The World Trade Organisation (WTO) appeared on Friday to have cleared the way for communist Vietnam to join as the 150th member of the global trading club, according to Reuters. Following a week of talks, states most closely involved in Vietnam's entry negotiations said that they had resolved all problems standing in the way of the Asian state's membership. This means the chairman of the working party on Vietnam's entry, Norwegian ambassador Eirik Glenne, can distribute a draft treaty to member states in time for its approval at the next meeting of the negotiating group on Oct. 26, diplomats said. Providing there are no last minute hitches, the treaty will then be sent for rubber-stamping by a special meeting of the 149-state WTO in early November, they added. "The negotiators' jobs are done on this one," said one diplomatic source from a country involved in the final talks. Vietnam, a major textiles and clothing exporter which has been negotiating entry for 12 years, would be able formally to join the WTO 30 days after ratifying the entry treaty. It had already concluded bilateral accords with all WTO member states that had sought them, but a final round of negotiations was needed with the full membership to ensure its trade rules and regulations were in line with WTO norms. Talks in Geneva had focused on services and in particular on some problems that Switzerland had with maritime services. Vietnam has one of the fast-growing economies in Asia after China, with expansion rates of over 8 percent in the last few years, and economists say that membership of the WTO will give a further boost to output.
