Buoyed by U.S. trade deal, Vietnam steps up WTO membership talks<\/p>\n
Agence-France Presse
\nHanoi<\/p>\n
Communist Vietnam prepared to launch intensive talks on World
\nTrade Organization (WTO) membership Thursday, buoyed by the final
\nratification of an historic trade deal with the U.S.<\/p>\n
WTO director general Mike Moore was due to arrive here around
\n7:00 pm (7 p.m. Jakarta time) for evening talks with Trade
\nMinister Vu Khoan, ahead of meetings with Prime Minister Phan Van
\nKhai, Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien and Finance Minister Nguyen
\nSinh Hung on Friday.<\/p>\n
"It's not a coincidence that Mr. Moore is visiting Vietnam at
\nthis time," Khoan told reporters.<\/p>\n
"It's a very important visit. We expect to get a
\nbreakthrough."<\/p>\n
Khoan said Vietnam's four rounds of talks with the WTO so far
\nhad been limited to questions of transparency.<\/p>\n
"Now, we're going to begin a new round of talks on the core
\nissues of Vietnam's admission to the WTO," he said.<\/p>\n
Vietnam has so far declined to give a target date for its
\nadmission to the world trading club.<\/p>\n
But the communist authorities have come under mounting
\npressure to press ahead before the WTO gets bogged down in talks
\non the new world trade round launched in the Gulf state of Qatar
\nearlier this month.<\/p>\n
Vietnam should aim to follow its communist neighbor China into
\nthe WTO within two to four years, European Trade Commissioner
\nPascal Lamy said earlier this year.<\/p>\n
World Bank officials agreed Vietnam should press ahead with
\naccession talks as quickly as possible now that the trade
\nagreement with the United States was in the bag.<\/p>\n
"It is the surest way of getting greater access to markets
\noutside," the bank's chief economist for Vietnam, Kazi Matin,
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
"If you don't have WTO membership, even full access to the
\nChinese market is going to be difficult.<\/p>\n
"It's also good for the internal reform process and Vietnam's
\ncompetitive efficiency."<\/p>\n
Matin said a four-year timeframe for Vietnam's accession
\nlooked "do-able," but cautioned it is "not a process that is
\nwholly in Vietnam's control."<\/p>\n
A landmark trade deal with the U.S., which was finally
\napproved by Vietnam's communist-dominated parliament Wednesday
\nafter six years of tortuous negotiations, is based on WTO rules.<\/p>\n
U.S. officials say it provides an excellent basis for Vietnam
\nto launch the necessary talks with other key trading partners for
\nWTO membership.<\/p>",
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