COMMON ENGLISH ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ABC American Broadcasting Company
ADP Asia Development Bank
AFTA ASEAN Free Trade Area
AIA ASEAN Investment Area
AICO ASEAN Industrial Cooperation
AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
AIPO ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization
AIT ASEAN Institute of Technology
AMEX American Stock Exchange
AMM/PMC ASEAN Ministerial Meeting / Post Ministerial Conference
APEC Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
ARF ASEAN Regional Forum
ASC ASEAN Standing Committee
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations
ASEM Asia-Europe Meeting
BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
BIT Bilateral Investment Treaty
BOOT Build-Own-Operate-Transfer
BOP Balance of Payment
BOT Build-Own-Operate
BT Build-Transfer
BTO Build-Transfer-Operate
CAP Collective Action Plan (APEC)
CARICOM Caribbean Community
CBM Confidence Building Measures
CEPT Common Effective Preferential Tariffs
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
CIDA Canadian International Development Agency
CNN Cable News Network
CPE Centrally Planned Economy
DES Department of Education and Science
EAEC European Atomic Energy Community
EC European Committee/East Central
ECOSOC Economic and Social Council (UN)
ECU European Currency Unit
EEC European Economic Community
EEZ European Economic Zone
EMS European Monetary System
EMS Express Mail Service
EPZ Export Processing Zone
ESCAP Economic And Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
FAO Food and Agricultural Organization
FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation
FDI Foreign Direct Investment
FIFA Federal International Football Association
FS Feasibility Study
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GNI Gross National Income
GNP Gross National Product
GSP Generalized System of Preferences
GSTP Global System of Trade Preferences
HOLLAND Hope Our Love Lasts and Never Dies
IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency
IAP Individual Action Plan (APEC)
IBC International Beverage Company
IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization
ICJ International Court of Justice
IDA International Development Association
IELTS International English Language Testing System
IFC International Finance Corporation (WB)
ILO International Labour Organization
IMF International Monetary Fund
IMO International Maritime Organization
INTERPOL International Criminal Police Organization
IOM International Organization for Migration
IOU I Owe You
IP Intellectual Property
IPR Intellectual Property Right
ISO International Standardization Organization
IT Information Technology
ITALY I Trust You and Love You
JETRO Japan External Trade Organization
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
JV Joint Venture
L/C Letter of Credit
LAN Local Area Network
LASER Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
LDC Less Developed Country
LLDC Least Developed Country
MA Master of Arts
MFN Most-Favored Nation
MIA Missing International Action
MOET Ministry of Education and Training
MOU Memorandum of Understanding
MS Master of Science
NAFTA North American Free Trade Area
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NIC Newly Industrializing Country
NT National Treatment
NTB Non-Tariff Barrier
OAS Organization of American States
OAU Organization of African Unity
ODA Official Development Assistance
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
PET Preliminary English Test
PLO Palestine Liberation Organization
POW Prisoner of War
R&D Research and Development
RIP Rest In Peace
ROT Recover-Operate-Transfer
SAARC Southeast Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
SAYE Save As You Earn
SDR Special Drawing Right
SEAMEO Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization
SEANWFZ Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone
SOS Save Our Soul
SWAK Sealed With A Kiss
TB Tuberculosis
TNC Transnational Corporation
TOEFL Test of English as Foreign Language
TSE Test of Spoken English
TWE Test of Written English
UN United Nations
UNCLOS United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP United Nations Development Program
UNEP United Nations Environment Program
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNFPA United Nations Fund for Population Activities
UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund
UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization
UPU Universal Postal Union
UR Uruguay Round
USAID United States Agency for International Development
VAT Value-Added Tax
VER Voluntary Export Restriction
VIP Very Important Person
VMEP Vietnam Manufacturing and Export Processing, Co. Ltd.
VOA Voice of America
VOV Voice of Vietnam
WB World Bank
WEF World Economic Forum
WFC World Food Council
WFP United Nations World Food Program
WHO World Health Organization
WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization
WTO World Trade Organization
WTO World Tourism Organization
WWW World Wide Web
ZOPFAN Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality
