Viet Nam

The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was first established on a trial basis by the GATT contracting parties in April 1989. The Mechanism became a permanent feature of the World Trade Organization under the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO in January 1995.

Following the so-called “Asian option” of transition from the early 1990s Viet Nam adopted the Doi Moi (renovation) process a combination of liberalization stabilization and structural reforms. This included two main waves of trade liberalization one in the 1990s and a second in the 2000s (Coello at al. 2010). The first wave lasted from the initial opening of the country until approximately 2001 and foresaw the total abolition of trade licences and the removal of most quantitative restrictions (Thanh and Duong 2009). The second wave—still ongoing—includes the full involvement of the country in the global network of reciprocal trade agreements (both multilateral WTO accession in January 2007 and bilateral such as agreements signed with the United States in 2001 as well as FTA negotiations with the EU concluded in 2016).