Vietnam braces for WTO membership
HANOI - Vietnamese leaders are warning local companies to prepare quickly for the huge challenges they will face when the country enters the World Trade Organization, opening the door to increased foreign competition, state media reported Thursday.
Many Vietnamese firms will boost their exports when the nation joins the WTO, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung was quoted as saying by Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper.
However, Hung said, "Not every enterprise will win. In this fierce competition, some enterprises and commodities will fail."
The WTO is expected to approve Vietnam's membership in early November, before Vietnam hosts the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on Nov. 18-19.
Hung said local companies will have to make many improvements if they don't want to lose out in domestic markets.
"If enterprises do not reform quickly, particularly state-owned enterprises, which generate more than 40 percent of the GDP, they will be confronted with huge difficulties," he said.
The newspaper also quoted the deputy prime minister as saying that he was very concerned about the competitiveness of Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and seafood sectors, which employ a majority of the country's work force.
Former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, who stepped down in June, also voiced concerns over poor quality of Vietnamese products, Thanh Nien reported.
"I have talked about this many times before, but there has been no improvement," Thanh Nien quoted Khai as saying. "Now we cannot delay. It will become a huge challenge when we join WTO."
Thursday's online newspaper Vietnamnet quoted some legislators as saying there should be a campaign to raise awareness about the Geneva-based WTO.
"The government should inform people of documents related to WTO, so that they can imagine what are the challenges and advantages awaiting them," the paper quoted legislator Nguyen Viet Chuc from Hanoi as saying.
Vietnam applied to join the 149-member WTO in 1995 and has concluded the final round of multilateral negotiations last week.
The Associated Press - October 19, 2006.
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