A top Vietnamese negotiator said his nation is unlikely to join the World Trade Organization when its ministers meet in Hong Kong in December, due to
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A top Vietnamese negotiator said his nation is unlikely to join the World Trade Organization when its ministers meet in Hong Kong in December, due to a "lack of goodwill" from the United States in concluding negotiations with the communist country.
"At this moment, what we and many international partners expected (Vietnam joining the WTO in December) could not be realized," Saturday's Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Vietnam's ambassador to the WTO, Ngo Quang Xuan, as saying.
Xuan said Vietnam has done its best to meet WTO's accession requirements and has concluded negotiations with 21 WTO members - including the EU, Japan and Canada - but it still has to finish talks with other members, including the United States.
The ambassador blamed the U.S. for making demands of Vietnam that cannot be met.
In a recent round of talks in Geneva, the U.S. cited "internal procedures" for not being able to conclude the negotiations before December.