The World Trade Organization (WTO) on Tuesday formally approved Vietnam as a fresh member, nearly 12 years after the Southeast Asian country began accession negotiations.

Vietnam's parliament now has to ratify the deal, and it will become the world body's 150th member 30 days after it informs the WTO of the ratification.

"The remarkable efforts that Vietnam has put into preparing for membership should be an inspiration to us all," WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told a special session of the executive General Council, which approved Vietnam's accession documents, including commitments on goods and services trade.

Vietnam is seen as Asia's best-performing economy after China. With a population of 84 million, it also is the second most populous country behind Russia still outside the WTO.

The country's economic growth topped 8 percent last year, foreign direct investment rose steeply to more than 6 billion U.S. dollars, and exports surged by more than 20 percent.

"Vietnam has shown that anchoring domestic reforms in the WTO can yield dramatic results," Lamy said.

"More must surely follow with the new laws, administrative measures, and commitments on goods and services that are in Vietnam 's membership package," the WTO chief said.

Vietnam's long process of negotiations for WTO membership closely accompanied the country's economic reforms, Vietnamese Trade Minister Truong Dinh Tuyen said at the accession ceremony.

"It is these reforms that ensure Vietnam's constant economic growth," he said. However, he added that WTO accession also posed major challenges to Vietnam's economy, as the country must compete with trading partners under the supervision of WTO rules.

Vietnam is set to host the Nov. 17-18 summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

Lamy said he had talked with Vietnamese trade officials on how to take advantage of this opportunity to help revive the Doha Round of multilateral trade talks, which were suspended in July due to sharp differences among major WTO players on issues like agricultural subsidies and industrial product tariffs.

Source: Xinhua