No new WTO target date for Vietnam

No new WTO target date for Vietnam

HANOI: Vietnam, which has failed to clinch accords to enter the World Trade Organization (WTO) by its self-imposed deadline of December, will not set a new target date, a top leader was quoted on Saturday as saying.

"Now we think that we will not set a date. When we meet appropriate conditions, we will join as soon as possible," Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan said in remarks carried by several Vietnamese language newspapers.

Vietnam is under no formal pressure to join the WTO by the time the global trade body holds its next ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December but Hanoi had until recently held that date as target.

The communist nation has unfinished business in the form of bilateral agreements which it must sign with all WTO members who want them. Some trading partners, including the United States, have yet to put pen to paper.

"If we cannot join this year, it's not our fault. We exert maximum efforts but are not prepared to accept just any price," Khoan said. "We cannot accept things that may break our economy."

The United States notably wants Vietnam to take action on certain import taxes, safeguard intellectual property rights and give foreign companies larger access to markets from telecoms to tourism, insurance and banking.

Washington is also concerned that Vietnam has failed fully to implement the U.S.-Vietnam bilateral trade agreement struck five years ago.

"The government has ordered a more improved offer to better approach the U.S. requirements," Khoan said. "Of course the negotiation process depends on the partner, but we are determined to push it forwards."

Vietnam formally applied for membership in 1995. Its progress has since been hindered by infighting within the ruling communist party, the 1997 Asian financial crisis and rampant corruption.

Actual negotiations started only in 2002. -- AFP