SAN FRANCISCO -- Bank of America Thursday became the first U.S. bank to receive permission from the Vietnamese Communist government to return to the Southeast Asian nation.
The Vietnamese trade ministry issued Bank of America a license to open a representative office in Hanoi, company spokesman James Mitchell said. The spokesman said Bank of America plans to open the office within a few weeks.
The new office will offer advice on how to do business in Vietnam, but cannot accept deposits or make loans because of a U.S. embargo on trading with Washington's former enemy.
The United States imposed the embargo in 1975, when Communist North Vietnam conquered and annexed pro-U.S. South Vietnam to end the Vietnam War. At the time, the Communists seized control of deposits held in Vietnam by Bank of America and several other institutions.
'What we can do is fairly limited,' Mitchell said. 'For now, the office's main responsibility will be to act as a liaison between Vietnam and our customers.'
However, the Bush administration last year began making moves toward lifting the embargo after Vietnam provided fresh information about U.S. soldiers still missing from the war. In his final days in office, President Bush modified sanctions to allow U.S. companies to set up certain operations in Vietnam.
Should Washington further lift the embargo, that might free up lending from such organizations as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Bank of America set up an Indochina representative office last June in Hong Kong, headed by Luu Le, a former Vietnamese who ran its pre-1975 Saigon branch.
Citicorp and Chase Manhattan reportedly also have been considered opening offices in Vietnam, and banks from the United Kingdom and France have already done so.
Three major U.S. airlines -- Delta, Northwest and United -- have also reportedly expressed interest in flying to Vietnam.
Analysts have said Vietnam offers several attractions to foreign investors, including a low-cost labor force and relatively few restrictions on foreign operations.
San Francisco-based Bank of America is the main operating unit of BankAmerica Corp., the nation's second-largest bvank-holding company, with assets of more than $185 billion.
