Minister Nguyen Hong Dien led the Vietnamese delegation to attend the meetings as part of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On February 28, information from the Vietnamese delegation at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in the UAE revealed that the MC13 takes place in the context of the global economy still in the process of recovery to return to the path of pre-Covid-19 growth, while also being influenced by the complex and ever-changing international situation.
Therefore, at the MC13, WTO members discussed the implementation of the agreements reached at the 12th Ministerial Conference, including: Continuing the negotiation of phase 2 of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement and promoting the approval of phase 1 of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement; identifying major directions for WTO reforms, including reforming the dispute settlement mechanism; extending the exemption from customs duties on electronic transmissions in e-commerce; promoting the negotiation of specific content in the agriculture sector.
In addition, WTO members also discussed new topics such as: Trade with a focus on ensuring that different economies and population groups benefit from international trade; trade and policy support for the development of industries…
In his speech at the conference, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien appreciated the role of the WTO in leading and promoting the process of trade liberalization effectively.
To further contribute to promoting sustainable growth, creating more real opportunities for businesses and people, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien suggested that WTO members focus on the discussed and negotiated topics that have made progress in order to narrow the gap and move towards consensus among members, in which the reform of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism plays a crucial role.
At the same time, appropriate solutions should be found for the issue of development, resolving the fundamental differences in perspectives among members in terms of special and differential treatment in the current context, in order to ensure a balance between the rights and obligations of all members, in line with the level of development of each country.
The Minister also affirmed that Vietnam has fully implemented the results achieved at MC12. Like other responsible members, Vietnam is committed to supporting the efforts and reform initiatives of the WTO to enhance the effectiveness of this organization.
At the meeting of Ministers of Cairns Group members (a group of agricultural exporting countries), Minister Nguyen Hong Dien reaffirmed Vietnam’s welcoming of new initiatives as well as efforts to promote agricultural negotiations for the common interests, based on the appropriate level of development and enforcement capacity of the economies.
At the same time, Vietnam committed to continue to closely coordinate with other members of the Cairns Group to achieve specific results, contributing to promoting the liberalization of agricultural trade on the basis of equal competition, fairness, and transparency.
On the sidelines of the MC13, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien also had bilateral encounters and meetings with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the WTO, to reaffirm Vietnam’s commitment to supporting the multilateral trading system of the Vietnamese Government.
The Minister also met and had bilateral contacts with several WTO Members such as Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Kazakhstan, Israel, Singapore, the United States, China, Nepal, Romania, Canada, Malaysia to discuss bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest…
