Vietnam aims to join WTO before APEC Summit
HANOI - Vietnam is seeking support from APEC member economies for the country's bid to enter the World Trade Organization before the conclusion of the APEC Summit in November, said Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan.
Khoan told the Daily on the sidelines of an international press briefing on "The Year of APEC Vietnam 2006" yesterday in Hanoi that Vietnam, as the host of APEC this year, should take this chance to seek greater support and try to enter the global trade club before the APEC summit concluded in Hanoi.
"This [WTO accession before November] still depends on the WTO negotiation schedules, we can't decide but will try to [enter] before the conclusion of the APEC summit," Khoan said.
He said at the press briefing that the U.S. and Mexico are the only two member economies in APEC that have yet to conclude bilateral WTO negotiations with Vietnam.
Vietnam and Russia are the two member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum that are in the process to enter the WTO.
Khoan said that Vietnam's bilateral negotiations with the U.S. and Mexico were taking positive moves.
Vietnam is expected to receive more than 10,000 delegates during the APEC 2006, which includes more than 110 meetings, to be organized between February and November in Hanoi, Danang, Nha Trang, Hoi An and HCMC.
The first Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM I), which will start next Monday with the participation of more than 800 delegates, will have around 40 relevant meetings. These meetings will address various topics including e-Government,
e-trade, safety food, environment, structure reform, anti-corruption, public policy and intellectual property for small and medium enterprises.
APEC Vietnam 2006, with the theme "Towards a Dynamic Community for the Development of Prosperity and Sustainability", has four sub-themes and seven priorities.
The four sub-themes are pushing forward initiatives for the conclusion of the Doha Round and promoting trade and investment, implementing the Busan roadmap, finding measures for preventing the outbreak of chicken influenza and promoting tourism development and culture exchanges.
Le Cong Phung, deputy minister of foreign affairs and head of Vietnam APEC Secretariat, said that Vietnam is expected to receive between three and five state visits by leaders of APEC members, including the official visit by the U.S. President George W. Bush.
The U.S. delegation will likely include more than 1,500 people, while other delegations will have between 300 and 500 delegates each, Phung said.
Vietnam has used the image of its traditional conical hat as logo for Vietnam APEC 2006 with three colors red, yellow and blue.
Vietnam, Russia and Peru joined APEC in 1998 and are the latest members.
Since its establishment in 1989, APEC with 21 current member economies is a unique forum for regular discussions among government officials, technical experts and corporate executives.
By Ngoc Mai - The Saigon Times Daily - February 16, 2006.
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