Head of BTA delegation and the thousand-day secret that made the Vietnam-US trade agreement

(Dan Tri) - Recalling the historic five-year journey of negotiating the Vietnam-US Trade Agreement (BTA), head of the delegation Nguyen Dinh Luong shared a sharp perspective on the "thousand days" of negotiations and sent a meaningful message to today's young generation.

Since Vietnam launched the Doi Moi process in 1986, economic reforms and opening up to a market economy have become the "beacon" for miraculous changes in socio-economic development.

In the process, the Vietnam - US Trade Agreement (BTA) signed on July 13, 2000, effective from December 10, 2001, opened the door to integration for Vietnam, paving the way for Vietnam to negotiate and join the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as negotiate and sign many other bilateral and multilateral trade agreements.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the successful August Revolution (August 19, 1945 - August 19, 2025) and the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (September 2, 1945 - September 2, 2025), Dan Tri reporter had a conversation with Mr. Nguyen Dinh Luong, former Head of the BTA Negotiation Delegation.

Mr. Luong shared many profound perspectives on the historical significance of the 80-year journey, the difficulties, determination and aspiration to integrate Vietnam as well as special experiences in the process of helping the country rise strongly in the international arena.

When we started negotiating the Trade Agreement with the US, what difficulties did we encounter, sir?

- In the period 1970-1980, the war left Vietnam with much pain and loss. As for the US, a memorial to 58,000 American soldiers who lost their lives or went missing in the war in Vietnam was built in Washington DC, with contributions from American veterans. On that basis, it was not easy for the two countries to seek to build economic relations.

If the Vietnam-US negotiations are successful, we will have a unified and independent Vietnam. Moreover, Vietnam has a very favorable location that big countries like the US, China... all need.

At that time, our country's economy was still very difficult, the Soviet Union collapsed, and 80-90% of aid and trade with the Soviet Union also ended. After the Cold War ended, the general trend of the world was to open up and integrate the economy.

In that context, the WTO was established, becoming an important pillar for coordinating global trade. Many non-member countries quickly promoted procedures and made efforts to negotiate to join, in order not to miss the opportunity to integrate into this common "playing field".

With the awareness that “market economy is not a product of capitalist economy but a product of human society”, our Party has advocated developing Vietnam’s economy in the direction of a socialist-oriented market economy. However, what exactly is a socialist-oriented market economy is something we need to research and decode.

Our Party initiated the Doi Moi process in 1986. At that time, the US was the world's number one economy, with strong influence not only on global trade flows but also on international economic institutions, including the WTO.

In reality, almost no country can join the WTO without the consent of the US. Therefore, penetrating the US market is of strategic significance for Vietnam: Once this door is opened, Vietnam will have an easier time expanding to the European market, moving towards joining the WTO and integrating deeply into the world economy.

In 1996, when I was assigned to be the Head of the Vietnam - US Trade Agreement (BTA) Negotiation Delegation, I was very worried. At that time, we knew nothing about the US, there was no information, everything was too far away. Speaking of laws, more than 20 years ago, we lacked a lot and if there were, there were many differences between our laws and those of the US. Meanwhile, the number of Vietnamese who understood US laws was like "autumn leaves".

Furthermore, at that time our economy was only about 33 billion USD, while the US had reached more than 10,000 billion USD.

At that time, in Vietnam, 70% of the population lived in the countryside with plows, hoes, and buffaloes. In the US, only 2% worked in agriculture , of which 1% worked directly, but it was the most modern agriculture in the world. Wheat and cotton accounted for 28% of the world market. Soybeans and corn accounted for 57-58% of the world market. At that time, our country did not have a single meter of highway.

When preparing for the negotiations, the US also organized many seminars on this issue, inviting many leading experts for consultation. But the experts also did not clearly understand how Vietnam’s economy was doing, what its advantages were. The Americans themselves also had too little information about us.

What made you determined to negotiate successfully with the US?

- I see the problem that the US is an open market, where any country can access if it has competitive goods. Many Asian economies such as Japan, Korea, China have taken advantage of this opportunity to grow rapidly.

