Trade Minister Rejects Statement that Vietnam Gives up 2005 WTO Target

Trade Minister Rejects Statement that Vietnam Gives up 2005 WTO Target

Vietnam Trade Minister has denied media reports that his country had desisted from participating in the World Trade Organization (WTO) in late 2005.

"I has never said that Vietnam should give up its target to join the WTO late this year," Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen said on the sidelines of a weekend meeting.

Tuyen made the statement when a local newspaper quoted the minister at a national trade conference February 28 as saying that Vietnam would likely become a WTO member in 2006, not in end-2005 as targeted. Many foreign news agencies and papers then said the country left its ambition to enter the WTO for late 2005.

In the days that followed, Tuyen said, the ministry continuously received phone calls from international organizations and embassies to ask for the ministry’s confirmation.

The minister informed he only warned local businesses of difficulties in negotiations at the trade conference and said it would be difficult, but not impossible, for Vietnam to conclude negotiations for WTO entrance at the global trade body’s ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December this year.

Last week, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry Le Dzung confirmed that negotiations on the country's bid to the global trade body are making progress. He, however, did not mention the exact time that the country may join the organization. 

Vietnam is now preparing for the 10^th bilateral negotiation round to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, later this month.

To join the global trade body, Vietnam has to hold bilateral negotiations with 27 partners and two or three more multilateral negotiations. To date, the country has concluded negotiations with the European Union, Brazil, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, and Singapore.

The nation is expected to conclude bilateral negotiations with the US in June or July on occasion of Vietnam Prime Minister Phan Van Khai's trip to the US.

Thanhniennews.com