Vietnam assembly meets to ratify U.S. trade pact
HANOI - Vietnam's National Assembly began a month-long session on Tuesday to approve
a historic trade pact with the United States and constitutional changes guaranteeing equal rights for the
private sector.
The published schedule of the assembly said the vote to ratify the market opening agreement with
Washington would be on November 28 and Vietnamese leaders said it would be a big boost for the
economy in difficult times.
``It's in the agenda, we will discuss it and ratify it,'' President Tran Duc Luong told Reuters.
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung told Reuters the assembly would also vote on a draft
amendment to the Constitution stating that all economic sectors would be considered ``important
components of Vietnam's socialist-orientated market economy.''
Asked what the message was for the private sector, Dung replied: ``The message this time from the
government is that they will be treated completely equally to other sectors.''
Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh, in his first foreign media interview since being elected
secretary-general of the ruling party in April, told Reuters he hoped the trade pact would help
normalize ties with Hanoi's former enemy.
``It is hoped that once the trade agreement is ratified... and when it becomes effective, it will contribute
to the normalization of relations between the two countries, in which trade is one of the important
parts.''
The United States has already ratified the agreement signed last year that will grant normal trade
relations to Hanoi for the first time and gradually open up Vietnam's market to U.S. firms.
During the Vietnam War the United States imposed a punishing trade embargo on Hanoi, which was
not lifted until 1994. Diplomatic ties were normalized a year later.
Manh's renovation pledge
Asked whether a speeding up of Vietnam's reform process could be expected, Manh laughed and
referred back to the Ninth Party Congress that elected him, which stressed a continuation of a process
of ``Doi Moi,'' or ``renovation,'' begun in the mid-1980s.
``Our Congress reaffirmed that we will bring into full play the strength of the whole nation to speed up
modernization and industrialization and build and protect Socialist Vietnam,'' he said.
``It is the key momentum that has to be created during the renovation process and we definitely believe
and hope that our Doi Moi will have new developments.''
Manh, the former National Assembly chief, has kept a relatively low profile since taking office, leading
some analysts to question the extent of his reformist credentials, although the World Bank (news - web
sites) has recently praised Vietnam's progress in implementing market-orientated changes.
Deputy Prime Minister Dung said the trade pact would bring mutual benefit to Vietnam and the United
States. He said Hanoi would send a delegation to the United States after ratification to facilitate
implementation.
``Amid the recession of the world economy, exports from Vietnam will face a decline -- that's
understandable,'' he said. ''But amid the common recession, I think cooperation between countries will
be a big help to the recovery and development of the economy.''
A foreign diplomat said last week Vietnam planned to send Dung to head the roadshow to the United
States from December 10 to highlight trade and investment opportunities. It would visit Washington,
New York and Los Angeles.
Former Vietnam War enemies Hanoi and Washington signed their trade agreement in July 2000 after
years of negotiations.
It will grant access to the U.S. market to Vietnamese exporters at the same low tariffs enjoyed by most
other countries and gradually open up Vietnam to U.S. service providers in a wide range of fields like
telecommunications and banking.
The pact will bring most immediate benefit to Vietnam, with exports expected to gain including
handicrafts, seafood, textiles and some high-tech components.
Local monopolies such as in telecoms and energy will have several years to improve efficiency to
prepare for competition.
Vietnam is currently one of only a few countries that do not have normal trade relations with the United
States, meaning that average tariffs on its products are 40 percent -- more than 10 times the levels
imposed on other countries.
If properly implemented, diplomat say the pact should ease Hanoi's eventual accession to the World
Trade Organization
By David Brunnstrom - Reuters - November 20, 2001.
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