Foreign trade : Vietnam joins WHO
Communist- run Vietnam has become the 150th country to be admitted to the World Trade Organization. The accession was officially sealed with the opening of a Vietnamese representation at the WHO headquarters in Geneva.
Geneva/ Hanoi - Vietnam applied for membership twelve years ago. The WHO states then formally agreed to the country's admission at the beginning of November. More than three decades after the end of the US-led Vietnam War, the country of 84 million people now has the fastest-growing economy in East Asia after China. In 2006, the Vietnamese economy grew by eight percent.
By the end of the 1980s, Vietnam had already moved away from a strict state-controlled planned economy. Since then, numerous indebted state-owned companies have been privatized or closed. Just a few days ago, the government in Hanoi announced that it wanted to fully or partially privatize around 50 other state-owned companies in the next three years, including the national airline Vietnam Airlines.
In light of WHO accession, Vietnam will now have to dismantle a number of tariffs, subsidies and other trade barriers that have previously protected the domestic economy from foreign competition. In return, it will be easier for the Southeast Asian country to sell its products on the global market. The main Vietnamese export products include oil, textiles, shoes, rice, fish and coffee. (tso/AFP)
