The Vietnamese Government applied for World Trade Organization (WTO) membership in 1994, and a Working Party, was established in January 1995.

On May 2, 1997, the Swiss Confederation and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam signed a cooperation agreement concerning the provision of trade policy advice with a view to facilitating Vietnam 's accession to WTO. Mr. Arthur Dunkel, former GATT Director-General and President of IDEAS Centre, was personally involved in advising the Vietnamese Government on its accession process.

Vietnam has achieved substantial progress in its accession negotiations and, with the focus now being set on the finalizing its draft working party (WP) report, it has entered a new phase in its accession negotiation.

The new project shall mainly focus on the current negotiations, helping the Vietnamese negotiating team to address priority issues and requests from WP member states in a way that supports Vietnam 's trade and development interests.

On the one hand, IDEAS' work aims at facilitating the broad understanding of still outstanding issues, be they at the level of the WP or of bilateral market access negotiations, and identifying negotiation options. On the other hand, IDEAS' work aims at strengthening the Vietnamese argumentation in defense of its core trade and development interests. Generally speaking, IDEAS Centre shares the belief that WTO accession will further enhance Vietnam 's remarkable trade achievements, strengthening the country's capacity to defend its trade interests worldwide and complementing bilateral and regional trade agreements.

To provide support for the negotiations and strengthen the capacities of Vietnamese trade negotiators, helping them to argue in favor of and defend their interests in the course of WTO accession negotiations.

To undertake comparative reviews of recent accession cases and draw lessons for Vietnam 's accession negotiations.

To support the Vietnamese Government in addressing links and potential conflicts of interest between required WTO-related reforms and Vietnam 's development strategy.

To assist Vietnamese authorities in convincingly presenting their case and establishing alliances with supporters from within donor countries and beyond.