According to a survey of over 4,500 readers of an online newspaper in Vietnam, conducted from last November to late March this year, 60.9% hope Vietnam will become a WTO member as soon as possible. This figure is contrary to the results of another survey last March in which most participants said that they were worried about the process of joining the WTO and some even didn’t want the country to become a WTO member.

According to Vo Tri Thanh, head of the International Department for Economic Integration Policy Research under the Central Economic Management Institute, the above results show that never in Vietnam has there been such determination to accede to the WTO, and the determination is coming from the highest and lowest levels, from the state and enterprises.

He said that in the long run, becoming a member of the WTO will benefit Vietnam more than harm it. At this point in time, entering the WTO is even more meaningful for Vietnam: The country is the host of APEC 2006.

“Becoming a member of the WTO and being the host of APEC 2006 – an event participated in by high-ranking officials from almost all powerful countries in the world – will greatly impress partners. This will be the foundation upon which Vietnam’s attractiveness will build in the eyes of foreign investors,” Mr Thanh emphasised.

Vietnamese enterprises also no longer have only a vague understanding of the WTO. They realise that integration and competition will help them mature.

Dang Van Thanh, chairman of the Executive Board of Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank), said that he was unable to say whether Sacombank was well prepared in all aspects, but said that at least it was no longer overawed at integrating into the global playground.

When Vietnam joins the WTO, Mr. Thanh said, enterprises will have many more opportunities to do business in an open market. “We hope that Vietnam will join the WTO as soon as possible. Of course, big financial groups will infiltrate Vietnam, but it is also a good opportunity for us to learn and grow up,” he added.

Previously, many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) knew nothing about or didn’t care about the WTO, but they are now awaiting membership with a positive and open attitude.

Duong Ngoc Ha, chairman of the Management Board and General Director of the Sao Kim Pharmaceutical Company, said that joining the WTO was completely judicious. Sao Kim itself no longer worries about the WTO as before because 100% of its goods qualify for export. Sao Kim believes that it can compete with foreign partners when Vietnam becomes a WTO member.

Perhaps no kind of business wants Vietnam to quickly join the WTO as much as garment companies. Deputy Chairman of the HCM City Textile-Garments and Apparels Association Pham Xuan Hong said that WTO membership is very meaningful for Vietnam’s garment industry because quotas will be removed and Vietnamese enterprises will no longer have to struggle with quotas.

Vietnamese enterprises may not be conceptually ready for WTO membership, but they have been preparing. Sao Kim’s General Director Duong Ngoc Ha said that in competition, human resources was the number one factor, so Sao Kim was hurriedly preparing a contingent of qualified staff.

The general director of the Duc Quan Trade and Production Joint Stock Company, Nguyen Hieu Duc, also said that apart from upgrading technology, Duc Quan had transformed its model from a private to a joint-stock company.

According to Mr. Duc, his company had prepared technology, sales strategies and plans for improving product quality and developing its trademarks.

Mr. Pham Xuan Hong revealed that members of the HCM City Textile-Garments and Apparels Association had prepared human resources and infrastructure for integration. However, the full development of those areas can’t be realized in a short period of time.

Cautious people said that Vietnam should enter the WTO when it was better prepared: 33.6% of the attendants of the above survey said this.

Vo Tri Thanh from the Central Economic Management Institute said that many people had great expectations of perfection. It is utopian to wait till Vietnam is entirely ready to join the WTO, he said. WTO has its own rules of conduct, which countries can’t immediately meet when applying for membership. Thus, no country would join this organisation if they worried about WTO pressure and wanted to prepare all necessary factors before joining. According to Mr. Thanh, Vietnam must see WTO competition as pressure to speed up reforms.

Though only 4.1% of attendants said that it was not necessary for Vietnam to join the WTO, the results show that some people don’t want Vietnam to participate in this global playground.

Pham Xuan Phuong, chairman of the Members’ Council of the Anh Phuong Co, Ltd., was concerned about the fate of SMEs when Vietnam entered the WTO. He said that fierce competition will surely happen, requiring SMEs to strongly innovate their technology and equipment.

“Capital is needed for renewing technology and equipment, but how can SMEs acquire capital? We are now competing very fiercely with each other. How can we exist when foreign companies come?” he said.

According to Mr. Phuong, integration is indispensable but he wishes the state to pay more attention to SMEs to limit the adverse impacts of integration.

Experts commented that Vietnam has actually been opening its door for the past 15 years. The historical lesson of the renovation and open-door process during this time shows that an open door benefits the economy. “In fact, success doesn’t come to all countries with open-door policies, but it is clear that if we don’t open our door for integration, we will never develop,” said an expert.

Deputy Trade Minister Luong Van Tu also said that around ten years ago when Vietnam negotiated for ASEAN membership and committed to CEPT/AFTA (common effective preferential tariff/ASEAN Free Trade Area), many people worried that goods from other Southeast Asian countries would flood the Vietnamese market.

In fact, the market is still stable and developing well, and Mr. Tu believes that Vietnam’s economy will continue to develop as it joins the WTO. He said that the purpose of joining the WTO was to create a favourable environment for the development of Vietnamese enterprises, not for the country to get rich or get poor.

Source: VNE