The 13^th round of multilateral negotiations on Vietnam’s entry to the WTO ended in Geneva last weekend with champagne flowing to congratulate Vietnam’s finalisation of its decade-long negotiation process.

Another meeting will be held on October 26 to officially announce the finalisation of all multilateral negotiations on Vietnam’s entry to the WTO and to decide on Vietnam’s official admission to the organisation in early November.

Looking back on the past eleven years of negotiations, Deputy Trade Minster Luong Van Tu, who has been directly involved in the process, said, “This is a very long process with the concerted action by many ministries and sectors in coordination with the mass media and different channels like diplomatic sources”. He attributed such results to thorough preparations being made in the country.

Vietnam is regarded as one of the first countries which will not only build a legal programme but have to adjust the whole legal system to conform to the organisation’s regulations.

Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen stressed that though Vietnam is developing at a low level with its economy being in the transitional period, many of its commitments are even higher than those from other WTO member countries. Even in the Doha negotiation round, Vietnam committed itself to removing its subsidy for agricultural products after joining the organisation.

Many analysts maintained that it would be a victory for Vietnam to join the WTO as there was no economic breakdown so far. However, they said, this would not be an answer to all problems facing the Vietnamese economy. Economist Tran Dinh Thien said Vietnam will face more difficulties when it joins the WTO later than other countries. Moreover, Vietnamese businesses which are small in number will have to compete with the two giant economies of China and India in many fields. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses have no way but to cooperate with each other to develop and grow, Mr Thien advised.