VN sets sights on WTO entry by 2005
HA NOI — Viet Nam is accelerating its negotiations to join the World Trade Organisation by 2005 to ensure greater access to overseas markets, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day seminar about Viet Nam’s bid to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Khoan said the membership move would benefit enterprises and consumers, as well as restructure the whole economy.
"We decided not to wait until Viet Nam had sufficient conditions to accede to the WTO before beginning negotiations. We believe we can prepare the economy in the same time it takes to complete negotiations.
"The Government will carry out four solutions, including reforming taxation, raising enterprises’ competitiveness, opening the market, and amending the legal framework, to become a member of the WTO."
Khoan delivered the seminar’s opening address to an audience of over 100 officials from government ministries, academic experts and representatives of international organisations.
He said the help of international organisations was very important for Viet Nam’s accession to the WTO by 2005.
"The international assistance should be aimed at improving techniques so Viet Nam can carry out its commitments after becoming an official member of the WTO."
The seminar focused on key issues for Viet Nam’s WTO accession, including negotiations and requirements for accession, case studies of recent entrants, strategies for negotiations with key trading partners, and the status of the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services and the Doha Development Agenda.
Most of the seminar’s speakers agreed Viet Nam’s target of joining the WTO by 2005 is reasonable.
Prime ministerial researcher and former deputy chairwoman of the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Pham Chi Lan, said domestic businesses had already proved they were ready for WTO accession through the ASEAN Free Trade Area and US trade agreement.
Chairman and chief executive officer of New York Life International, Gary Benanav, said that through the commitment and hard work shown by the Vietnamese Government and negotiators, he believed Viet Nam would be in by 2005.
"Viet Nam is poised for explosive economic growth and, with WTO membership, should become one of the leading economies of South East Asia."
Charge d’affaires of the American Embassy, Robert Porter, said the implementation of the bilateral trade agreement has brought stronger growth for Viet Nam, with export turnover into the United States increasing from US$1 billion in 2001 to over $2 billion in 2002.
This is a good trial for future competition within the WTO, he said, reiterating the US Government’s support for Viet Nam’s bid. Director of the Geneva office of law firm, White and Case, David Hartridge, told the seminar Viet Nam was on the right track with its bid.
"Accession to the WTO is the only way to defend Viet Nam’s interests in international trade. And the liberalisation of the services sector is certainly the fastest way to upgrade Viet Nam’s economy as a whole." — VNS (August 6th, 2003)
