1. The study on “Assessment of the impacts of joining WTO relating to the state management aspect of MARD” was carried out within the framework of the project supporting the administration reform (co-financed by Holland Embassy and UNDP lasting from 2007 to 2012) concentrating on three key issues:
(i) Assess the role of MARD in the negotiation process of joining WTO and its role in the up coming trade liberalization negotiation etc.
(ii) Assess the institutional and organizational structure of MARD in implementing commitment to WTO;
(iii) Assess the legal aspects in implementing the mentioned commitment.
The following is a number of notable conclusions and proposals developed from the study:
(i) The function of MARD in state management and provision of services is not clear and lack of transparency;
(ii) The management functions of technical departments of MARD (cultivation, livestock production, plant protection, animal health) are not placed under the management of a focal point institution in order to manage and examine product and commodity quality covering production to marketing;
(iii) Investment made to scientific research and extension is an important measure to enhance and put into full play the role of international economic integration to the matters of agriculture and rural development;
(iv) It is essential to promote the forecast of marketing and farm product pricing;
(v) It is important to establish a network abroad representing for the agricultural sector in a number of key markets of Vietnam (USA, China, EU, Japan, ASEAN).
2. The study of CIEM provides a comprehensive socio-economic picture of Vietnam after 1.5 years this country joined WTO regarding to such matters as trade, investment, macro-economic stability and social-economic institutional. The summarized report of the study indicated that though the duration since the joining of WTO is short, positive impacts have been created. However, due to the adverse changes of the international economy (high price of oil, US economy instability) and economic constraints which have not been recovered (especially infrastructure bases, institutional and human resources), the opportunity brought back by international economic integration and from WTO joining has not been effectively utilized. One example is that the foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased strongly for two years now stemming from big expectation of foreign investors since Vietnam officially joined WTO, but the absorption of and utilization of the fund by the country serving the operation of various aspects of the economy is poorly carried out which is causing a strong pressure on the payment balance.
The study also indicated that the joining WTO and the impacts of implementing the commitment should not be equated with the adverse changes of the Vietnam’s economy (such as inflation, growth reduction, trade deficit etc.). For instance, when analyzing Vietnam’s trade deficit, it is important to identify which commodities and markets that cause the deficits. On this basic, comparison should be made between taxes Vietnam committed and commodities and market of WTO so as to identify whether these are caused as the result of joining WTO.
However, the authors of the study and specialists attending the workshops agreed that the separation and quantification of the impacts of joining WTO on the economy and social aspects is difficult not only because the duration Vietnam joined WTO is short but also the availability of data is limited and the ability of using modern research methods (such as model application) still can not response the requirement of study, consultancy and policy advices.