Communist Vietnam will become WTO's 150th member
GENEVA - Communist Vietnam, one of the world's fastest growing economies, won formal approval from the World Trade Organization on Tuesday to become its 150th member by the end of the year.
The Southeast Asian country of 82 million people will officially join the WTO, which sets the rules for global trade, 30 days after its National Assembly ratifies the accords.
"Today is a memorable day in the process of the international economic integration of Vietnam," Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem told reporters after the WTO's General Council approved a deal struck last month by a working party.
Vietnam, an exporter of textiles, seafood, coffee and furniture, negotiated to join the WTO for 12 years while its once state-controlled economy underwent deep reform.
Although its economy is relatively small, with gross domestic product of $61 billion this year, it is the latest of Asia's economic success stories and has become a big favorite of the foreign aid and investment communities.
Average economic growth of 7.4 percent over the past five years is higher than that of any other Asian country except China, its Communist neighbor whose output has soared since it joined the WTO in late 2001.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy called the deal "fairly balanced" and said it would benefit Vietnam. "Those who are members compete on a more level playing field," he said when asked what advantages membership would bring Hanoi.
World will benefit
But joining the WTO will not protect it from anti-dumping actions by rich nations, such as the extra duties imposed by the
European Union on its shoes and by the United States on its shrimp exports.
The United States, which waged war against communist North Vietnam and its guerrilla supporters in the south in the 1960s and early 1970s before they took over the whole country, praised Hanoi's economic reforms.
"The world will benefit from the inclusion of this rapidly-growing, dynamic economy in the rules-based trading system," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in a statement.
The deal includes the tariffs and quotas Vietnam will apply to foreign imports. It also specifies services such as banking, insurance and telecommunications that Vietnam will open to outside providers and spells out limits to the restrictions it can impose on foreign ownership of firms inside the country.
When Vietnam's neighbor Cambodia joined the WTO in 2004 it did so in the face of warnings from regional economists that it had conceded too much.
Lamy acknowledged that those joining the WTO now were being forced to pay a higher price. "That is the reality," he told journalists.
Vietnam's accession will leave only a handful of important economies outside the WTO, including Russia and Ukraine, which are both negotiating entry, and
Iran.
By Richard Waddington - Reuters - November 7, 2006.
World Trade Organization invites Vietnam
GENEVA - The World Trade Organization formally invited Vietnam on Tuesday to become the commerce body's 150th member, paving the way for the country to join within 30 days of its National Assembly ratifying the accord.
The organization's general council approved accession terms for Vietnam with the fall of a gavel from WTO chief Pascal Lamy, completing 11 years of entry talks with the Geneva-based group.
"I see Vietnam as one of the rising stars of world trade," Lamy said, urging the country to continue on its path of domestic reform.
Membership in the global trade body will give Vietnam increased access to foreign markets and the opportunity to take trade grievances to a neutral arbiter, strengthening its hand against nations that accuse it of illegally dumping goods on their markets. In return, the country will be required to drop its high tariffs on foreign imports and eliminate subsidies for state-owned companies.
"This will work both to the benefit of Vietnam and to the benefit of the World Trade Organization," Lamy told reporters at the WTO's Geneva headquarters.
Pham Gia Khiem, Vietnam's deputy prime minister, said Vietnam would "fully implement" its commitments under WTO rules and continue to develop toward what he termed a "socialism-oriented market economy."
Vietnam is Asia's fastest-growing economy after China, and the Asian Development Bank in August projected its economy would expand by 7.8 percent this year. With a population of 84 million, it is the second most populous country behind Russia still outside the WTO.
While its trade with the United States has grown from $1.2 billion in 2000 to $7.8 billion last year, it is still waiting for the U.S. Congress to normalize trade between the two countries, which would lift restrictions on trade between them.
Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called for the U.S. to pass the legislation in time for
President Bush's visit to the country for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit next week.
"Sooner or later, the U.S. will give (permanent normal trading relations) to Vietnam, but if it is given by President Bush when he arrives here, we will highly appreciate it," Dow Jones Newswires quoted the prime minister as saying Tuesday during a meeting with U.S. and Vietnamese business leaders.
The Nov. 16-19 summit will put Vietnam in the spotlight, drawing leaders from 21 countries and thousands of business executives from around the world for talks on trade in the region.
Since the United States and Vietnam implemented a bilateral trade agreement five years ago, Vietnam's garment exports to the U.S. have skyrocketed. The industry is hoping to reap even greater profits after joining the WTO, if the United States lifts quotas on Vietnamese exports.
Outside investment in Vietnam already has risen 41 percent in the last year. Foreign companies have been encouraged by Vietnam's market reforms, which began tentatively in the late 1980s, moved in fits and starts during the 1990s and greatly accelerated over the last three years.
Foreign companies will soon enjoy far greater access to Vietnam's economy, which has averaged 7.5 percent growth over the last decade, one of fastest rates in the world.
EU trade chief Peter Mandelson called Vietnam's acceptance "a milestone in its economic development and its integration into the global economy."
By Frank Jordans - The Associated Press - November 7, 2006.
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