Minister Simon Crean is in Vietnam for the 8th meeting of the Joint Trade and Economic Cooperation Committee, which is co-chaired by Vietnamese Minister for Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc on the same day.

According to a media release by the Australian embassy in Hanoi, the contribution is to Phase II of the Beyond WTO programme. It will help Vietnam carry out economic reforms that are critical to ensuring that the Southeast Asian country is positioned to take full advantage of the resumption of trade and investment flows when the current global recession is over.

Australia invested 1.3 million AUD to support the first phase of the programme in 2007-08. This laid the groundwork for Phase II by bringing together key Vietnamese institutions to develop a long-term plan for international integration that will enable future opportunities and challenges to be met effectively.

Beyond WTO is a joint initiative of the Governments of Australia, Vietnam and the United Kingdom, and the World Bank.

The Australian trade minister also conveyed to the Vietnamese Government Australia’s commitment to funding the Vietnam Agriculture Cooperation Programme which will help Vietnam improve pest risk analysis and pesticide residue detection to comply with international standards for traded goods, said the media release./.