GENEVA (AFP) - The World Trade Organisation formally approved communist Vietnam's membership of the global free trade system, opening up a new era of international commerce and investment for one of East Asia's fastest growing economies.
"It's the 50th trading country on the planet," WTO Director General Lamy said, predicting that the burgeoning southeast Asian economy could be "one of the rising stars of world trade."
The decision by the WTO's governing General Council brought 12 years of negotiations on the burgeoning southeast Asian economy's entry to a successful conclusion and opened the way for membership next year.
"Today is a very important and memorable day in the process of the international integration of Vietnam," Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem told reporters in Geneva.
Yahoo