The WTO will be good for Vietnam's garment and textile industry as the quota barrier to the U.S. will be removed, but that does not mean that Vietnam's garments and textiles will freely dominate on the world market. The WTO is a highly competitive playing field where weak businesses will fail. There are many barriers Vietnam will face upon fully joining the global market economy.

The garment and textile industry still suffers difficulties in sustaining quality materials, markets, designs and human resources. Vietnam has committed itself to cutting all subsidies for this sector as well as halting the use of State capital to develop projects in the industry. It will be difficult to attract new private capital to the sector because few investors are willing to contribute to projects that do not promise high profits immediately. Even the domestic textile and garment industry will face serious difficulties as more foreign products with diverse designs, reputable trademarks and attractive prices flood Vietnam's marketplace.

Even if the Vietnamese garment and textile businesses deal with these existing difficulties effectively and are able to strongly expand to the world market, the fact that Vietnam will still be considered a non-market economy for the first 12 years after joining the WTO will remain an obstacle for businesses in the same way as the leather and shoe industry has experienced difficulty in the European Union market. All this is not even to consider the other countless barriers such as technical standards, labor standards, customs procedures, and regulations on origin (intellectual property protection) which influential WTO members like the U.S. and the EU have set up.

In summary, the WTO is a business forum where those who do not have sufficient knowledge of its laws will be left out. They will not be offered the cushy State assistance and protection they've previously had the comfort of relying on. Therefore, the role of organizations representing businesses and consulting firms must be taken advantage of and Vietnamese businesses?especially small and medium sized companies?will have to strengthen the link between production and trading.

Saigon Times