Vietnam reaffirms support for WTO’s central role in multilateral trading system

Ambassador Mai Phan Dung, head of Vietnam’s Permanent Missionto the United Nations, the WTO and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, made the remarks in an interview with the press in Geneva ahead of Vietnam’s third Trade Policy Review.

Ambassador Mai Phan Dung said Vietnam aims to convey three key messages to WTO members through the upcoming review.

First, the country pledges to deep, proactive and substantive international economic integration. The two decades since the country joined the WTO have demonstrated the importance of international integration in promoting economic reform, expanding trade, attracting investment and enhancing national competitiveness. In the coming period, it aims not only to broaden economic and trade ties with partners, but also to improve the quality of its integration, implement commitments more effectively and make better use of the opportunities integration offers.

Second, Vietnam will continue to promote institutional reform, improve the investment and business environment, and build up the economy’s internal capacity. Priorities include making policies more transparent, stable and predictable; simplifying administrative procedures; promoting science and technology, innovation and digital transformation; enhancing domestic businesses’ competitiveness; and strengthening their links with regional and global value chains. The nation also recognizes the weaknesses that need to be addressed, particularly some export industries’ reliance on imported raw materials and components, and small and medium-sized enterprises’ difficulties in accessing technology, finance and markets.

Third, Vietnam seeks to play a more proactive and substantive part in developing international trade rules and cooperation frameworks. Alongside full implementation of its existing commitments, the country will actively take part in discussions on issues shaping the future of global trade, including the digital economy, e-commerce, the green transition, sustainable development and supply chain resilience. It also continues to support a rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its center. Its strong message is that international integration must go hand in hand with domestic reform; reform must strengthen the economy’s competitiveness and resilience; and, ultimately, integration must deliver practical, inclusive and sustainable benefits to businesses and the people.

With global trade facing protectionist trends, geopolitical competition and supply chain restructuring, Ambassador Mai Phan Dung stated that Vietnam sees no conflict between strengthening the rules-based multilateral trading system and safeguarding its national economic and trade interests. The two goals are closely linked and reinforce each other.

As a highly open economy deeply connected to regional and global value chains, Vietnam recognizes that a stable, transparent and predictable international trading system governed by common rules is essential to creating a favorable business environment, protecting enterprises’ legitimate rights and interests, and laying the foundation for sustainable growth and development. The nation therefore backs the WTO’s central role in the multilateral trading system and takes an active part in efforts to reform the organization, especially to strengthen its negotiating and monitoring functions and restore a fully functioning and effective dispute settlement system.

Ambassador Mai Phan Dung stressed that developing multilateral trade rules must preserve the system’s fundamental principles while giving due consideration to differences in development levels and implementation capacity among members, especially developing members. In parallel, Vietnam is working to enhance its economic autonomy and resilience by diversifying markets, partners and supply chains; improving domestic businesses’ competitiveness; promoting domestic production and increasing local value added; and gradually addressing dependencies that could leave the economy more vulnerable.

Vietnam will continue to adopt necessary policies to safeguard the legitimate interests of the country, businesses and the people. At the same time, it will ensure that legitimate regulatory objectives, including the protection of public health, the environment, consumer interests and economic security, are pursued transparently, predictably and in line with international commitments.

Ambassador Mai Phan Dung emphasized that, in Vietnam’s view, sustainably safeguarding national interests amid growing uncertainty does not mean narrowing integration or standing outside international cooperation mechanisms. It means actively helping shape the rules, strengthening domestic capacity and making effective use of multilateral mechanisms to protect its legitimate rights and interests. This is also how the nation contributes to a stable, fair and inclusive international trading system that is better equipped to adapt to changes in the global economic environment.

On November 7, 2006, Vietnam officially signed the Protocol of Accession to the WTO in Geneva, becoming the organization’s 150th member in January 2007. Trade Policy Reviews of members are among the WTO’s most important tasks, helping promote transparency in the implementation of commitments and obligations under the organization’s framework.

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