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SCMP Reporter

VIETNAM is set to become the first communist country to open a consulate in Hong Kong since the end of the Cold War.

  But the Foreign Office in London will have to carry out anti-spying investigations before the consulate can start work.

  The Vietnamese application to start full diplomatic relations with Hong Kong was granted by the Foreign Office and a site is being sought.

  Vietnamese Foreign Ministry officials were last week in touch with Hong Kong to confirm privileges, rights and amenities allowed under full consulate status.

  However, a senior government source said the Vietnamese still had to provide the name of the prospective consul-general for gazetting by the Governor, Chris Patten.

  Mr Patten can only gazette the name after Foreign Office background investigations have cleared the official of any ''untoward influences'', such as links to Vietnamese secret intelligence services.

  The source said though the Cold War was over, any prospective candidate from Vietnam would receive a far more thorough inquiry than someone from the West.

  Background checks will be made through the British Embassy in Hanoi.

  Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, enshrined in local legislation, the Governor can expel or reject any diplomat without giving a reason.

  The convention grants limited immunity from local offences but bars a diplomat from any involvement in the internal politics of a host territory.

  An official in the Vietnam Trade Office said his country was eager to normalise relations with Hong Kong as ties with China, the United States and Britain softened.

  ''When full relations start with the US, we expect Hong Kong to play a vital role in the trade that we hope will follow,'' he said.

  ''Hong Kong is growing in importance for us all the time.''   The Trade Office, formerly an outpost of the Vietnam National Import and Export Company, has been in Hong Kong since the mid-50s. It now owns the Golden Star building in Lockhart Road and runs a visa office, a travel service and two shipping companies.

  The companies include staff seconded from the Vietnamese commerce, trade and foreign ministries.

  The shipping firms, Scarbrook and Golden Star, have played an increasing role in booming trade between Vietnam and Hong Kong.

  Trade between Vietnam and Hong Kong reached $8.4 billion last year, up from $2.3 billion in 1990.

  Britain has traditionally barred communist countries from setting up consulates in Hong Kong, but turned a blind eye to them running state-owned but locally registered companies.

  Officials working for these companies, though often senior officials, do not have the rights or restrictions that full consular status allows.

  Benefits of having consulate status include freedom of travel for staff, tax exemptions on salaries and rate-free office accommodation. There is also greater access to senior officials.

  Foreign Office Hong Kong spokesman Chris Osborne confirmed Vietnam officials had been discussing the matter with counterparts in London.

  Director of Protocol for the Hong Kong Government, Vivian Warrington, and the chief representative of the Vietnamese Trade Office, Huynh Minh Hue, both declined to comment.



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