US trade pact delay demoralizing, says Vietnam
HANOI - The prospect of a long delay in ratification of a trade agreement with the United
States is demoralising for both Vietnamese and US firms, a senior Vietnamese trade official said on
Wednesday.
It is affecting the spirit and the will of both Vietnamese enterprises and US companies in Vietnam - it
is having a big impact, said Assistant Trade Minister Nguyen Dinh Luong, who negotiated the pact
signed last year but which is still to be ratified.
US and Vietnamese businesses fear US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick plans to bundle the
Vietnam trade pact with other trade legislation as part of an effort to win a new trade negotiating
authority for the Bush administration.
Diplomats say this could delay implementation of the terms of the Vietnam agreement for years and
set back Hanoi's ambitious economic programme for the coming decade, which is reliant on greater
access to the massive US market.
Luong told reporters Vietnam obviously hoped the US Congress would ratify the agreement soon, but
whether or not the Bush administration decided to package it with other legislation was an internal
affair for the United States.
Vice Trade Minister Luong Van Tu told Reuters Vietnam would continue to offer US firms most
favoured nation status until the end of the year, regardless of whether the trade agreement was ratified.
Asked if this status would be maintained after the year-end, assistant minister Luong replied: We will
discuss this later.
Reuters - May 9, 2001.
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