VIETNAM ACCORD MAY HELP MISSOURI TRADE

With the president's historic announcement Tuesday, 20 years of U.S. boycotts against Vietnam ended and American businesses are welcome to trade there.

The question is whether any will.

Experts say Southeast Asia is ripe for U.S. exports, needing technological equipment to catch up with the rest of the world and agricultural goods to feed its people.

Some Asian countries, including Thailand and Malaysia, already are large importers of Missouri's agricultural goods. Their imports combined came to about $114 million last year.

While the state government isn't endorsing trade with Vietnam as it did when Gov. Mel Carnahan expressed support of NAFTA, Department of Economic Development spokesman Jim Gardner said businesses should consider the potential for growth anywhere in the world.

International trade specialist Stacy Wipfler, who works with the World Trade Center, said there is tremendous potential for growth in Vietnam, but U.S. companies should beware.

"They should know that Vietnam has been open for five years to most of the world, so the United States is a late comer," she said. "Office space and other prices are extremely high for foreign companies, and a lot of the government officials are corrupt."

On the upside, Vietnam has a large, dynamic population with a good attitude toward American products.

While Wipfler wasn't specific, she mentioned several Missouri companies that had expressed an interest in exporting to Vietnam.

Local companies haven't expressed much interest, and some are very opposed to the idea of trading in Vietnam. Square One Electronics of Cape Girardeau markets refurbished long-distance switching equipment in eight countries, but vice president Janice Barrows said America's former enemy won't be added to the list anytime soon.

"The fact that we have a non-veteran in the White House who thinks we should normalize relations doesn't mean we feel the same way," she said. "We would be very hesitant to deal in that arena at this time."

Lee-Rowan's Pat Gillian, vice president of operations, said his Jackson company isn't interested in marketing in the Far East, either.

That's a relief to some area veterans, who were shocked to hear the president's decision. Tommy Kimbel, a Vietnam vet now working as a Jackson police officer, resented Clinton's announcement.

"I think he has got a lot of nerve to do something like this when he didn't go over there and fight," he said. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. I don't see how anyone who had actually fought over there would want to make peace with them."

But David Hitt, a career Army man, said he could see both sides of the issue. While sympathizing with people related to an MIA, he feels Clinton did the right thing.

"My gut feeling is that it's about time," Hitt said. "It's time to put Vietnam behind us and move on, but I realize it's not easy for people who have relatives missing over there."