VietNamNet Bridge – Speaking to lecturers and students of the Hanoi-based Institute for International Relations on Wednesday, Max Baucus, Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Finance, discussed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement as a “future goal” for the two countries.

Mr. Max Baucus at the Institute for International Relations on Wednesday.

Baucus emphasized this target, suggesting that “the two countries have to take advantage of great potential of the Asia-Pacific region.”

According to Baucus, this agreement is based on free-trade agreements that the US has signed with other countries, like Singapore, Chile, Australia, and Peru, and other important partners, such as Vietnam, can participate in when they are ready.

Doubling effort

Regarding the necessity to promote educational cooperation between the two sides, Baucus said: “We can not together build up a future if we do not understand and respect each other. We can not understand and respect each other if we do not know about each other. And we can not know about each other if schools and universities of the two sides do not promote educational and student exchanges.”

According to him, educational cooperation needs to be put side-by-side with creating sustainable opportunities for jobs, economic growth and prosperity. He said both the US and Vietnam need to “double the effort” to promote economic development cooperation, for both the present and future generations of the two countries.

Fifteen years ago, Vietnam and the US did not have a trade exchange. But now the two sides have bustling trade relations. The US lifted its embargo on Vietnam in 1994. The two sides signed the Bilateral Trade Agreement in 2000 and in 2006 the US granted Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) status to Vietnam. Vietnam has become the most quickly developed trade partner of the US in this region, while the US is the largest export market of Vietnam.

Nevertheless, Senator Max Baucus said that the two countries need to grasp current opportunities and think of an ambitious future for the cooperation between the two sides.

Back grant of GSP to Vietnam

The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) is for developing countries. The US has granted GSP to 132 countries.

“Vietnam needs to benefit from this program. I support every effort of Vietnam to gain GSP,” Baucus said.

However, Vietnam has to meet some conditions to obtain GSP, for example ensuring that its Labor Code meets international labor standards.

In a visit to the US in June 2008, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung suggested the grant of GSP to Vietnam. The two sides are discussing this issue.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with Senator Max Baucus on Wednesday afternoon. Baucus wished Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and President-elect Barack Obama to continue promoting the cooperative relations between the two countries.

He confirmed his support of GSP grant to Vietnam and hoped that President-elect Obama would approve GSP grant for Vietnam.

Baucus said discrimination in trade must be abolished and asked Vietnam to consider the import of beef, over 30 months old, from the US.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung proposed Baucus to support the US Parliament to repeal the supervision mechanism over Vietnamese textile-garments, early grant of GSP to Vietnam, and stop trade discrimination over basa catfish from Vietnam.

Xuan Linh