Ha Noi (VNA) - The National Assembly, the highest body representing some 80 million Vietnamese people, ratified the protocol on the country's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Nov. 28, three weeks after signing the document in Geneva.
Viet Nam will officially integrate into the world's largest market with a population of more than 6 billion in 30 days time, beginning a new journey that will not only bring about more opportunities but also challenges. This is an important event, marking the highest level of international integration that was initialed by the Communist Party of Viet Nam more than 20 years ago.
During recent weeks, good news have been repeatedly reported on Viet Nam, affirming the nation's growing position in the international arena. Viet Nam has been nominated by Asian countries as the only candidate from the Asian continent for a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council in the 2008-09 term. Ten days ago, Ha Noi, the capital city of the country, made it the centre of international focus when Viet Nam welcomed leaders from the 21 economic members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, including heads of state of three out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council and four out of eight of the world's leading industrialised countries (G8).
The accession to the WTO after 11 years of tense bilateral and multilateral negotiations is a "golden stamp" certifying Viet Nam's position and prestige in the eye of friends across the five continents as well as its partners. The WTO environment will help Viet Nam establish its position in the international arena, creating a great opportunity for the country to deploy its foreign policy and speed up the industrialisation and modernisation process.
As a full member of the WTO, Viet Nam will have opportunities to increase its export turnover, expand the goods and services markets globally, speed up reforms, renovate its economy and society, hence increasing foreign capital and high-tech in-flows and creating more jobs for its people . Vietnamese enterprises will participate on an equal basis in a market that accounts for 85 percent of global trade and 90 percent of the world's services. Local consumers will also have access to high-quality goods and services with competitive prices.
However, the WTO is neither a treasury for its members to say the magical words: "Open Sesame!" nor a guaranteed key to success. WTO entry is like fishing on the sea, where fish are available but so are risks, particularly to inexperienced seafarers. The Vietnamese ship, which has been accustomed to rivers, now needs time to get used to its newer and bigger environment.
Under its WTO commitments, Viet Nam - a developing country - will have to slash its tariffs, fully abolish export subsidies and completely open the domestic market. As a result, Vietnamese businesses will face strong competition from foreign companies with greater financial potentials, and lower priced imports right on their doorstep.
In line with this, the gaps between the rich and the poor and between urban and rural areas are forecast to widen. A number of local businesses will have to undergo restructure or go bankrupt.
WTO accession also poses challenges for members to conserve cultural identities and traditions amid impacts from external cultures.
For successful integration and to minimise adverse impacts of the process of trade liberalisation, the State, as the driver, should introduce welfare and security policies, intensify poverty reduction and realise social advancement and justice, experts said.
Also, they said, the State should enact development assistance policies which are in line with WTO common rules, speed up administrative and state-owned enterprise reform, and economic restructure, and improve the quality of human resources.
With great achievements made over the past 20 years of renewal, and experiences gained during the process of regional and international integration over recent years, Viet Nam will be able to transform challenges into opportunities while making full use of the opportunities brought by WTO membership, they added.-Enditem
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