At a press briefing in Ha Noi on September 22, Ambassador Marine said the two sides narrowed the gap in all areas. " For example, in tariff, the two sides were able to complete negotiations on a significant number of the several thousand tariff lines. They also made progress on services, narrowing the differences in the difficult areas of telecommunications, financial services and energy services. And the two sides discussed a number of multi-lateral issues as well. These included import licensing, trading rights, state owned enterprises and state trading companies, subsidies and non-market economy provisions".

According to the ambassador, throughout the month of July and August, the two sides were communicating with each other through e-mail and telephone, and working quite closely. That work will continue, "but now we are down to the toughest issues. So its going to be, I think, imperative that both sides focus on bridging the gaps that remain," he added. 

For a timetable for the next bilateral meeting, he said "it will depend upon the progress made by both sides. The unofficial dialogue will continue and when both sides feel they are ready, there will be another meeting."

The Ambassador reiterated that the US strongly supports Viet Nam joining the WTO as soon as possible. "But there is work to be done before that happens. In addition to reaching a bilateral agreement with the US, Viet Nam still has to reach similar agreements with five other countries, and the multi-lateral work through the working party also must continue", he added.  

"There is considerable work left to be done in Viet Nam's National Assembly to pass WTO-compliant legislation and then to create implementing regulations to ensure that legislation is not only the law, but also understood and carried out throughout the country," he said. 

"And once all the steps are completed for joining the WTO, the United States side must take the package; both the bilateral agreement and the multi-lateral working party report.  And [then] convey that, with support from US industry, to our congress, which will have to vote on granting Viet Nam permanent normal trade relation (PNTR) status.  

"So the package must be completed, and must be very solid," he continued.

The Ambassador went on to say that there's no prospects for the PNTR vote to take place this year. The US Congress has many things on its agenda, and the package is not completed yet;  neither the multilateral nor the bilateral ways. But despite this, the US and Vietnamese negotiators have not slackened in their efforts to get the work done, which, according to him, is the most important thing.

He also said that to narrow the gaps, both sides need to consider what's most important to them and try to find ways to bridge the gaps in some sort of package.

"And even before Viet Nam joins the WTO, we're seeing the evidence that strong growth in two way trade is continuing. For example, exports from the Unites States to Viet Nam are up 27 percent thus far this year, and from Viet Nam to the United States, up 23 percent. We expect that bilateral trade will top 7.5 billion USD this year," said the ambassador.

Also on this occasion, Marine said the Government of Viet Nam has been working closely with the Government of Cambodia and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to resolve the situation of ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands, who illegally went to Cambodia and now have been returned to Viet Nam.  

"The United States commends the efforts that the Government of Viet Nam has made to resolve this issue in a constructive manner," he said.

He also appreciated the fact the Vietnamese government made it possible for staff members from the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and the US Embassy in Ha Noi to access to some of the returnees in the Central Highlands. 

"On this particular trip we found the individuals we met with to be well cared for and settling in nicely in their home villages. Of course, as any of you who have traveled to the Central Highlands know economic conditions in those areas are difficult. But we found no evidence that these individuals were in anyway disadvantaged in their lives after returning from Cambodia".