US embassy cable - 03HANOI2068

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 002068 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR FOR EBRYAN 
TREASURY FOR OASIA 
USDA FOR FAS/ITP/SHIEKH AND HUYNH 
USDOC FOR 6500 AND 4431/MAC/AP/OKSA/VLC/HPPHO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, VM, WTO 
SUBJECT: VIETNAM: NY LIFE HOSTS SEMINAR ON WTO ACCESSION 
 
 
1. Summary:  On August 5 in Hanoi at a seminar on Vietnam's 
WTO accession hosted by New York Life (NYL), Charge 
expressed strong support for Vietnam's efforts to accede to 
the WTO while also emphasizing the heavy workload Vietnam 
must complete in order to meet this goal.  Opening the 
seminar, DPM Vu Khoan expressed his support for 
international integration and asked the international 
community to support Vietnam's accession efforts.  Minister 
of Trade Tuyen questioned the fairness of the accession 
process and said Vietnam could not accede "at all costs." 
Over the course of several sessions, Cato Adrian, the WTO 
Secretariat official in charge of Vietnam's accession, 
 
SIPDIS 
provided key guidance on what how Vietnam should manage its 
accession process, including its bilateral negotiations with 
key trading partners.  End Summary. 
 
2. On August 5-6 in Hanoi, New York Life, in conjunction 
with the Ministry of Trade and support from the U.S.-Vietnam 
Trade Council (USVTC), hosted a seminar on Vietnam's WTO 
accession. Speakers included the Charge, Deputy Prime 
Minster Vu Khoan and Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen. 
The seminar covered a range of topics including a review of 
Vietnam's accession to date; case studies of recent 
negotiations, strategies for Vietnam's bilateral 
negotiations, the Doha Development Agenda, a comparison of 
the U.S Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) and WTO 
accession requirements and the status of GATS negotiations. 
The seminar was relatively small (about 150 people) but 
included participation of officials from a wide range of 
ministries, government think tanks and universities. 
 
HIGH-LEVEL POLITICAL PARTICIPATION 
---------------------------------- 
 
3. In his opening remarks, DPM Vu Khoan highlighted 
Vietnam's commitment to international economic integration 
and stated that WTO accession is the next important step for 
Vietnam.  To prepare for this, DPM Vu Khoan said, Vietnam is 
working to improve the competitiveness of domestic 
enterprises, perfect its legal framework, and reform its tax 
system.  He also noted that Vietnam is committed to widening 
market access according to a "reasonable roadmap."  While 
Vietnam does not need to meet "all necessary conditions" 
before joining the WTO, it does need to continue preparing 
for accession and accelerate the negotiations.  DPM Vu Khoan 
noted that the GVN needs three kinds of support from the 
international community:  1) help in highlighting the 
benefits of international integration to Vietnamese 
enterprises 2) efforts to negotiate bilaterally with Vietnam 
in accordance with its level of economic development; and 3) 
technical assistance for the entire process of economic 
restructuring. 
 
4.  In his remarks, the Charge expressed strong support for 
Vietnam's efforts to accede by 2005, while clearly 
highlighting how much work the GVN has ahead of it.  Charge 
identified the BTA as a good starting point for Vietnam's 
accession, but noted that the pace of reform established in 
the BTA is neither broad enough nor fast enough to meet 
Vietnam's goal of entering by 2005. Vietnam will need to 
commit to much greater access for both goods and services, 
including, at minimum, making commitments on 100 percent of 
its tariff lines and multilateralizing the services 
commitments it made in the BTA.  Charge reiterated Vietnam's 
Working Party Chairman's statement at the 6th Working Party 
in May this year that Vietnam needs to make a "quantum leap" 
in its preparations in order to meet its own goal of 
accession by 2005. 
 
5.  Minister Tuyen, who spoke during the second morning 
session on August 5, laid aside his prepared remarks and 
spoke off-the-cuff.  He questioned the fairness of the WTO 
accession process, arguing that newly acceding countries are 
asked to meet higher standards than current members and 
noting that Vietnam is ready to provide the same level of 
market access that other developing countries have been 
asked to provide.  Minister Tuyen said the question of 
"fairness" in the WTO is his "constant torment." 
Ultimately, Tuyen added, Vietnam cannot "accede to the WTO 
at any cost."  If opening its market will be so good for 
Vietnam, why did it take China 15 years to accede and why is 
Russia still not a member, he asked rhetorically.  Vietnam 
needs to enter the WTO because this is a critical step for 
advancing Vietnam's economic "renewal," but accession must 
be on the basis of Vietnam's own needs.  Minister Tuyen 
asserted Vietnam would have a good offer for the next 
working party including:  a clear legislative action plan, 
the applied tariff schedule, and a good offer on services. 
The Minister concluded by stating he hoped Vietnam would be 
a WTO member "soon." 
 
WTO EXPERTS WEIGH IN 
-------------------- 
 
6. A number of key sessions lead by Cato Adrian, the 
Counselor for Accessions at the WTO, focused on the nuts and 
bolts of Vietnam's accession and negotiating strategy. 
During Mr. Adrian's sessions he provided a detailed review 
of the status of Vietnam's accession; identified the 
negotiations that are necessary for accession, separating 
issues into those that are "negotiable," "non-negotiable," 
and "optional"; looked at case studies of three recent 
accessions (Cambodia, Lithuania and Macedonia); and provided 
a broad strategy for Vietnam's bilateral accessions with key 
trading partners.  (Note:  In addition to his participation 
in this conference, Mr. Adrian also spent more than two full 
days with the GVN's WTO negotiating team going over the 
accession process in detail.  End note.) 
 
7.  In addition to Adrian, a number of other experts also 
participated in the conference.  Ambassador Mike Samuels 
(former DUSTR and U.S. Ambassador to the GATT) gave a 
luncheon presentation on the "Political Evolution of the WTO 
- from GATT to Doha."  David Hartridge, Senior Director of 
White & Case in Geneva (and former Special Advisor to the 
Director General of the WTO) gave several presentations on 
the impact that the Doha Development Agenda and ongoing GATS 
and financial services negotiations could have on Vietnam's 
accession.  Additionally, Demetrios Marantis, USVTC's Chief 
Legal Advisor, compared Vietnam's commitments under the BTA 
with WTO accession requirements. 
 
8.  Comment:  Since the 6th WP in Geneva in May, the GVN has 
been actively promoting Vietnam's bid to accede to the WTO 
by 2005.  There have been numerous seminars, workshops, and 
meetings highlighting the importance of WTO accession, as 
well as significant press coverage on this issue.  This 
campaign may be an effort to develop popular support for 
accession outside of the core WTO negotiating team.  This 
seminar stands out both for the level of substance and the 
quality of the presentations.  Mr. Adrian's separate 
meetings with the GVN negotiating team should go a long way 
in helping the GVN push forward with its preparations for a 
seventh working party, possibly before the end of the year. 
We remain skeptical, however, that there has been a 
significant change in the GVN's belief that it will be 
allowed to accede in 2005 without a demonstrable commitment 
to meet the benchmark levels of liberalization and market 
access established by recent accessions. 
PORTER