Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Vietnam will conduct a new round of multilateral negotiations for entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Switzerland this month, said the trade ministry Tuesday.

Set for March 19-23 in Geneva, top issues for this 11th round relate to international treaties and state subsidy policies - the most vital discussion in relation to Vietnam’s admission to the WTO, the ministry said.

This could be the final multilateral negotiations for Vietnam to enter WTO, barring any unexpected issues, the ministry said.

On the sidelines of the multilateral talks, Vietnam is planning to conduct bilateral negotiations with the remaining partners including the US, Mexico, Honduras and Dominica.

The Ministry of Trade said Vietnam expects to conclude negotiations with Mexico, Honduras and Dominica during the session.

As for the US, the two governments are in negotiations to prepare for the final round of bilateral talks, likely to take place in Washington or Geneva.

In previous multilateral negotiations, Vietnam has made good progress, particularly in its commitment to implement key WTO regulations at the time of its entry.

Those include intellectual property, investment, import-export tariffs, customs, and halting sector subsidies.

Following WTO guidelines, the Vietnamese government has pledged to apply the same rates of service charges for both domestic and foreign-invested businesses in the near future.

The WTO’s working committee on Vietnam also greatly appreciated the Southeast Asian nation’s active law creation program, in line with WTO requirements.

Source: Thanh Nien News                                                                                                              Reported by Xuan Danh – Translated by Ha Viet