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Vietnam to Conclude WTO
Negotiations with Japan Shortly
Vietnam and Japan are expecting to promptly complete negotiations on the former's bid to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Vietnam's Ministry of Trade (MoT) said in a news release on March 16. The ministry gave the forecast after announcing that Vietnam has made new progress in its latest bilateral talk with Japan over its entry to the WTO, which was held in Ho Chi Minh City last Thursday. During the talk, the two countries narrowed the gap over the tariff issue, the ministry said, adding that the two sides also gained encouraging results on discussions of commodities trading, business rights, non-tariff barriers and intellectual property rights. Head of the Economics Department of the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam Yasukata Fukahori shared the same view about the last weeks round. "We had essential, constructive, and detailed discussions in all fields, from goods to services and legal reform. The two sides are trying to finalize as soon as possible," the diplomat said. The two countries made positive changes in a bid to come to an agreement on intellectual property, he said, commenting on Japan's advice to levy stronger laws and punishments towards violators. However, the Japanese side also accepted that there are still some issues that the two sides need further negotiations, the economic expert said. The specific time for the next round of negotiation between the two countries has not been defined yet, but Mr Fukahori said that Japan hopes the two sides can continue the negotiation in May. Japan has raised the stakes, requiring Vietnam to enact a 10% cut in export tax (presently at 18%), making it commensurate with that offered by China. Japan also wants Vietnam to further open banking, transport and goods distribution markets. Before the talks, Vietnam had sent an amended commodities and services offer to Japan, expressing the country's progress, the Ministry of Trade revealed. Japan is among 21 partners including the US that Vietnam needs to complete in order to hold a membership of the WTO late this year. Vietnam and the US resumed their WTO negotiation round on March 14 in Washington D.C. Details of the three-day talk have yet to be made public. To date, Vietnam has completed six bilateral deals including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, the European Union and Singapore, and nine multilateral negotiation rounds on its accession to the WTO. (Youth Mar 17 p11, Thanhniennews.com Mar 17, Vietnamnet Mar 16)
IMF Chief Economist Visits Vietnam
Dr. Raghuram Rajan, chief economist and head of the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yesterday began his first visit to Vietnam. During his two-day trip, Rajan will work with government officials, business representatives and diplomats to become acquainted with the country's economy and express his opinions about the world's economy. He will attend a working session for a group of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laos officials taking part in a regional training course in Hanoi being run by the IMF's Singapore Training Institute. He also plans to join a workshop attended by the National Economics University of Hanoi graduates. (Vietnam Economic Times Mar 16 p1, Saigon Times Daily Mar 16 p1) Vietnam Lifts Quota Limits on Imported Corn, Cotton, Raw Milk Vietnam will remove its quota restrictions on imported corn, cotton and raw milk as of April 1 this year, the government announced this week. The removal is seen as a positive move towards the country's accession into the World Trade Organization, said observers. Since 2003, Vietnam started imposing quota limits on seven imported products, including raw milk, poultry eggs, tobacco, salt and cotton. In bilateral negotiations with important trade partners like the US and New Zealand over Vietnam's WTO entry, milk and cotton products from these countries were of special interest. This year, Vietnam will have to import over 85% of the total volume of milk materials it needs for milk production as the domestic production sector cannot meet local demands. Vietnam spent $20 million importing dairy materials and products in the first month of this year, up 28.2% against the same period last year. The country reportedly imported $209 million worth of dairy materials and products last year. (Vnexpress.net Mar 16, Thanhniennews Mar 17) |
