Viet Nam-US 8th round of WTO negotiations ends
Washington (VNA) - Viet Nam and the United States wraped up their eighth round of negotiations on Viet Nam's joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Washington on June 16 after four days of sitting.
Negotiations took place in a constructive and active spirit, focusing on matters that were viewed very differently by the two sides.
Detailed debates have yielded results, opening opportunities for both countries to accelerate the process of bilateral negotiations on Viet Nam's WTO entry.
They agreed to increase efforts to settle outstanding issues in the next round of bilateral negotiations which will be held in July 2005.
The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Trade Minister Luong Van Tu, and the US delegation was led by Deputy US Trade Representative Josette Shiner Sheeran.
Viet Nam has speeded up WTO negotiations and achieved encouraging progress over past months. In June, apart from achieving new steps of development in negotiating with the US, Viet Nam concluded bilateral negotiations with Japan and the Republic of Korea, and technical negotiations with other partners in Geneva during the week ending June 17. Gaps in bilateral negotiations with almost all remaining partners have been narrowed dramatically, paving the way for Viet Nam to accelerate the WTO negotiation process.
VNA, June 18, 205
