HANOI - Former World Trade Organisation (WTO) director general Mike Moore Monday poured cold water on Vietnam's aspirations to join the group this year, saying "this is very difficult, this is not a done deal."
Moore, on a 7-day trip to the country, noted during a press briefing that Vietnam had so far negotiated WTO entry accords with 10 countries.
"You've only got another 130 countries to negotiate with. It's very hard but possible."
He said "it's actually getting harder, not easier," than in the past and noted that candidates for membership are now also vetted more carefully since China's WTO accession in 2001.
Analysts say Beijing has failed to deliver on many of the reforms the government had promised and so made many WTO members more critical in accession negotiations.
Moore warned Vietnam against expecting to cut favourable deals with some countries, saying, "someone gives you a soft deal knowing full well that someone else later will be tougher."
Vietnam's trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen last month admitted the country might have to give up on its ambition to join the WTO later this year given that little progress has been made in recent negotiations.
The country is under no formal pressure to join the WTO by the time the global trade body holds its next ministerial conference in Hong Kong in December but Hanoi has up to now made that date its target.
Dozens of rules, laws and decrees need to be modified by the National Assembly to improve the legal system but the timeframe could now be too short.
Vietnam started its transition to a market economy in 1986 but has long encountered criticism that it is moving too slowly.
The country formally lodged its WTO application in January 1995. Its progress has since been hindered by factional fighting within the Communist Party, the 1997 Asian financial crisis and rampant corruption.
Actual negotiations did not start until 2002.
04/11/2005 10:45 GMT