(VNA) - Vietnam has become the 26th observer of the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), one of the most important documents of the World Trade Organisation, which is the first step towards official membership in the 42-party agreement.

Ambassador Nguyen Trung Thanh, Head of the Vietnamese diplomatic mission to the United Nations, WTO, and other international organisations in Geneva, says Vietnam has always pursued an open and transparent trade mechanism in compliance with WTO’s regulations since it became a WTO membership in 2007.

The GPA was put into force in 1996. The multilateral agreement reinforces rules guaranteeing fair and non-discriminatory conditions, ensuring openness and transparency in tendering procedures, special treatment, and differences for developing countries in practices of government purchase.