Brussels, 13/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - Great effort will be needed from Hanoi to privatise its state-owned enterprises and to accelerate the negotiations, European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht warns.
Visiting Hanoi on 7-8 March, De Gucht reviewed the progress with the Vietnamese authorities - on the sidelines of the EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting - of the negotiations initiated in June 2012 ahead of an EU-Vietnam free trade agreement. While he welcomed the progress made after two sessions of negotiations - the first in Hanoi in October 2012 and the second in Brussels in January - De Gucht told the Vietnamese government that it will have to make great efforts in the coming months.
“The negotiations between Vietnam and the European Union have so far proceeded very smoothly. But there is a long road ahead and before we can reach a conclusion some difficult decisions and significant changes will have to be made”, he said in a speech to the Ho Chi Minh National Academy and Public Administration in Hanoi on Thursday 7 March. Besides tariff liberalisation, De Gucht spoke of Vietnam's reform efforts - especially the privatisation of state-owned enterprises. During a press conference given after his meeting with the Vietnamese authorities, De Gucht called for a quicker privatisation of state-owned enterprises in Vietnam. The snail-paced restructuring of Vietnam's state-owned enterprises could be an obstacle to quick negotiations, which the parties want to conclude “at the end of next year”, De Gucht implied, quoted by the Vietnam News agency.
A third session of negotiations is planned in Hanoi on 22 April. It will focus particularly on goods and services and the opening of public procurement, De Gucht said. “During my talks with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, I have sent our message that Vietnam would need to open its economy more to accelerate the FTA negotiations, including the quicker equitisation of state-owned enterprises (…) It is urgent for Vietnam to boost its state-owned enterprises restructuring to lure more private enterprises”, he concluded. (EH/transl.fl)