MoIT leader and WTO Director-General agree to promote multilateral trading system

Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien (right) and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala

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. The event is a valuable opportunity for Italy and Vietnam to affirm their roles in global trade and also a chance for both countries to collaboratively build a sustainable and stable international supply chain.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien met with WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Government Office and functional units of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

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. Specifically, 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, especially for developing and underdeveloped countries.

Vietnam has highly rated the WTO's efforts in promoting the negotiation of the IFD agreement, Dien said, adding that the country is currently 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 acknowledged the efforts of 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.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is currently expediting the completion of the dossier and procedures to submit to the competent authorities for the approval of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (Package 1) according to the Law on International Treaties as soon as possible. Vietnam will continue to work closely with WTO members in the negotiations for Package 2 of this agreement.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala highly rated Vietnam's impressive economic and trade growth in recent years

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.

The Minister affirmed that as one of the active members of the WTO and the Cairns Group, Vietnam will continue to strive to cooperate closely with other countries to achieve positive results, creating a fair playing field and fairer competition in agricultural trade. Along with that, Vietnam appreciates the WTO's efforts in promoting negotiations and welcomes new initiatives and efforts to advance negotiations for the common benefit.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo Iweala highly rated Vietnam's impressive economic and trade growth in recent years. She 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.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien also mentioned that Vietnam has signed and implemented 16 free trade agreements (FTAs) and is about to conclude negotiations on three FTAs with key partners in Europe, America, and the Middle East to establish open, stable, and long-term supply chains. Most recently, Vietnam signed Pillar II of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Agreement Relating to Supply Chain Resilience with 13 partners.

With these mechanisms, Minister Dien expressed the desire for the WTO and economies worldwide to promote more substantive and effective global partnerships. He emphasized the importance of persistent multilateral cooperation as the key to addressing all complex arising challenges. Vietnam has highly rated the G7 Trade Ministers' Meeting Statement in February 2024 on strengthening a rules-based, inclusive, free, and fair multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. Vietnam supports the WTO in promoting discussions on key areas such as fisheries subsidies and agriculture.

Minister Dien emphasized that, along with the G7, Vietnam reaffirms its commitment to supporting all efforts and initiatives to reform the WTO in all three areas: monitoring, negotiation, and dispute resolution, and hopes the G7 countries will contribute more actively and effectively to resolving the deadlock of the Appellate Body (AB).