Vietnam will likely be admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in October of this year prior to the APEC summit meetings which are to be held in Hanoi in late November, Vietnamese Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen has said.
The most important things left for Vietnam to do to win the WTO ticket are to complete the upcoming multi-lateral talks, the final round of negotiation later this month and wait for the US Congress’s approval to the grant of Permanent Normal Trade Relation (PNTR) status to Vietnam, Tuyen told the local Dau Tu newspaper yesterday September 13.
The trade minister noted during his talks with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson in Brussels last Thursday, Vietnam and the EU gad reached an agreement on all the remaining WTO multilateral issues of common interest.
Tuyen also cited Mandelson as saying Vietnam has achieved remarkable progress towards WTO accession during the past year. The hard work and persistence have paid off.
However, so far there still has been no specific schedule of the US’s ratification of the trade bill for Vietnam, the minister admitted, alerting the US to the fact that if they delay PNTR approval for Vietnam, their enterprises will not be able to get access to Vietnam’s potential market of over 84 million consumers.
Tuyen also hoped the US Congress will probably arrange their working agenda to approve PNTR for Vietnam in the interests of their own enterprises.
In related news, PNTR grant for Vietnam is one of the Bush administration’s priorities, a source from the American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) in Hanoi said, adding at the meantime both senators Max Baucus and Gordon Smith in their letters to President Bush urged the approval of the trade bill for Vietnam.
The US Ambassador to Vietnam Micheal Marine recently also expressed his optimism about the US congress’s PNTR grant to Vietnam, hoping Vietnam will officially join the WTO this year despite oppositions from many US textile producers and some lawmakers’ concern over human rights, religious freedom and garment and textile issues in the Southeastern country.
In that case, American exporters would not benefit from Vietnam’s duty reductions while Vietnamese textile and garment exports to the US would still be limited by quotas.
On July 31, the US Senate Finance Committee voted 18-0 to grant Vietnam the PNTR status, otherwise known as most-favored nation status. To become a reality, the legislation will have to be passed in the full Senate, the finance and taxation committees of the House of Representatives, and the full House of Representatives.
Vietnam applied to join the WTO in 1995 and has wrapped up talks with all 28 bilateral partners.
Vietnam Law, Investment
Vietnamese
