Brussels, 11/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - After a week of negotiations, European Commissioner Pascal Lamy and the Vietnamese minister for trade Truong Dinh Tuyen on Saturday concluded a bilateral EU/Vietnam agreement on Hanoi's admission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Union, which is Vietnam's largest trade partner, is also the first to have concluded this kind of bilateral agreement. Speaking in Hanoi, Mr Lamy said that the agreement "further consolidates economic and commercial relations [between the two countries]", and that it "brings Vietnam closer to the family of international trade, the WTO, where it belongs". "It is highly symbolic that this agreement was concluded on the sidelines of the ASEM summit, which brings the European and Asian families together", added Pascal Lamy (see page 7).
The agreement lists the provisions which Vietnam has undertaken to apply in the field of goods and services, once it has been admitted to the WTO. Hanoi agreed to customs duties of some 16% for industrial products, 22% for fisheries products and 24% for agricultural products. On services, Vietnam has undertaken to open its borders up to transport, financial and postal services, the construction and distribution sectors and services in the domain of the environment and business advisory. On the other hand, opening up in the sectors of tourism and telecommunications will be to a lesser extent. Referring to "extremely difficult" negotiations, Pascal Lamy indicated that, "as in all negotiations, it was a compromise" and said that he was "pleased to have succeeded".
Truong Dinh Tuyen said that a series of negotiations would be opening this month with the United States, and that China had promised to speed up negotiations. It is worth noting that a candidate to join the WTO must conclude an agreement with all members which call for one, and commit to reforms to come into line with international trade rules.