Vietnam Sets up Supportive Body to Boost BTA

The Vietnamese Prime Minister has established a steering board for a technical support program to carry out the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), for the 2007-2010 period.

 

The cabinet leader appointed Vice Chairman of the Government Office, Nguyen Quoc Huy, and Vice Justice Minister, Hoang The Lien, as the board's chairman and vice chairman.

 

The steering board will be in charge of discussing with US relevant agencies the details of the technical support program implementing the BTA, and other bilateral agreements and commitments within the World Trade Organization framework.

 

It will also suggest measures to effectively implement the technical support program.

 

Trade activities between Vietnam and the US, particularly exports from Vietnam, have witnessed rapid increases over the past five years, especially since the Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) came into effect on December 10, 2001.

 

Vietnam’s export turnover to the US rose to $1.1 billion in 2001 from $204 million in 1996, following the two countries’ normalization of diplomatic relations in 1995. The figure then soared to $2.45 billion in 2002 just after the BTA became effective, and reached $8.56 billion in 2006. (VNA)