Successes and challenges for Vietnam after six years in WTO

Six years ago, on November 7, 2006, Vietnam officially became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This is seen as an important event for Vietnam on the way to the international integration and development.

Initial successes

After six years joining the WTO, Vietnam’s macro-economy has still maintained growth with potential and size continuing rising up, despite the global economic crisis plus other many economic fluctuations. Vietnam has also escaped from the status of least developed country and stepped into the group of lower middle income country.  

Production of a foreign-invested enterprise in the My Phuoc Industrial Park in Ben Cat district

Vietnam has gained remarkable achievements in terms of foreign trade and services. Vietnamese commodities have been exported to nearly 149 countries and territories. The country’s export turnover has also achieved soared sharply.

In addition, some high tech-based industries have been invested and developed. The country’s economic structure has shifted towards industrialization and modernization while labor structure has gained positive change.

Joining the WTO has helped Vietnamese enterprises get much progress for new sci-tech application and management task in production and trading activities. Many enterprises have taken initiative in improvement of technologies and management task, aiming to raising their productivity and competitive ability. The legal system has also been streamlined and undergone many administrative reforms as well.

Challenges

After six years entering the WTO, Vietnam has enjoyed a lot of merits from its economic global integration, however it also faced with numerable challenges.

Price competitiveness is the biggest pressure of Vietnamese enterprises. Another thing that when joining the WTO, Vietnam must observe commitments signed in the bilateral and multilateral trade agreements as well as WTO’s rules while Vietnam’s socio-economic mechanism and policies are being perfected. Hence, Vietnam’s integration process has faced great challenges.

Many enterprises have lacked competence in realizing and avoiding barriers while still being very confused in seeking measures to remove them. Apartedly, Vietnam has faced great challenges in reforming trade policies and training human resources.

Orientations in future

To tap advantages, opportunities and limit challenges in the integration process, experts said that Vietnam needs to further perfect socio-economic mechanism and policies; reform administrative procedures; make more efforts to be recognized as a market-oriented economy before Dec.31, 2018; train hi-quality human resources…

Vietnam also needs to further promote export; set up an early warning system on barriers, increasing ability in removing them; build up technical barriers to tighten control over import in accordance with international rules; upgrade information and have economic predictions…

Reported by H.Ngan-Translated by K.T