Vietnamese parliament ratifies WTO entry

Nov 28, 2006, 9:40 GMT

Hanoi - Vietnam's one-party National Assembly overwhelmingly approved the communist country's accession package to the World Trade Organization on Tuesday, paving the way to formally join the international trading club by late December or early January.

The nationally televised vote in the parliament was 443 for the WTO accession and three against, with two lawmakers abstaining.

After 20 years of economic opening up, Vietnam's communist leadership is betting that its long-awaited entry as the world trading club's 150th member will propel it into the newest Asian economic powerhouse.

'Joining the WTO is taking another step in the construction of a socialist-oriented market economy,' Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen told the National Assembly on Tuesday before the vote.

After the vote, Vietnam's ambassador in Geneva must inform the WTO of its acceptance of the accession deal. After 30 days, Vietnam will be a full WTO member.

Tuyen, who led the negotiations for a tough accession deal requiring Vietnam to open up its domestic market quickly, told lawmakers the concessions would be worth it in bringing in more investment and boosting exports.

Vietnam's economy is already booming, with exports up 24 per cent this year and projected GDP growth of 8.2 per cent. Foreign direct investment is expected to reach 8.5 billion dollars - higher per capita than either China or India.

However, Vietnam's imminent WTO entry still is marred by the fact that its largest export market - former battlefield enemy the United States - has yet to approve permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with Hanoi.

The measure failed to get a required two-thirds majority vote to pass without debate in the US House of Representatives earlier this month, an embarrassing defeat for US President George W Bush ahead of his visit for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in Hanoi on November 17-18.

US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said this month the measure would be resubmitted in December and should pass easily under normal rules that call for a simple majority after a debate.

'We will continue to press very hard to see that enactment will take place before Vietnam actually joins the WTO,' Schwab said.

If PNTR is not passed by the time Vietnam formally joins the WTO, US companies would technically not be able to take advantage of Vietnam's promised opening of service markets in banking, insurance and telecommunications.

In the meantime, other WTO members would enjoy the benefits of the services agreement - one of US negotiators' greatest concessions from Vietnam as the price of entry into the world trading body.

Vietnam, on the other hand, would be denied WTO benefits in the US market, which would still be governed by a 2001 bilateral trade agreement.