3:26:42 PM | 7/8/2005
A former United States deputy trade representative said he expects Vietnam and the US to reach a final agreement on bilateral talks over Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization in the next two months.
Michael B. Smith told a press meeting in Hanoi that bilateral negotiations could be concluded in the next two months though the two sides had yet to reach an agreement on financial services, industrial property and investment.
"There remain some issues important at least to the US and the negotiations have to be concluded before the WTO can finalize the agreements for Vietnam's admission by the end of December," he said.
He noted the two sides would have to work hard with goodwill if they wanted to finish bilateral talks in the next two or three months.
Vietnamese negotiators and their US partners have finished the third round of negotiations in Washington D.C. last week just before Vietnam’s Prime Minister Phan Van Khai began a weeklong historic US visit on Sunday.
Issues regarding market access in the service sector are likely to be finalized on the occasion of Khai's visit this week. The two sides agreed to meet for the next round of talks next month.
Vietnam has concluded bilateral negotiations with its two major trade and investment partners South Korea and Japan earlier this month.
Before his departure for the US, Khai told foreign reporters in Hanoi that an early agreement on bilateral negotiations with the US would be a guarantee for Vietnam’s admission to the world trade body by the end of this year.
Smith, who is in Vietnam to talk about trade liberalization with trade and economic institutions, said US’s key interest was industrial property, liberalization in financial services and openness in the investment environment.
These three major issues are still on the negotiating table.
“The chairman of the WTO’s working group on Vietnam and the Norwegian ambassador to the WTO, Eirik Glenne, said last week that there remain a number of things that have to be done and that it is too early to say whether those talks in Geneva could be concluded in time for Vietnam to be admitted to the WTO this December,” Smith said.
The former high‑profile trade official, who has been involved in negotiating 400 bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, said the US was a tough negotiator. "Joining the WTO is not a free lunch," he said.
Vietnamese
