Six months after Vietnam officially joined the WTO, the Vietnam’s economy is getting better in both investment and export aspects. However, there are many remaining shortcomings to be solved.
According to Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen, since Vietnam joined the WTO, State management authorities need to resolve several issues arising from the accession. First and foremost is the mismatch between commitments and implementation, arising from incongruity between commitments and policies. In several fields, we allowed foreign companies to invest before the joining, but WTO commitments then excluded those fields from the allowable investment list.
The clearest effect is in the export and import fields. Export value soared admirably 26.8 per cent year on year in the first five months this year. Traditional markets continued expanding while new ones also recorded high rises. The increase is attributed to Vietnam’s accession to the WTO, as all quota barriers were removed and all tax barriers were reduced. Vietnamese exporters immediately grasped this opportunity. Most commodities had higher export earnings than last year’s figures. Rising export values of 15 major commodities was driven up by higher demand. Besides, sharp rises were also seen in commodities with small export value.
However, in fact, the six-month export failed to meet expectations. Obviously, the export opportunity is huge, but Vietnam's potential is limited, failing to meet demand. Nonetheless, if crude oil export was excluded, the export growth rate was higher than previous years to 26.8 per cent in the first five months. This showed the export market was widened and absolutely expansible. But, for growth to be sustainable it must be fuelled by further investment. A resolution of incompatible policies, commitments and realities is required for boosting economic development.
Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen said the Ministry of Trade is coordinating with other ministries to submit their viewpoints to tackle incompatibility between commitments and realities to the Government. Besides, to turn investment opportunities into concrete projects, administrative procedures must be streamlined, there is no other way. Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen said opportunity in itself cannot strengthen the market, but must be utilised by the State or enterprises. If the strength of these participants is not brought into play, even more opportunities will be created.
At present, to carry out commitments, as well as properly evaluate the real situation and issues arising from the execution of commitments, the Ministry of Trade is preparing to gather evaluations, opening meetings in different localities in the country. These meetings implement Central Resolution 4, on the guidelines and policies to bring the Vietnamese economy quick and sustainable integration into the world economy, since Vietnam joined the WTO. This resolution also covers the practical settlement of commitment and actuality inconsistencies. For example, Vietnam now needs a high-quality workforce to grasp the highly valued section of the global value chain, but the commitment provides the opening of this opportunity from January 1, 2009. Many wonder if it is better to be inflexible, or open the market before the commitment deadline for the fields of technology, industry, and others. Mr Tuyen said Vietnam can open the market sooner than the commitment to match its economic situation.
Quoc Anh
Vietnamese
