Addressing “The Vietnam Trade and Investment Forum - one year as official member of WTO” meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem hailed the country's remark-able economic growth since 2006, saying the improvement in investment policies and regulations played a key role in building a favorable and transparent investment environment.

Former trade minister Truong Dinh Tuyen, who led the negotiation delegation to the WTO last year, stressed the importance of timely market forecasts in the post-WTO era.

However, he pointed out several shortcomings in the management of the market by state officials, saying there was still a lot of room for improvement.

The European Union's Ambassador to Vietnam, Sean Doyle, praised the growth of the country's trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) during its first year of WTO membership.

He added that together with boosting economic ties, EU would continue its assistance in poverty reduction.

Walter Blocker, vice chairman of the American Commerce Council, said the fact that Vietnam's foreign direct investment (FDI) hit US$20.3 billion last year proved the country had won the confidence of international investors.

He said US businesses were always interested in continued administrative reform and more transparent trade promotion policies in Vietnam.

Long-term vision, skilled talent pool needed: WTO ambassador

Without drastic action and long-term vision, Vietnam could lose out in the post-WTO era because of the slew of hurdles and challenges the country faced, ambassador to WTO Ngo Quang Xuan warned.

What is the greatest impact WTO admission has had so far?

Ngo Quang Xuan: It must be the increased foreign direct investment pumped into the country last year.

Most of foreign investors affirmed that they had cranked up investment in Vietnam post-WTO with the FDI capital totaling US$20.3 billion, an increase of 69 percent from 2006.

Despite many remarkable economic achievements, Vietnam's economy is also facing a bunch of challenges as it enters the global market. What do you think?

I am most worried about the weak competitiveness of domestic firms post-WTO.

Vietnamese-made goods are not competitive enough to gain a firm foothold in the global market.

Furthermore, they are facing the risk of being gobbled up by the onslaught of foreign items.

In other sectors, despite the fact that Vietnam adopted a piecemeal tariff reduction roadmap, which is set to last for four to five years, the absence of long-term vision and a poorly-trained labor force would prevent Vietnam from participating in other lucrative markets around the globe.

I agree that we have achieved significant results post-WTO but sustainable development has still not been achieved in several sectors, including the bulging trade deficit.

There are also the unresolved issues of rising cost of fuel and construction material prices.

Soaring inflation has impacted the lives of many people.

One of the major concerns was the negative influences of WTO admission on the agriculture sector.

Have we hammered out a solution to this?

We must admit that a lot of foreign-invested projects have just focused on industrial and hi-tech parks, banking and new urban and tourism areas.

Investment projects in the agriculture sector has just accounted for 3 percent of FDI, widening the already large urban-rural disparity.

The price increase in agricultural produce could not keep up with the price spike in agricultural materials, leaving farmers counting heavy losses.

The key task is therefore to improve agricultural planting, modernize the irrigation system and apply cutting edge production technology.

As you have said, the integration work should be started from ministries, provinces and cities. Are they ready for that?

Compared with our efforts during the 11-year WTO admission negotiation process, what we have performed in the post-WTO era has fallen short of expectations.

What has happened makes me think the ministries and localities concerned are leaving the WTO battlefield, as a majority of domestic businesses have not geared up in this regard.

This might be because of the skilled personnel supply crunch.

What are urgent issues that need to be addressed in 2008?

2008 is considered a critical juncture for Vietnam's economic development in the 2006-10 period.

This year is also forecast to be a watershed for the global Doha negotiation round aimed at cutting tariffs and subsidies for the agriculture sector, reducing global industry duties and opening the international service market.

This year, besides committing to delivering WTO commitments, we should focus on direct negotiation activities and seizing big opportunities before the Doha round wraps up.

Source: Thanh Nien, Agencies