The conference aims to provide officials of relevant agencies with an in-depth knowledge of how to ensure transparency in preparing legal and technical documents on the quality and standards of goods and other related matters.

Participants at the conference also received training on how to ensure that their procedures in dealing with trade activities and their verification of product quality conforms strictly to the WTO trade regulations.

The TBT Agreement is designed to facilitate the development and application of technical regulations that are up to international standards in product testing and certification procedures, said Director Le Quoc Bao of the TBT office in Vietnam.

The agreement is likely to help improve production and business performance of Binh Duong as well as the whole country. Mr Bao also pointed to challenges facing Vietnamese enterprises in the implementation of the TBT agreement. These are related to management, technical capacity, and lack of information on product standards and consumption markets and the business tactics used by their rivals.

Mr Bao said that State officials are expected to help domestic enterprises overcome these difficulties and further contribute to the administrative reforms that the State is carrying out, especially in the field of trade.

In a bid for WTO membership, Vietnam is committed to implementing several other agreements, aside from the TBT Agreement, upon its accession into the world's largest trade body. These include the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intelligent Property (TRIPS), the Agreement on Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMS), and the Agreement on Customs Valuation (CVA).