To grasp opportunities in the integration process, the country’s trade development strategy in the future should change. An export development project in the 2006-2010 period, which has been approved by the Government, aims to create a favourable procedure for sectors to develop, improving their competitiveness and penetrating deeply international markets.

Vietnam has become a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), with numerous rights and obligations directly relating to competition between domestic and foreign commodities and services. The most important thing is how the country makes the best of these rights and obligations to increase the competitiveness of its commodities, services as well as enterprises.

As new Vietnamese Prime Minister, Nguyen Tan Dung’s visits to three of Vietnam’s neighouring countries have already gone beyond the sphere of courtesy visits according to ASEAN practice. They have clearly helped promote Vietnam’s relations of comprehensive cooperation, particularly in economics, trade and investment, with Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s visits to Cambodia, Laos and Thailand are of great significance to the relations between Vietnam and the three countries in particular and among Southeast Asian region as a whole. The visits will open up new opportunities for these countries to boost multi-faceted cooperation for the benefit of each country and the whole region as well.

According to Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai, total foreign direct investment capital into Vietnam this year will hit a record high of US$10 billion, the largest ever since 1998. The figure is expected to rise considerably next year when Vietnam becomes an official member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

After joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Vietnam will have to remove agricultural subsidies and comply with WTO rules that are being applied by other members. The important thing is how to clarify the form of subsidy that can or can’t be applied.

The approval of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) legislation for Vietnam by the US House of Representatives and the Senate on December 9 with a majority of votes in favour shows that Congress has overcome all barriers to act for the benefit of US enterprises and relations between the two countries. With this important move, Vietnam and the US have finalised the process of fully normalising bilateral trade.

The Vietnamese real estate market has shown positive signs in the wake of the country’s becoming an official member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The real estate business circles say that never before have foreign investors paid so much attention to the Vietnamese real estate market as at present.

The Prime Ministers of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia began their two-day tripartite meeting in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong on December 4 to accelerate the building of the Development Triangle, with the aim of serving the practical interests of national construction and defence in each country.

November 2006 went down in Vietnamese history as a memorable experience of four important events.

The National Assembly (NA) has passed a resolution ratifying a protocol on Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), thus completing the final legal procedures for the country to become an official member of the world’s largest economic body and enter a new period of international economic integration.

As Vietnam is now a World Trade Organisation (WTO) member, its different services such as banking, finance and commodity distribution and consumption will be most affected. However, enterprises and financial organisations in these fields say that they are not too much concerned about competition in the near future.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev’s visit to Vietnam this time aims to further strengthen time-honoured friendship and cooperation between the two countries with a focus on promoting investment, economic and trade ties.

In the second phase of the NA session, the National Assembly will consider and ratify the protocol on Vietnam’s entry to the World Trade Organisation, the final step in Vietnam’s bid to join the WTO.

The 14th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM 14) concluded successfully in Hanoi on November 19 after two days of friendly and cooperative talks. AELM 14 also marked an end to a series of important events of the APEC Week aimed at bringing the APEC process to a new level.

The Vietnam-Japan relationship is entering a new period of development. Both sides want to raise the relations to a new strategic level.

Leaders of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum gathered in Hanoi on November 18 for their 14th summit. Together with other APEC-related meetings held earlier this year, the meeting marked an end to the APEC Year 2006 hosted by Vietnam for the first time.

US President George W. Bush pays an official visit to Vietnam from November 17-20 at the invitation of State President Nguyen Minh Triet while attending the 14th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Hanoi. This is the second official visit to Vietnam by US presidents following the first by President Bill Clinton in November 2000.

The US Department of State’s decision to remove Vietnam from the list of “countries of particular concern” (CPC) on religious freedom has been welcomed by the US public as a right decision in compliance with the positive trend of development in Vietnam- US relations.

Eight years ago on November 14, Vietnam was officially admitted to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Since then, APEC has made a positive impact on Vietnam’s development, with its support for the country’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership.

After months of thorough preparations and with all-out efforts made by the Vietnamese Government, ministries, sectors and people, the 14th APEC Week has begun in Hanoi with the Concluding Senior Officials Meeting. With approximately 10,000 foreign delegates converging in the capital city, APEC 14 is considered Vietnam’s most important diplomatic event this year.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and State President Hu Jintao will pay an official visit to Vietnam from November 15-17 while attending the 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Hanoi. This will be his fourth visit to Vietnam, and second in his capacity as the Party General Secretary and State President of China.

Vietnam became an official member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on November 7, marking a major step in Vietnam’s international integration process.

According to economic experts, Vietnam needs an overall strategy for developing service sectors which will be most affected by the WTO accession process.

Currently, nearly 80 percent of the Vietnamese population live on agricultural production but redundancy in rural areas is increasing as a result of economic restructuring. Developing rural crafts and services through small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is considered an effective solution for unemployment in rural areas.

Vietnam is preparing to join the World Trade Organisation – a big playground which requires domestic enterprises to grasp international rules if they do not want to lose out and be left behind in tough competitions.

With nearly 80 percent of the population living on agricultural production, Vietnam is considered a potential market for enterprises involved in agricultural insurance services. However, after the failure of some pilot models, this market remains almost inactive.

The friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and Thailand have constantly developed since the two countries established their diplomatic ties on August 6, 1976, particularly after Vietnam joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July 1995.

The process of integration into the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will help Vietnam quickly develop tourism industry. Reality shows that the increasing number of international tourists to the country has raised its earnings from US$2.834 billion in 2004 to US$3.07 billion in 2005.

In recent times, a group of persons who claim to be acting in the name of patriotism have disseminated documents containing their wrongful views on democracy and human rights issues in Vietnam.