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(VEN) - Vietnam became an official member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) five years ago after more-than-11-year negotiations. This event marked the most important milestone in the country's international economic integration process.
Before that, Vietnam was a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), a founder of the Asia-Europe Economic Meeting (ASEM), a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC). Vietnam signed a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the US in 2001.
For the past five years, Vietnam has accelerated the international integration process and boosted links with 149 WTO member economies and many other organizations. It has escaped the group of underdeveloped countries. The Vietnamese economy grew an average seven percent a year with the per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reaching US$1,168.
In the 2006-2010 period, Vietnam disbursed US$45 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), exceeding the plan by 77.8 percent. The capital of newly licensed FDI projects and increases in the capital of ongoing projects totaled US$146 billion, up seven times compared with the 2001-2005 period.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that 22 sectors have obtained annual export revenue of more than US$1 billion. Regarding the balance of trade, Vietnam still imports more than exporting, but it also has a trade surplus with the US, Switzerland, Cambodia, the UK, the Netherlands and the Philippines. Hopefully, Vietnam will be able to balance imports and exports in the coming period.
Addressing a meeting which was held to summarize the results of 10-year implementation of the BTA, former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan said that before the BTA was signed, Vietnam's exports to the US totaled only US$50 million, but after the BTA was signed, the index went up to US$7 billion and in 2011 that exceeded US$10 billion.
WTO membership has given a boost to businesses' development. The Hanoi Trade Corporation (Hapro), for example, has undergone positive changes for the past five years and became a reputable distributor with a series of big supermarkets not only in Hanoi but also in many other cities and provinces nationwide.
Nguyen Tien Vuong, the deputy general director of Hapro, said that to accelerate its integration into the world economy in the years to come, the corporation will work out strategies to increase both domestic sales and exports. The corporation will learn the experience of businesses which have been successful in the fields of management, distribution network and brand development and marketing.
However, domestic businesses are still inactive in seeking information and making use of the opportunities which WTO membership brings. Former Deputy Prime Minister Vu Khoan said, "Vietnam's policy is taking the initiative in integrating to the world economy but it has been passive in many activities. Although a website has been launched and lots of documents have been published to provide information about Vietnam's commitments with the WTO, most Vietnamese businesses know just a little about those commitments. State management authorities have not created favorable conditions for businesses to overcome difficulties in the international integration process."
Agreeing with the above opinion, Dr. Tran Kim Hao and Dr. Nguyen Binh Nguyen from the Central Institute for Economic Management said that the competitiveness of domestic businesses remains limited in terms of management capabilities, quality of human resources, production cost, financial capacity, communications and trade promotion.
It is undeniable that international integration has brought Vietnam opportunities to accelerate administrative reform in accordance with global trends. Vietnam has made nonstop efforts and will continue striving for further improvements in the coming period./.
By Hoang Hang
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