Vietnam pushes for WTO’s stronger trade, development role at MC13

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien has joined meetings held as part of the World Trade Organisation’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi.

At the MC13, Dien spoke highly of the WTO’s role in guiding and promoting trade liberalisation effectively.

For the WTO and the MC13 to play a stronger role in propelling sustainable growth and creating more practical opportunities for businesses and citizens, he proposed that WTO members focus on discussions and negotiations that have shown progress to narrow gaps and move toward consensus among them, with the reform of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism playing a crucial role.

He also stressed the importance of finding development-appropriate solutions and addressing differences regarding special and differential treatment to ensure a balance of rights and obligations for all members, tailored to the development level of each country.

Vietnam has been fully realising the outcomes of the MC12, he said, adding that like many other responsible members, Vietnam is committed to supporting efforts and initiatives to reform the WTO in order to improve the effectiveness of its operation.

During a ministerial discussion on trade and sustainable development, Dien highly praised the WTO's efforts in proposing discussions on initiatives and effective approaches to achieving balance and coherence between economic and trade promotion and sustainable development.

He urged the WTO to clearly demonstrate its role in ensuring that the policies and regulations of each country align with the fundamental principles and existing regulations of the WTO, without creating discrimination and inequality in international trade.

About trade and industry development, the Vietnamese minister suggested that the WTO and its members conduct specific studies and evaluations on the scope and impact of proposed industrial support policies that may be subject to adjustment or change, with the development needs and goals of both developing and least developed countries put into consideration.

During the Cairns Group Ministerial Meeting, Dien affirmed Vietnam’s support for new initiatives and efforts to step up agriculture negotiations, with appropriate levels of development and enforcement capacity of economies being taken into account.

Vietnam will continue working closely with other members of the Cairns Group to achieve specific outcomes, contributing to promoting agricultural trade liberalisation on the basis of equal, fair and transparent competition, he said.

On the MC13 sidelines, he held a working session with the WTO Director-General to reaffirm Vietnam's commitment to supporting the multilateral trading system. He also met separately with officials of several WTO members such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Israel, Singapore, the US, China, Nepal, Romania, Canada, and Malaysia to discuss bilateral and regional issues of shared interest.

The Vietnamese and Chinese sides affirmed their excellent economic and trade relations demonstrated by the maintenance of open borders, which facilitate bilateral trade and investment, especially in agricultural and aquatic products. As a result, two-way trade has improved amid the global trade downturn.

With other countries, the minister agreed on closer cooperation mechanisms, especially through existing joint commission mechanisms, with a focus on energy, industry, and agricultural trade.

During a reception for President and CEO of the US’s Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) John Neuffer, he expressed the wish to work more closely with the associations and firms to share information and experience in this field.

With the goal of deepening involvement in the global semiconductor supply chain, Vietnam hopes for SIA's support in market connection, technology, financial resources, and early cooperation projects with the US companies, thereby considering appropriate mechanisms and policies to develop semiconductor industry, he added.

The meeting between Minister Dien and UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi concluded with a commitment to expedite the signing of the Vietnam-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement through technical discussions.