Vietnamese PM Meets WTO Director-General, Discusses International Trade and Digital Economy

Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung met with Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in New Delhi, India, on the occasion of attending the 18th BRICS Summit. Prime Minister Le Minh Hung highly appreciated the cooperation and support of the WTO in Vietnam's international integration process and welcomed the coordination of the WTO Secretariat in preparing for Vietnam's third periodic trade policy review in November 2026. Prime Minister Le Minh Hung affirmed that Vietnam has always actively and responsibly participated in the WTO's agenda and supported the WTO in continuing to promote its coordinating role to foster global trade towards inclusivity, balance, peace, cooperation, and development, while effectively responding to global challenges. Vietnam hopes that the WTO will continue to promote the reform process to meet the requirements of the new situation and expand its agenda to new areas such as digital trade, artificial intelligence (AI), green transition, climate change, and supply chain resilience. Prime Minister Le Minh Hung proposed that the WTO continue its projects and initiatives to support Vietnam in enhancing its capacity, providing in-depth training on trade policy, offering legal advice for resolving international disputes, and facilitating trade to effectively leverage international agreements and commitments, thereby improving competitiveness. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala congratulated Vietnam on its impressive economic achievements, stating that Vietnam's macroeconomic indicators in recent times reflect the government's excellent macroeconomic management capacity. The Director-General also assessed that after nearly 20 years of joining the WTO (2007-2026), Vietnam is a typical example of the WTO's success and the rule-based multilateral trading system. She expressed hope that Vietnam would share its development and international integration experiences with other developing countries. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed Vietnam's ratification of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and its participation in the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), emphasizing that this demonstrates Vietnam's strong commitment and responsibility to the multilateral trading system. Discussing future development directions, the WTO Director-General stated that Vietnam is on the right track by promoting diversification of markets, products, and supply chains, and by moving up to higher tiers of the value chain, especially for high-value products related to AI, semiconductors, and microprocessors. Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala affirmed that the WTO will continue to accompany and support Vietnam in its international economic integration process and expressed hope that Vietnam would support the WTO reform process as well as the accession process of other countries to the WTO.