Vietnam's WTO Accession - A Story behind the Scene

The Ministry of Trade co-operated with Vietnam Television, the EC delegation and the Multilateral Trade Policy Programme, to organise a symposium on Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on December 20, 2006 with the participation of Truong Dinh Tuyen, trade minister; Ton Nu Thi Ninh, deputy head of the National Assembly Committee for External Affairs; Pham Chi Lan, member of the Advisory Board of the Prime Minister, and economic experts.

 

According to experts, the fact that Vietnam became the 150^th member of WTO was the most important and successful event of Vietnam in 2006. Due to a great content, negotiations between Vietnam and bilateral and multilateral partners lasted 11 years (it took China 14 years to become a WTO member while it took Russia also around 14 years). Joining the negotiations has changed awareness of Vietnamese officials, entrepreneurs and the public about international integration.

 

“Vietnam applied to become a member of WTO in 1995 but not until 1997 did I receive the job as a negotiator and join the first negotiation session,” said Trade Minister Tuyen. At that time, the Vietnamese economy was not synchronous and its legal corridor remained so simple while Vietnamese negotiators were inexperienced. These were big difficulties for Vietnam during the negotiation process.

 

Other countries’ experience shows, bilateral negotiations are always the most difficult task in the negotiation process for WTO accession. “My job was to co-ordinate and select partners for negotiations. There are hard-to-please partners such as Australia, the EU, the US and New Zealand, because they have tough requirements. It was, however, an opportunity for boosting the Vietnamese economy. I myself decided to start negotiations with major partners first,” said Tuyen. If a country could conclude its negotiations with major partners, it would be easier for them to reach agreements with smaller partners.

 

In bilateral negotiations, it was very important to learn about the working style of and develop individual relationships with chief negotiators. During the negotiation process, they represent their countries and enterprises, so they are always determined. However, there was ‘elasticity’ in negotiated issues, which depended much on personal relationships and mutual understanding”. When asked whether he had developed personal relationships with important persons of negotiation groups, Tuyen said he had developed the relationship to get some help from it. For example, a good relationship with Pascal Lamy, current general director of WTO and former EU trade commissioner, helped accelerate the signing of an agreement between Vietnam and the EU. Another example was that the Vietnamese side had known that the US Congress would not approve Vietnam’s PNTR before the US President attended the APEC summit. Ton Nu Thi Ninh said she got the information from an official from the US Congress Office thanks to her relationship with the official.

 

“I used tactics but I never retreated during negotiations. I was always confident and did not give up under any circumstances. Frank-heartedness is my character. I always controlled the negotiations, even with the US and the EU. I did not depend on anybody.” Tuyen said with all of his heart about the whole difficult negotiation process.

“During negotiation, even though presenters were excellent it was difficult to convince partners to accept our requirements if our economy was not good. Fortunately, over the decade, the Vietnamese economy has witnessed a great turn for the better. Following the market mechanism, the job of negotiators became easier,” Tuyen went on. Among six factors, Vietnam has striven to improve, thus boosting its competitiveness. Four were determined by the State. These include an open legal system, an administrative apparatus for the people, reasonably developed infrastructure and reasonable training policies.

 

During the symposium, many people said that when Vietnam joined WTO, it was facing a risk of brain drain as qualified people who worked for State-owned enterprises were paid poorly. They could earn more when they work for foreign enterprises, even three times higher than they were paid by State-owned enterprises. However, Tuyen said foreign enterprises operating in Vietnam were part of the Vietnamese economy. Vietnam was building a market economy by boosting the formation of market economy factors, including the labour market. All Vietnamese citizens have a right to choosing suitable jobs.

 

The participants shared the same idea that to be successful after the country’s accession to WTO, there should be a change in awareness of the Government, enterprises and people. Ninh stressed the accession to WTO would produce a comprehensive impact on the Vietnamese economy, so there should be a global scale thought for Vietnamese agencies and localities. “It was a story of the past that Vietnam relied only on cheap labour. WTO requires the Government and enterprises to make timely options and adjustments and predictions,” Ninh said. She went on to say that enterprises should change their thinking about the relationship with the State. One should not ask a question “What does the State do for enterprises?” Instead, one should ask what do the State and enterprises need?

 

Talking about the benefits of WTO accession, Pham Chi Lan said Vietnamese people would benefit from getting access to more goods at more competitive prices. Also, they would have better job opportunities. However, Vietnamese citizens’ awareness and responsibility are very important, making a contribution to the country’s success. Lan talked about an example that Vietnamese farmers should know about WTO requirements to make sure that their farm-produce and seafood are safe, thus helping build up the prestige of Vietnamese goods on the international market.