Vietnam also needs to follow that path: if it wants to develop, it must penetrate the US market. But to do that, we must sign a Trade Agreement with the US, and further open the door to joining the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Besides, I realized that BTA is not only a bilateral agreement, but also an international standard, a roadmap to help Vietnam gradually escape the subsidy mechanism to move to a market economy. Only when there is a transparent market, can international investors and partners enter Vietnam.

Even though the country was facing many difficulties at that time, I still believed that by all means we would have to successfully sign the Vietnam - US Trade Agreement.

What did he do to successfully sign the agreement with the US?

- At that time, I had nearly 20 years of experience in negotiation, but mainly with former socialist countries - where we had comradely relations, the same institutions and legal systems quite similar. The Vietnam - US Trade Agreement was completely different.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, I participated in negotiations with several countries such as Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, etc. But I knew almost nothing about the US, only that negotiating with them was extremely difficult - even experienced partners such as Europe, Japan or China had to be wary.

When I was assigned to be the head of the delegation, I immediately went to find a teacher. In the country, there was very little information about the US, and few people who understood the US, so I had to go to countries like China, Poland, and Hungary to "learn from the teacher". The five years of negotiations with the US were a very difficult battle of wits. I ignored all surrounding issues and worked day and night, including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

During this time, my life revolved around chapters, terms, and documents on international trade law. I even read all the agreements that the US had signed with other countries to study. To negotiate with the US, we must understand them and understand the “rules of the game”.

During 5 years with 11 negotiation sessions, every time I left the negotiating table, I returned to the room at the old Ministry of Trade headquarters (now the Ministry of Industry and Trade) to work. I remember, one time I fell from the table to the ground without knowing anything. Luckily, when I went to the hospital, the doctor said there was no problem with my brain, it was just because of too much fatigue.

When we first received the draft Agreement sent by the US, there were indeed many new and unfamiliar concepts to Vietnam at that time, such as intellectual property, services, competition, logistics, shares, stocks...

After a long period of research, we gave them the draft. This draft had many points that were very different from the one that the US had given to Vietnam, especially the Services chapter and many other provisions. The US was surprised. They had experts study our draft and found that we were right, so they accepted it. I also affirmed to the US that what we committed to, we will do, what we have not committed to, we will not do.

Obviously, this was an extremely difficult negotiation for Vietnam. The contents put on the table were not only commercial, but also touched on the country's socio-economic development viewpoints and policies. Those commitments forced us to face profound changes, impacting the entire legal system at that time.

  When the Agreement comes into effect, what problems will Vietnam face?

- Once committed, it must be implemented. The Vietnamese Government has conducted a comprehensive review of all legal documents, compared the commitments in the Vietnam - US Trade Agreement, and proposed to the National Assembly a law-making program.

I remember, the Commercial Law was promulgated in 1997, but by 2000 - when negotiations were completed, almost no provisions had actually come into effect.

Or the regulations on intellectual property, up to 80 pages long. However, right near the headquarters of the Ministry of Trade (now the Ministry of Industry and Trade) on Trang Tien Street, the American experts encountered pirated Microsoft discs being sold for only 5,000 VND, while the copyrighted price was up to 50 USD. They were upset but at that time, we could not handle it, because the law did not have specific regulations nor assigned responsibility to any agency for enforcement.

After the Agreement was signed, the 2001-2005 National Assembly had to develop, amend and supplement 137 draft laws, ordinances and resolutions to gradually bring the Vietnamese legal system closer to the "rules of the game" of the WTO and international standards. A series of important laws such as the Civil Code, the Penal Code, the Investment Law, the Commercial Law, the Intellectual Property Law... were issued or amended.

All service sectors that have no laws, such as finance, banking, telecommunications, transportation, tourism, etc., must also be rewritten according to market mechanisms, while redefining the role of the people. If in the past, businesses or individuals who wanted to do business had to "ask - give", after the Agreement, the principle has fundamentally changed: people and businesses have the right to freely invest and do business in all fields that are not prohibited by law.

What were Vietnam's strengths at that time to confidently negotiate with the US?

- The Americans are very pragmatic, their demands are simply mutual benefit. We had just gone through a war with them, so they respected us a lot. Besides, Vietnam is also a potential market with a relatively large population and abundant labor force. We are located right next to a market of 1.4 billion people, which is very attractive. In addition, Vietnam is in a very strategic position. The US also needs Vietnam to create a balance in the region. These factors have created the basis for Vietnam to be able to sit at the negotiating table with the US on an equal footing.

