Ha Noi (VNA) - Trade experts have urged authorities and industry chiefs to ready subsidy policies accepted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for supporting the domestic industry during the post-WTO phase.
Viet Nam has pledged to eliminate subsidies prohibited by the WTO, which local authorities and businesses consider a major challenge for the domestic industry.
Director of the Ministry of Trade's Multilateral Trade Department, Tran Quoc Khanh, said as per commitments, Viet Nam has to eliminate export-related subsidies such as bonuses or import tax preferences based on localisation rates.
Regarding industrial subsidies, Khanh said Viet Nam has pledged to remove all export subsidies and import replacement subsidies paid directly by the state immediately after becoming a WTO member. Preferential investment subsidies for exports would be abolished five years after joining the WTO (for projects that have become operational).
These preferences would not be applicable for new projects licensed, including textile and garment projects, after WTO entry, he said.
Therefore, export-oriented domestic and foreign invested enterprises receiving State support would become the most vulnerable, Khanh explained.
However, Khanh said Viet Nam could still make use of WTO-permitted subsidies to develop several domestic industries and sectors, including those supporting development and research, disadvantaged areas and for environmental protection.
Pham Thi Tuoc, an expert from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the abolishment of subsidies would not negatively impact the agricultural sector as up to 96 percent of Viet Nam's current subsidies for the sector would continue under the WTO.
Tuoc said Viet Nam could support agricultural production through the financial assistance measure permitted by the WTO, which the country was yet to implement.
Trade experts also said that businesses were not too worried about eliminating subsidies as only a few were important.
Science and Technology Ministry's Science Policies and Strategies Institute expert Tran Ngoc Ca said that though several forms of subsidies in the industrial sector had played a significant role in the survival and development of enterprises, they were not too essential as to make firms go bankrupt.-Enditem |