February 17, 2005

WTO entry will affect Vietnam's aquaculture: UNDP

World Trade Organization (WTO) membership will have great impacts on the aquaculture industry of Vietnam, said a senior official of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Jonathan Pincus, Senior Country Economist of UNDP said that the biggest hindrance will be for Vietnam's aquaculture, seeing that it is a market with great attraction and rapid expansion.

A case in point would be the recent anti-dumping cases Vietnam experienced with the US. Within the framework of WTO, Vietnam might still be the subject of such lawsuits, launched by the US or maybe other countries, Pincus said.

In spite of these problems, Vietnam still needs to join the WTO, Pincus confirmed. "It is still better in than out, since only with the membership, can you have the right to challenge WTO decisions," he said.

The UNDP's official suggested that investment and intellectual property rights are the most important issues that Vietnam should negotiate promptly. Under WTO, Vietnam will have to decide the areas of investment that it wants to attract and the areas its does not. It also seems unlikely for the country to continuing imposing performance criteria for foreign direct investments FDI, he said.

The economist also proposed that the country lower tariffs on agricultural and industrial products as a progression which "is unavoidable". 

Vietnam is striving to end negotiations on its accession to the WTO to officially join in the body before 2006.

The country has so far completed six bilateral deals with Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, the European Union and Singapore. But it still has to complete talks with 21 more partners, including the US, China, Japan, South Korea, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.