Vietnam, US narrow gap after WTO talks
Wed Jan 18, 2006
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnamese and U.S. experts failed to reach a final agreement on Hanoi's bid to become a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in talks that ended on Wednesday, but they said differences had been narrowed.
The Vietnamese government has said it expects to join the WTO in the first half of this year, but it would need to wrap up its talks with Washington before the end of April to meet that goal.
"The talks this time have yielded much progress. Both sides are satisfied but we cannot reach an agreement," one Vietnamese negotiator said, without giving details.
Dorothy Dwoskin, head of the U.S. negotiation team, said negotiations were expected to resume by the end of March.
The latest round of talks, which opened on Monday, focused on differences on the services, finance, banking and telecoms sectors and commodities.
"The United States and Vietnam are working together constructively to meet our common goal of seeing Vietnam become a member of the WTO as soon as possible," Dwoskin, who is assistant U.S. trade representative, told a news briefing.
"Both sides worked very hard to narrow remaining differences. We were pleased with our progress," she said.
They involved bilateral market access negotiations on industrial and agricultural tariffs and services, and multilateral issues regarding WTO rules, she said.
Vietnam started applying for its WTO membership in 1995.
It has signed pacts with 22 WTO members, including the European Union, China and Japan, but missed its target of joining the trade body in 2005 as it still has to win agreement with the United States, Australia and New Zealand, all key members.
"WTO accession will enable Vietnam to complete the process of international economic integration and will allow the country to compete globally on an equal footing with its neighbors," the Hanoi Chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) said.
"AmCham strongly supports and encourages Vietnam's accession at the earliest possible date," it said in a statement on its Web site, www.amchamhanoi.com.
But Vietnam had to give fair market access and national treatment to U.S. businesses in line with the Vietnam-U.S. trade pact and WTO rules.
Vietnam has stressed it will not join the WTO at any price. To secure membership this year it will have to conclude its talks with the United States by April for the U.S. Congress, convening thereafter, to approve permanent normal trade relations status.
"WTO membership will further strengthen our bilateral economic relationship by creating new trade and investment opportunities for both Vietnamese and U.S. businesses," Dwoskin said. "Vietnam is a very important trading partner."
Trade between the two countries, once enemies, has grown sharply. Vietnam's exports to the United States surged to $6.5 billion in 2005 from $800 million in 2001 when the Vietnam-U.S. trade agreement came into effect.
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