VN upbeat as WTO meeting ends
HA NOI — Positive results were achieved at the recent round of talks between Viet Nam, the US and Canada on the country’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said the National Committee for International Economic Cooperation.
At the negotiations with the US, which took place in Washington from March 14 to 16, Viet Nam discussed requirements on opening the market to US goods and services that the US proposed in January.
Meanwhile, at the first bilateral talks between Viet Nam and Canada in Ottawa on March 17-18, Canada made practical moves in exercising its commitment to supporting Viet Nam’s admittance to the WTO.
The National Committee for International Economic Cooperation said Viet Nam made progress in further opening its goods and service markets to Canada so as to considerably narrow the differences between two sides. Previously, Vietnamese and Canadian negotiators had met seven times on the sidelines of multilateral talks on Viet Nam’s WTO admission.
Both Canada and the US agreed to the further exchange of information by conducting the next rounds of bilateral talks on the sidelines of the coming 10th round of WTO multilateral negotiations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the 10th round of multi-lateral negotiations on Viet Nam’s admission to the WTO will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, in May. The round will focus on completing Viet Nam’s reports on its efforts to gain membership into the world’s largest trade body.
At a recent meeting with Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Van An in Geneva, WTO General Director and Secretariat members have all voiced their support for Viet Nam’s entry into the WTO.
Viet Nam in the first three months of this year held 15 sessions of bilateral talks with WTO members, including, the US, Canada, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, India and several Latin American countries.
Beginning bilateral and multilateral negotiations to join the WTO in July 1998, the country has so far concluded negotiations with Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, the European Union and Singapore.
Viet Nam and its partners hope to complete negotiations so that Viet Nam can achieve membership during the WTO’s Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong in December.
Viet Nam News, March 31, 2005
