Vietnam pushes Gov Gen to fast track WTO entry

Dame Silvia Cartwright

HANOI - Governor General Dame Silvia Cartwright struck a slight speed bump yesterday in her talks with Vietnamese officials here, when Prime Minister Phan Van Khai called for a quick resolution to negotiations over the country's entry into the World Trade Organisation.

New Zealand is one of three existing member countries yet to finalise an agreement with the South East Asian nation. Vietnam had hoped to join the WTO by the end of this year, but negotiators are now conceding early 2006 is more likely.

Speaking at an official meeting with the Governor General, who is in Vietnam on a six-day state visit, Mr Khai called for a swift conclusion to the negotiations.

Dame Silvia said she had spoken with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark prior to her visit, who assured her that the WTO negotiations should come to a conclusion "very quickly".

"It is our Government's belief that with flexibility on both sides, our bilateral talks should reach a conclusion very soon," she told the meeting of Vietnamese ministers in Hanoi.

"New Zealand certainly wishes to come to a favourable and rapid conclusion."

Dame Silvia later played down the significance of the Prime Minister's comments.

"It is the one point where there is a slight tension, but we don't see it as a major issue at all because we are so close to finishing the bilateral negotiations," she told NZPA.

"We have a very positive attitude, but the difficulty is that we cannot agree on some tiny last minute things, and what it needs is a bit of give and take on both sides."

Dame Silvia said it was difficult conveying to Vietnamese officials that her role differs from her Vietnamese equivalent, President Tran Duc Luong, in that she has no role in policy making.

"I can't say, okay, let's shake on it," she said.

Jeremy Clarke-Watson, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's senior policy officer for South East Asia, confirmed the negotiations were tied up over tariffs for export products, including beef, adding that he expected an agreement to be reached soon.

Mr Khai was not the only one firing difficult questions at the Governor General today.

Dame Silvia -- in Vietnam to raise New Zealand's profile and promote trade interests -- also faced a grilling from students at the Auckland University of Technology's (AUT) partner in Vietnam, the Hanoi University of Foreign Studies.

In a lively discussion, Dame Silvia sat with students and answered questions ranging from how many scholarships were available to Vietnamese students choosing to study in New Zealand, to how New Zealand universities stacked up against their Australian counterparts.

"What is New Zealand's answer to the kangaroo? What makes the country stand out? Is there a Kiwi kangaroo?" one student asked boldly.

Dame Silvia struck back with the silver fern emblem, going on to describe the recent success of the womens' netball team against Australia.

There are currently just over 1000 Vietnamese students in New Zealand, but with around 22 million students currently in the education system there is huge potential for that number to grow. Education is New Zealand's second biggest export to Vietnam, after dairy products.

The Governor General yesterday witnessed a signing ceremony for a partnership between AUT and the Hanoi University of Foreign Studies, and visited Vietnamese students enrolled in a Victoria University course at the Hanoi University of Technology.

Later today, the Governor General is flying to Binh Dinh province in central Vietnam to visit New Zealand Aid-funded projects. New Zealand earlier this year announced it was tripling aid to Vietnam to $10 million by 2007/2008.

- NZPA