Minister Nguyen Hong Dien: Vietnam and other countries join hands to create a fair playing field in trade of farm produce

At the invitation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, Antonio Tajani, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, leading the Vietnamese delegation, is on a working visit to Italy from July 15-20 to attend the expanded G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting. On the sidelines of the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien met with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. During the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien and Director-General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala agreed to promote the multilateral trading system as well as other agendas being implemented by the WTO. They reviewed the achievements of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in March 2024. Minister Dien stated that the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) is a pioneering agreement, promising to help participating members attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to promote comprehensive and sustainable development. Vietnam is studying and evaluating the impact of participating in this agreement to submit to the competent authorities for early consideration and decision. Regarding the approval of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (Package 1), Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said Vietnam has highly rated the efforts by the WTO Director-General in accelerating the negotiation process to conclude the agreement (Package 1) and encouraging members to quickly approve this agreement. Vietnam is also pleased that many WTO members have completed their internal approval procedures to soon put the agreement into effect. Regarding agricultural negotiations, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien shared that agriculture always plays an important role in ensuring welfare, food security, and the socioeconomic development of each country. Although the progress made by WTO members is encouraging, the recent achievements are still modest and not substantial. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala said Vietnam is a “shining example” of economic growth based on the achievements of international economic integration, thereby promoting trade and investment, successfully participating in the globalization process, and reshaping regional and international supply chains. The WTO will consider Vietnam's proposals aimed at creating a favorable and fair business environment for all countries. Minister Dien affirmed that as an active member of the WTO and the Cairns Group, Vietnam will further closely collaborate with other nations to achieve positive outcomes, fostering a more level playing field and fairer competition in the trade of agricultural products. Vietnam has highly valued the WTO's role in advancing negotiations and welcomes new initiatives and efforts aimed at promoting negotiations for the common benefit.