State President Nguyen Minh Triet confirmed that Vietnam resolutely opposes protectionism as it prevents economies from developing strongly and in a free manner.

President Triet stated this while receiving the heads of various business communities at the third meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum’s Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in the central city of Da Nang on August 24.

He informed his guests that after joining the World Trade Organisation, Vietnam has had to work hard to reshape its laws, particularly on intellectual property rights, up to global standards and assured the participants that foreign businesses will be protected by Vietnamese law when investing in the country.

While highlighting the spirit of cooperation amongst APEC businesses in efforts to weather the difficulties created by the global economic crisis, President Triet also called on those businesses to take the lead during the post-crisis period.

He also encouraged businesses to bring up issues that hold back the regions business community from making investments in other APEC economies to the APEC Summit, which will take place in Singapore in November, so that the organisation’s leaders can look for ways to address them.

“When all economies work together in harmony, the crisis will be over,” emphasised President Triet./.