Vietnam looks for international support in economic integration
(VOV) - Vietnam is in need of support and technical assistance from international donors, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Cam Tu.
Addressing a September 23 talk in Hanoi on the Beyond WTO Programme (B-WTO Programme) - a post-WTO accession technical assistance programme, Tu said the international economic integration process has delivered positive results but posed challenges to socio-economic development.
Immediately after its entry to the WTO, Vietnam has called on donors to help Vietnam manage the international economic integration process and shift to the market economy.
The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and UK Department for International Development.(DFID) have funded the B-WTO program aiming to help the Vietnamese Government manage the process as well as a shift to the market economy.
According to the Head of the Steering Board for the B-WTO program, phase 2 ( January 2007- March 2008) Trinh Minh Anh, the two organizations assisted Vietnam in building a Government Action Program and running a mechanism for multilateral trust funds thereby facilitating Government Action Program implementation.
Over the past four years, 48 projects have been carried out including 23 for fine-tuning market mechanisms, six for dealing with socio-economic challenges in the integration process on rural areas, 11 for improving management capacity and integration coordination and 8 for implementing local action plans.
Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Hugh Borrowman, described the WTO admission as an important step in Vietnam’s integration process which, however, poses huge challenges to the country such as tougher competition and shifting to a higher level of the global value chain.
The six-year WTO membership is not a long path but vital for Vietnam to accelerate its deeper international integration and shift to the market economy, Ty noted. He also expressed his hope that the B-WTO program’s greater technical support will help the Vietnamese Government manage the country’s global economic integration effectively.