Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen, the orchestrator of Vietnam’s bilateral and multilateral negotiations to join the WTO, talked to the press around the negotiating achievements and emerging challenges of the Vietnamese economy.
Under bilateral and multilateral commitments to WTO entry, do you think that Vietnam has made over-concessions in some fields and even sacrificed rights and interests of enterprises and some sensitive industries?
Please note that the WTO entry negotiation is different from other economic negotiations. This is a relationship between an entry-seeking country (Vietnam) and full member countries, which have the rights to accept or reject the admission application; hence, there is not a mutually equal negotiation. This is either one-sided negotiation, or they have the rights to ask us to concede on certain points but we don’t have the rights to ask for anything. In addition, we applied for WTO entry after the joining requirements were put on a higher level. However, we have not conceded everything and we must ensure the national benefits are at the highest level.
At the National Assembly meeting, you said we do not attach too much importance to import tax rates but improving actual competitiveness, especially in agriculture. However, this is an overburden for agriculture and it requires a long time?
Correct. I actually worry about the competition battle in the home market, especially the agricultural sector, which is very sensitive as it relates to lives of dozen millions of farmers. The import tax cut on farm produces is a must although it is made on a preset roadmap. But, in my opinion, it is impossible to keep protection because the development of a nation, or an industry and commodity in smaller scales, is not reliant on protection. Thus, I stressed that the Government should a long-termed development strategy for the agriculture, countryside and farmers.
Many industries said they are ready and willing for the competition after the WTO entry. Do you think this is a too subjective an idea?
If an enterprise or industry seeks a suitable development track, they will develop strongly. The WTO entry will generate severe competition and some enterprises will undergo difficulties and even bankruptcy. But the economy as a whole will develop.
After joining the WTO, can Vietnam become another China or will a series of enterprises go bankrupt in the initial years but mushroom several years later?
Personally, I don’t think Vietnam is the same as China and there will not any massive bankruptcy of enterprises and then a mushrooming revival in later years. Of course, we will have difficulties but the experience from the ASEAN access will help us compete to avoid a massive collapse.
During a trip to Vietnam two years ago, former general director of the WTO, Micheal Moor, warned Vietnam: the WTO entrance does not mean Vietnam will grow immediately. Do you have the same point of view?
I repeatedly said that the WTO admission is only an international certification for Vietnam’s reform process. Some non-WTO countries are still developing. For example, an enterprise with an ISO certificate still fails if it does not operate on the right track and another without this certificate still survive if it operates on the right track. The most important issue is the domestic reform. Of course, joining the WTO will create many opportunities but they are not visible materials; hence, enterprises must grasp them. More opportunities grasped mean less challenges, and vice versa.
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