Vietnam-U.S. trade pact closer, gaps remain
HANOI - Vietnam and the United States in
talks this week moved closer to sealing a landmark trade pact, but
there remained significant differences in some areas, a U.S. trade
official said on Friday.
``In negotiations this week the sides made progress in narrowing
areas of difference and resolved a number of issues,'' he said.
``There are a handful of very difficult issues where the positions are
still pretty far apart,'' added the official, who declined to be
identified. He would not elaborate.
He said the tone of the five-day negotiations, which concluded on
Friday, had been positive and the two sides hoped to schedule a
further round of talks possibly within the next four to six weeks.
Hanoi opened up to foreign investment in the last decade but some
sectors, such as telecommunications remain off-limits. The
comprehensive pact would cover trade in goods and services,
intellectual property and investment issues.
The trade official said sticking points in the talks included tariff
schedules and non-tariff barriers, but significant progress had been
made on terms and conditions for the operation of U.S. firms in
communist-ruled Vietnam.
The official added that Washington was willing to offer Hanoi
transition periods for full implementation of the future deal, a
concession that other developing countries such as Mongolia and
Bulgaria had not been given.
Hanoi and Washington have made incremental progress towards full
economic relations since diplomatic ties were established in July
1995.
The first trade talks came in September 1996, and the United States
gave Vietnam a full draft agreement the following April. The last
round took place in September, and in January Hanoi presented
fresh proposals which led to the latest negotiations.
The trade official said it was difficult to predict whether final
agreement could be reached this year.
Analysts have said that the deal should be concluded rapidly as U.S.
presidential elections set for 2000 will push the issue into the
background. Additionally, a number of human rights problems in
Vietnam threaten to derail Congressional approval.
The U.S. signed a similar trade pact with Laos in 1997, but the
arrest of 18 Christians in the landlocked, communist-ruled country
last year saw the deal put on ice.
Reuters - March 19, 1999.
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