What impressed you most about negotiating this agreement?

- After returning the draft Agreement, I flew to Washington DC. Surprisingly, at the negotiation session that day, there were many US officials and WTO representatives attending. I was surprised and asked Mr. Joe Damond - Head of the US negotiation delegation at that time, and received the answer: "We are really surprised by Vietnam's progress. Negotiating with a partner like you, we also feel excited".

On July 13, 2000, at a press conference at the White House a few minutes after the Vietnam - US Trade Agreement (BTA) was signed, then US President Bill Clinton thanked three Vietnamese people who contributed to the process of reaching this agreement. They were Mr. Vu Khoan - Minister of Trade, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Luong - Head of the BTA negotiation delegation and Mr. Le Van Bang - Vietnamese Ambassador.

At that time, US Ambassador Pete Peterson said that Vietnam's exports would quickly increase to 6-7 billion USD. I did not believe it, because in the decades I negotiated with the Soviet Union, Vietnam's exports at that time had not reached 1 billion rubles.

However, just one year after signing the agreement, Vietnam's exports doubled, with the US becoming our largest market. By 2024, Vietnam's total export turnover had rapidly increased to more than 405 billion USD. Particularly for the US, export turnover to the US in 2024 reached 120 billion USD. This is still a large export market for Vietnam. It is truly unexpected that trade has developed so rapidly beyond imagination.

Only after signing the agreement with the US, businesses around the world quickly flooded into Vietnam to invest and do business. These things helped Vietnam's GDP, which was only 39 billion USD in 2000, quickly increase to 476 billion USD in 2024. These are rapid growth numbers, beyond my imagination.

Looking back at BTA after 25 years, is there anything in the negotiation process that you regret?

- Looking back 25 years, I am actually satisfied with what BTA has brought. When we went to negotiate, not many people understood what BTA was. That was both good and bad, because we achieved our goal of breaking down conservative thinking, gradually bringing Vietnam's rules of the game closer to international standards.

Over the past 25 years, the relationship between the United States and Vietnam has grown steadily. In this process, the economy has played a pivotal role. The faster the economy grows, the more exchanges, understanding, consolidation, and trust are built.

Currently, Vietnam and the US have trust in each other, from which many other cooperation issues have been developed.

How important is the BTA Agreement to Vietnam?

- After successfully signing the BTA Agreement, we joined the WTO. These things have helped Vietnam continuously expand its relations with countries around the world. Later, we had the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and many other countries and organizations.

According to you, in the context of many fluctuations in world trade, what should Vietnam do?

- Currently, Vietnam is a comprehensive strategic partner of many countries in the world, including the great powers. I think that Vietnam needs to focus on training and developing high-tech industries to be able to penetrate the markets of other countries. Besides, our businesses need to improve their qualifications, high-quality products and competitiveness.

Vietnam is in a great position, never before. We have signed trade agreements with most countries in the world. Now, we need to strengthen and enhance our relations with other countries. Vietnam is a friend and reliable partner to other countries, an active and responsible member of the international community.

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the successful August Revolution (August 19, 1945 - August 19, 2025) and the National Day of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (September 2, 1945 - September 2, 2025), what message do you want to send to today's youth to continue the spirit and bring the country to develop and integrate more deeply?

- First of all, I would like to send my congratulations to the young people today. You are very lucky to be born and raised in a peaceful, happy country that is growing stronger and stronger and will certainly have an even brighter future. I really appreciate the patriotism, pride and gratitude that the current young generation is always ready to show towards the previous generations.

Right on the occasion of the great national anniversary, when the joyful atmosphere spreads across the country, it is also the time for us to look back at important historical milestones, and at the same time look forward to new successes ahead.

I hope that today's Vietnamese youth will continue to strive to study, practice and work creatively, to contribute to the country's strong development, worthy of the heroic tradition left by our ancestors.

Thank you!

Content: Tuan Minh, Thao Thu

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/truong-doan-bta-va-bi-mat-ngan-ngay-lam-nen-hiep-dinh-thuong-mai-viet-my-20250825225637734.htm