Vietnam Admitted 150th Member of WTO

5:27:14 PM | 11/3/2006

will be admitted to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on November 7, 2006, becoming the 150^th member of this organisation. This is an 11-year renovation and effort of negotiation of the entire country. will become the full member of the WTO after 30 days the admission agreement is ratified.

Since January 31, 1995, experienced 14 multilateral negotiation rounds and hundreds of bilateral negotiation rounds with WTO members. This is an enormous workload full of hardships. The negotiation process of is always in parallel economic institutional reform in to ensure the consistence between the Vietnamese laws and WTO principles.

With the WTO regulations, commits to amend and build 26 laws and ordinances out of more than 100 laws and ordinances that must be amended to serve the administrative reform and economic renovation. To date, the Vietnamese National Assembly ratified 25 laws and ordinances. Chief Negotiator of the Vietnamese Government cum Deputy Minister of Trade Le Van Tu said the WTO entry will help create a transparent and stable legal environment to attract more domestic and foreign investment as well as take part in the global trading policy of the WTO. All trade disputes will be resolved more fairly.

According to the Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen, the WTO entry means has a certificate of recognition for the renovation progress. “I am very pleased not only with our upcoming admission to the WTO but also with our renovation process that has been recognised by the world and has been proven by the signature of negotiation conclusions.” Mr. Tuyen added one of basic points of the WTO entry is reflected by ’s efforts not only on negotiating table but also in economic institutional reform of . These laws will bring the Vietnamese economy into the market mechanism.

If the meeting on October 26, 2006 had the participation of 43 WTO member countries to pass the WTO application of , the assembly on November 7 will have the attendance of all 149 member countries. The Vietnamese Ambassador to Switzerland Ngo Quang Xuan said the November 7 meeting will have no voting procedure because the October 26 meeting showed absolute agreement. The WTO chairman will introduce and read the decision to admit . Then, will sign a MoU to join the WTO.

The WTO entry means Vietnamese firms will enter the global playing field full of strict regulations as well as opportunities. How to survive and compete in the domestic and international markets is the preoccupation of many companies.

Mr. Phan Thanh Tuyen, Deputy General Director of Southeast Asia Bank (SeABank)

The Vietnamese transitional economy will encounter a lot of challenges in the banking services. The Vietnamese banking system in general and SeABank in particular have prepared for the country’s WTO entry. The banking system is regulating its administration in compliance with world practices and standards. Banks are developing many services with high technological content and high customer administration content.

However, Vietnamese companies will be exposed to numerous challenges as the preparation for the global playfield penetration is very short, the Vietnamese stock market is still young and weak in its ability to mobilise capital for the economy and the habit of using cash is very popular.

Ms Vu My Lan - General Director of AON Vietnam

Entering Vietnam in 1993, Aon was a pioneer in opening the insurance brokerage field in the country. For over a decade of operation, Aon has been rated the largest insurance and reinsurance brokerage company in Vietnam with 47 per cent of market share. By its deep and wide knowledge in combination with the global source harmonisation ability, Aon Vietnam has provided insurance and reinsurance brokerage services for all economic sectors in Vietnam such as oil and gas, aviation, telecommunication, banking and finance, industry, construction, real estate, health and pharmacy.

When Vietnam officially joins the WTO, the insurance market will be further opened and barriers will be lifted. Foreign-invested insurance and insurance brokerage companies will have more chances to bring their abilities and strong points into full play. The development of Aon together with high quality insurance services will help the economy grow faster to contribute to the quickening of the international economic integration of Vietnam.

Tran Van Son, Chairman and CEO of Vietnam Trust Investment and Development Joint Stock Company (VIETRUST JSC)

Once we get into integrated with the world, we must compete fairly. Domestic companies will no longer be protected by the State; hence, cooperation is essential for the mutual survival and development. In our construction material production field, the WTO entry generates more opportunities because the urbanisation and industrialisation in Vietnam will be developed very quickly. Our work, thus, will increase in volume. For example, when we introduced the Tomat products on the market, we were successful because customers accepted our new products in an open market. However, when a product is accepted by consumers, more companies will begin manufacturing it. This requires us to make continuous renovations, improve production capacity and polish our reputation on the market.

Besides, in my opinion, the human factor plays the most important role as the people will create a trademark and when there is a trademark, the financial sources will come. The business principle shows that one who wants to get rich must bring benefits to other first. In business, the cooperation for mutual benefit will come to success.

Le Dinh Truong, General Director of Viet Tien Garment Company

Vietnam’s WTO entry will expose numerous challenges to the garment and textile industry. However, Viet Tien Garment Company has prepared for the 2006-2010 development period. Accordingly, or export returns will grow 22 per cent a year while our revenues will increase 15 per cent a year. We determine to maintain our markets. At present, our export to the US market accounts for 33 per cent, followed by Japan 20 per cent, Europe 20 per cent and the domestic market 12 per cent. The company now has 500 shops nationwide. To improve the product quality, we have invested in US technology and retrained 6,000 workers. The company targets to open 1,000 shops and obtain revenues of VND500 billion (US$31.25 million) by 2010.