Once being a WTO member country within this year, Vietnam’s economy will have more opportunities to take off with a GDP growth rate of about 10 per cent a year, one of Vietnamese strategists has said.
Associate Prof, PhD Vo Dai Luoc, Director of the Asia-Pacific Economics Center, the former member of the retired Prime Minister Phan Van Khai’s Research Committee made the assessment on the prospects of Vietnam’s economy in a recent interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) reporter.
The country’s WTO membership will help the emerging economy in Asia join the global trade club with many incentives in terms of free trade and economic aspects, Luoc stressed, reaffirming that it will also require a transparent and accountable financial mechanism and the lifting of all State subsidies for sectors which see only challenges and tougher competitions from outside enterprises.
However, Luoc highlighted that the WTO entry will benefit the whole country, noting “win what and lose what” is up to the government’s national economic plans.
Vietnam will be exposed to more foreign and large markets to invest in, Luoc said, adding once Vietnam joins the world trade body, foreign investors will tap it as the jumping-off place to export and that is what Vietnam expects.
Once admitted into the WTO, Vietnam will have to adopt a 3-5-year roadmap to reduce tariff whereas developed countries immediately decreased taxes for Vietnam. Therefore, a post-WTO entry era will not see any changes except for more markets that Vietnam will tap.
The vivid illustration can be noticed from the signing of the Vietnam-US Bilater Trade Agreement in 2001, based on which, Vietnam has gained over $5 billion worth export goods to the US.
Like China that successfully tapped its geo-economic advantages of coastal areas, Luoc emphasized Vietnam should learn and attach importance to its economic potentials of coastline areas, developing deepwater seaports, building open economic zones with projected GDP growth of no less than 10 per cent a year.
Luoc also turned down concerns over the outsourcing industries, noting the outsourcing sector will create millions jobs more for local people and in fact many other economic powers in Asia have taken off in that way.
Youth Online
Vietnamese
