Nhan Dan Online – When accompanying Deputy Prime Minister, Vu Van Ninh to the US for negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Tran Quoc Khanh has granted an interview with the media in Washington on the agreement, saying that it can be concluded in the future.Q: First of all, can you tell us about major points in TPP negotiations between Vietnam and the US, one of the programme’s main partners?A: The bilateral negotiations between Vietnam and the US are very important, as the US is one of the key TPP partners. The negotiations focus on access to the US market and goods, which is paramount to Vietnam’s interests, particularly textiles and footwear. We have also negotiated about opening the Vietnamese market to US goods, including industrial and automobile products, iron, steel, pork, beef and chicken. The US also pay attention to Vietnam’s openness to markets of services, governmental procurement, improved regulations on foreign investment, intellectual property rights, State-owned enterprises and regulations on wildlife conservation. Generally, the bilateral negotiations are relatively broad and complicated. Q: Which do you think is the most difficult and thorniest issue in the bilateral negotiations which could remain unsolved until the last minutes of the negotiations?A: Each issue has its own complication, so it is difficult to address the more complex issues. For example, the US requires Vietnam to meet high standards on protecting intellectual property rights and implement comprehensive prevention against wild animal trafficking and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The two sides have agreed in principle, but we haven’t got enough resources to implement prevention against wild animal trafficking. If we give the resource shortage as a reason, the US will be able to apply dispute mechanisms, trade sanctions and preferential tariff withdrawal, like it used with Vietnam’s textiles. That’s not what we want. However, developing countries’ performance should be taken into consideration. Both sides should address the matter on the basis of co-operation, not applying dispute mechanisms and then conducting trade sanctions against each other. In conclusion, all issues are difficult, but there are some issues that are more important than others. I think the negotiation on market access is the most important. Only when we get a satisfactory result on opening the market and satisfying our interests in exporting textiles and footwear to the US, and the US also feels happy with the openness of Vietnam market to goods and services or governmental procurement, will the other issues will be able to be resolved. I think in the bilateral negotiations, those on opening the market are the most difficult and they may be concluded in the last minutes when there is a decision at the highest level. Q: What do you think about the TPP negotiation process so far, particularly after negotiations in Hanoi in September?A: The negotiations are going on as expected. The negotiation round in Hanoi was rated successful. TPP member countries agreed on packages to conclude negotiations in numerous fields and defined remaining matters to build up exchange packages towards concluding the agreement. However, the remaining issues are the most difficult, so the construction of exchange packages is extremely difficult, particularly in agreeing on what to exchange. All countries valued the recent negotiation round and agreed to conduct one more round at the level of delegations’ heads in November, to narrow differences and offer different exchange packages for the ministers to make political decisions at the end of the process. If the countries continue to maintain similar flexibility as in Hanoi, I think the agreement can be concluded successfully. Generally, we feel optimistic about the negotiation process after the round in Hanoi. Thank you very much! (Source: VGP/VOV – Translated by Nhan Dan Online)
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 12:26:50 +0000
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