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Apr 16, 2016 / 18:14

PM Phuc received WTO Director-General

On April 15, at the reception in Hanoi, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc welcomed WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo, the first leader of the World Trade Organization to visit Viet Nam.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc affirmed that Vietnam is always an active and responsible partner of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and stressed Vietnam's recognition of importance to enhancing its role as a member of WTO.
 
PM Phuc received WTO Director-General
PM Phuc received WTO Director-General
PM Phuc described the visit to Vietnam by the WTO leader as a good opportunity for both sides to discuss ways to further cooperation in the time ahead. Regarding Vietnam’s consistent policy of intensive and extensive international integration, the cabinet leader said Vietnam has negotiated and signed a number of bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) along with its active participation in the organisation’s activities. 

He informed the guest of the country’s ratification of a Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) as well as its preparations to approve a protocol amending the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in October. 

Phuc expressed his hope that the WTO continues supporting Vietnam during its development process, especially in the training of skilled human resources and legal experts, and improving the capacity of Vietnamese businesses in international trade activities, thus helping the country gain success from international economic integration. 

The WTO Director-General said that Vietnam still holds huge potential for further development as an active member of the WTO. The Vietnamese economy is growing with an increasing quality through the rise of hi-tech industries, he said, adding that it is also part of the global value chain connectivity. He suggested Vietnam should make more efforts to build the WTO’s future working agenda as the better way to raise its role and position in the organisation. 

Roberto Azevedo said the WTO is ready to augment cooperation with Vietnam, in particular capacity building and training for personnel working for international economic integration. He welcomed Vietnam’s preparations for ratifying TRIPS, saying this important document is tailored to support less-developed countries in particularly accessing sources of pharmaceuticals in service of medical treatment. The WTO Director-General affirmed his organization's willingness to support Vietnam in its integration into the global multilateral trade system, as well as during its socio-economic development process.

Mr. Roberto Azevedo said that he was delighted to visit Viet Nam as WTO General-Director and expressed his impression of Viet Nam’s socio-economic achievements. Viet Nam creates a definite success story of which trade contributed remarkably to national development, said the General-Director.

He took the occasion to thank Viet Nam for its assistance to the WTO and proposed the Southeast Asian nation to join an important agenda on e-commerce, SOEs, investment preference with a view to promoting the Doha talks. He expressed his hope for shaking hands with Viet Nam in manpower training in integration and international trade.