Vietnam will become the 150th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) January 11 next year, after all the ups and downs of its 11-year path to join the world trade body, said the December 11 notification of WTO accession protocol approval.
Under the directive of the Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Deputy PM-Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem Tuesday sent a notification message to the WTO, affirming Vietnam has completed ratification of the WTO-entry protocol.
However, under WTO rules, a country’s membership takes effect 30 days after notification, meaning Vietnam will become a member January 11 next year.
The National Assembly, the highest legislative body, ratified the country’s entry into the WTO last month and State President Nguyen Minh Triet signed the protocol December 6.
Domestic strategists and analysts commented that the short delay in notification by the government of Vietnam, on Monday December 11, expressed Vietnam’s overheated anticipation for the PNTR trade bill passed by the US Congress and the second-to-none success of the year with significant events marking an historic chapter for the country.
President Nguyen Minh Triet had said WTO membership will have a direct impact on Vietnam’s economic relations, noting that membership will offer us opportunities in domestic and foreign investment and help elevate the position of Vietnam in the world.
The WTO membership will expose Vietnam to more opportunities to speed up its economic growth rate and push it to carry out free-market reforms and improve infrastructural networks, social welfare, and especially human resource development.
In the last two decades, the Southeast Asian nation has gradually carried out free-market reforms, gaining trust and praise from foreign investors. Foreign investment has surged by nearly 50 per cent in the last year, rising to more than $8 billion so far in 2006.
As a WTO member, Vietnam will benefit from the removal of quotas that limit textile exports to Europe and the U.S. But industries will also lose subsidies and tax breaks, putting pressure on them to raise their standards without government protection.
The WTO will also provide Vietnam with a neutral broker in trade disputes.
Vietnam applied to join the WTO in 1995 and had to negotiate with 28 bilateral partners apart from multi-lateral talks.
(Local news sources)
Vietnamese
