Vietnam lauds India’s growth at WTO trade review

At the event held on January 6-8, Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, head of the Vietnamese Permanent Mission of Vietnam to the United Nations, World Trade Organisation (WTO), and other international organisations, said the economy kept its average growth at 7.36% for 2015-2020 and 4.2% for 2019-2020.

Underscoring increasingly strengthened comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and India, the diplomat said India has been one of important trade and investment partners of Vietnam in the past decade and among the top ten biggest trade partners of Vietnam in recent years.

She agreed with a number of India’s stances and affirmed that adhering to the WTO’s trade rules is the only solution to the emerging crisis and it will continue to play an active role in maintaining and strengthening a fair and equal multilateral trading system.

She also talked about Vietnam’s concern over India’s trade measures that have created unnecessary commercial barriers and restrictions.

Mai stated Vietnam, as a member of the ASEAN - a trade partner of India, is working closely with India to seek suitable solutions to the issue and is willing to join India in propelling the development of regional supply chains and post-pandemic economic recovery.

In their joint remark at the meeting, ASEAN member states said India is an important trade partner of the bloc, with the ASEAN-India dialogue relations quickly growing from a sectoral dialogue partnership in 1992 to a full dialogue partnership in December 1995.

India becomes ASEAN's sixth largest trading partner and eighth largest source of foreign direct investment (FDI).

The bloc also welcomed the outcome of the 17th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers' Consultations on August 29 last year, in which sides involved considered a multilateral trading system a driving force behind post-pandemic economic recovery and the implementation of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Area for mutual benefits.

Taking into account India’s key contributions to boosting the development and reform of the WTO, ASEAN reaffirmed its strong commitment and cooperation with India in maintaining an open, inclusive, transparent, and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system based on WTO rules.

Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. India has been a WTO member since 1995.