient with Communist Party functionaries trying to protect their
own
turf, Kiet argued that the party could only stay in power if it
loosened
its tight hold over the government and business, allowing them to
become
more efficient.
Although his first wife and two children were said to have been
killed
by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, Kiet was a firm supporter of
normalizing relations with the U.S., which was finally achieved in
1995.
He supported moves to privatize much state industry, enact clearer
laws
and end special privileges for army and party leaders.
But Kiet ran into stiff opposition from within the party and army,
especially after circulating a memo in 1995 urging bolder reforms.
He stepped down in 1997 at age 74, saying the country needed younger
leaders. But he remained active in the country's affairs.
By BEN STOCKING
Associated Press Writer
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_KIET
http://hosted.ap.org/photos/E/ecd4b61c-cf06-4597-8821-71e75ecb8e88-sm...
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Former Vietnamese Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet,
an
economic reformer who led the Communist nation away from poverty and
isolation and backed the normalization of ties with the United
States,
died Wednesday. He was 85.
Kiet, who was prime minister from 1991 to 1997, died in a Singapore
hospital, where he was taken Saturday after suffering a stroke,
government officials said.
His body was to be transported later Wednesday to Ho Chi Minh City,
the
city in southern Vietnam where he held a number of top Communist
Party
and government posts.
Born into a peasant family in southern Vinh Long province on Nov. 23,
1922, Kiet fought the French and Americans for almost four decades,
joining Communist revolutionary forces at the age of 16.
As prime minister, Kiet helped craft policies that attracted billions
of
dollars in foreign investment, vastly expanded trade and enabled the
economy to grow at an annual rate of better than 8 percent.
Impatient with Communist Party functionaries trying to protect their
own
turf, Kiet argued that the party could only stay in power if it
loosened
its tight hold over the government and business, allowing them to
become
more efficient.
Although his first wife and two children were said to have been
killed
by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War, Kiet was a firm supporter of
normalizing relations with the U.S., which was finally achieved in
1995.
He supported moves to privatize much state industry, enact clearer
laws
and end special privileges for army and party leaders.
But Kiet ran into stiff opposition from within the party and army,
especially after circulating a memo in 1995 urging bolder reforms.
He stepped down in 1997 at age 74, saying the country needed younger
leaders. But he remained active in the country's affairs.
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