Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung received WTO Director General Pascal Lamy on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia in HCM City on June 7.

Mr Dung thanked Director Lamy for supporting Vietnam during the negotiation process for its admission to the world’s biggest trade body and expressed his hope that Mr Lamy would continue to help Vietnam with full involvement in the WTO’s agreements, technical consultancies and human resources development.

Vietnam and ASEAN countries want the Doha round of world trade talks to end soon with practical and balanced results for the benefit of underdeveloped and developing countries. The early termination of the Doha round will be a step forwards for developing free trade in a more equal manner, said Mr Dung.

For his part, Mr Lamy praised the achievements Vietnam has recorded after three years in the WTO, particularly in economic restructuring to raise competitive capacity as a result of sharp increases in foreign investment capital and export turnover.

Vietnam’s success in coping with the global economic downturn demonstrated its efforts to build an open economy. The WTO is willing to help Vietnam to build a roadmap with specific periods for more integration into the global economy, provision of technical assistance and accepting Vietnamese trainees who want to work for the WTO, Mr Lamy said.

Sharing his views with PM Dung at the early ending of the Doha round, the WTO Director said the successful Doha round will have double impact and play a role as the world economy’s stimulus package to accelerate the process of reforming the global financial structure.

He also expressed the hope that as ASEAN Chair this year, Vietnam will have an important voice at the G20 Conference to be held in Canada in the near future, helping the Doha round to end on schedule.

The same day, PM Dung also received some leaders from major international economic groups.