VIETNAM TO JOIN WTO ON 11 JANUARY
Vietnam is set to become the 150th member of the WTO on 11 January 2007. The Southeast Asian nation, a major exporter of textiles, shoes, electronics, rice, seafood and coffee, deposited its ratification with the WTO on 12 December. The ratification will automatically become effective after 30 days.
Vietnam’s accession caps twelve years of negotiations which wrapped up this fall. WTO Members finished negotiating the terms of Vietnam’s membership on 26 October; the WTO General Council formally approved its entry into the international trade body on 7 November (see BRIDGES Weekly, 8 November 2006). The country’s National Assembly ratified its WTO membership agreement on 28 November (see BRIDGES Trade BioRes, 1 December 2006).
Over the last two decades, communist Vietnam has gradually implemented free-market reforms, attracting foreign investors who are showing increasing interest in the country. Although its economy is relatively small, Vietnam’s economic growth topped 8 percent last year. Foreign investment surged by nearly 50 percent and exports increased by over 20 percent. Vietnam is now Asia’s fastest-growing economy outside of China.
Under its new membership obligations, Vietnam will be required to scrap a number of tariffs, subsidies, and other protective trade barriers. In exchange, other WTO members will be open up their economies to Vietnamese imports, and Vietnam will have recourse to WTO laws and institutions in settling trade disputes.
"Vietnam Set to Join WTO on Jan 11, 2007," BERNAMA, 13 December 2006; "Vietnam to Formally Join WTO on January 11," WORLD TRADE NEWS, 12 December 2006; "Vietnam Will Become WTO’s 150th Member in January," REUTERS, 12 December 2006.