Presented with the WTO entry card, Vietnam now start realizing its WTO commitments, Vietnam’s trade envoy in the WTO, Ngo Quang Xuan said.
The WTO membership is a vibrant crowning achievement of Vietnam’s 20 years of Doi Moi (Renewal) process, Xuan said on the domestic Vnexpress website.
It is essential that the ASEAN nation should carry out commitments made during negotiations with WTO members as soon as possible, and identify any vulnerabilities of the economy under the WTO rules, Xuan said.
First and foremost, Vietnam will have to cut 10,869 tariffs, Former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan stated in a recent interview with Vietnam News Agency.
The tariff on industrial goods will be cut from current 16.6 per cent on average to 12.6 per cent, the duties on agricultural products will be reduced to 21 per cent from present 23.5 per cent, Khoan said.
Once all the commitments are effective Vietnam’s state budget revenue, mainly based on these tariffs, will be down on average by VND2 trillion (US$125 million), Khoan warned.
However, the lower import tariffs will not have an immediate impact on goods prices.
The domestic apparel industry will be most affected by the tariff cuts, Nguyen Thi Bich, director of the Ministry of Finance’s International Cooperation Department said, adding prices of garments will drop at once, including luxury ready-made clothes imported from South Korea, Hong Kong and Europe, which have not yet flooded the domestic market as warned previously.
The agriculture sector still has many strengths with commodities ranked highly in the world market in terms of exports, including rice, pepper, coffee and seafood, experts said.
On the bright side, WTO membership will help domestic consumers enlarge their menu of choices for better and affordable goods and the domestic businesses will have to become more competitive to survive.
Trade Deputy Minister Luong Van Tu, chief negotiator at WTO, said tariff reductions were only part of government’s drive to implement WTO commitments and to further integrate into the global economy.
The trade ministry had submitted to the government several projects that aim to ensure sustainable development, Tu added.
The plans place emphasis on improving legal system and institutions in line with WTO commitments and rules. Policies on investment and state resources allocation will be also adapted to guarantee efficiency in the new context.
Khoan also pointed out domestic businesses must improve their technology, workforce and administrative measures.
(Vietnam News Service)
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