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Vietnam supports speedy conclusion of Doha negotiations
Vietnam has voiced support for the Doha negotiations to be finalised soon, while ensuring the interests of all members, said a Vietnamese diplomat.
Ambassador Vu Dung, Head of the Vietnamese delegation to the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international organisations in Geneva made the statement at a WTO meeting on non-agricultural market access in the Swiss city on Nov. 25.
Vietnam has strictly abided by its pledges over the past three years despite several obstacles due to the impact of the global financial crisis, Dung added.
On market access and non-tariff barrier negotiations, Ambassador Dung stated that negotiations must create favourable conditions for goods from developing countries to access markets in developed ones.
The establishment of technical standards for concrete categories of goods must not create financial and administrative burdens on the developing world, said the Vietnamese diplomat, adding that technical assistance measures should be considered for developing nations, including Vietnam.
Also on Nov. 25, at the negotiation on WTO regulations, deputy head of the Vietnamese delegation Tran Thu Hang voiced Vietnam’s concerns over the increasing imposition of anti-dumping measures by a number of countries.
“The abuse of these measures has damaged not only production in many developing countries but has also hurt customers in developed countries,” she noted.
She went on to say that Vietnam and other developing nations have put forward concrete proposals to amend WTO regulations to limit the abuse of anti-dumping measures and the application of regulations that are unfavourable to developing nations such as the practice of “zeroing” as well as review and price assessment regulations.
On subsidies, the Vietnamese delegation emphasised the vital need for such preferential treatment for fishermen in order to implement hunger eradication and poverty reduction in coastal areas, she added.
While in Geneva from Nov. 24-27, WTO senior officials also discussed key issues on the Doha agenda, including agriculture, services, environmental goods and intellectual property.
Representatives of many countries expressed their determination to jointly settle existing issues to conclude the negotiations in 2010.
VIETNAMPLUS
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