Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh speaks at a plenary session of the 11th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Argentina on December 11 (Source: VNA) Buenos Aires (VNA) – Deputy Minister of Industry and TradeTran Quoc Khanh highlighted Vietnam’s commitment to promoting the multilateraltrading system while addressing a plenary session of the 11th WorldTrade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Argentina on December 11.
The Deputy Minister said there have been a lot of changes since the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference, including the acceleration of negotiations ofnumerous free trade agreements (FTA) and regional trade agreements (RTA).
However, the global trade and multilateral trading system is also facingpotential risks due to the strong comeback of populism and trade protectionism,he noted, adding that shortcomings remain in the system.
The Vietnamese official called on the WTO to put forth measures toaddress the limitations and improve its operational efficiency to make it aneffective negotiation forum and a prestigious organisation in maintaining andensuring fairness in global trade.
WTO member countries need to maximise efforts and be flexible to reappositive negotiation outcomes, creating important foundation for the settlementof crucial matters in the coming time, Khanh said.
He warned that failure of negotiations at this conference would causenegative impacts on the multilateral trading system as well as the world’seconomic recovery.
Vietnam is willingto join other WTO members to address the organisation’s matters, he said.
He noted that at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week held in Da Nang city inNovember 2017, Vietnam made remarkable contributions to the release of a jointstatement supporting cooperation to improve the WTO’s operation, including mechanismsfor negotiation, supervision, and settlement of disputes, with a view tohandling properly any challenges that the trade system is encountering andbringing practical benefits for people and businesses.
The 11th WTO Ministerial Conferenceopened in Buenos Aires on December 10 with the participation of more than 4,000delegates from 164 member countries.
During the four working days, nearly 180ministers will discuss key issues such as food security, agriculturedevelopment, fisheries support, e-commerce and tax on industrial products. Theywill also seek measures to support the development of small-and medium-sizedenterprises (SMEs), attract investment, and promote trade exchanges andenvironmental protection.-VNA
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