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Abstract

This paper evaluates opportunities and challenges that Vietnam faces after its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Vietnam is expected to have various opportunities, including access to markets of all WTO members, consumers' gains from trade liberalization, improvement of economic efficiency, economic development through trade liberalization, benefits from the rule-based multilateral trading system, good governance, etc. However, it faces several challenges as well, including adjustment costs, loss of some sovereignty to policies, problems related to a transition economy, loss of tariff revenue, competition from least-developed countries in textile/clothing industry, lack of high-level expertise, etc. Based on the evaluation on these opportunities and challenges, we provide some policy suggestions to Vietnam.

Keywords

Vietnam World Trade Organization Accession Developing Countries Economic Reform

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Opportunities and Challenges to Vietnamese Accession to the WTO *

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