Participants at the workshop discussing the ree Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and cooperation in trade facilitation between the Pacific Alliance (PA) and APEC member economies (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – The development of the Free Trade Area of theAsia-Pacific (FTAAP) and cooperation in trade facilitation between the PacificAlliance (PA) and APEC member economies were the main focus of a workshop in HoChi Minh City on August 26.
The four-sessionworkshop looked into the PA as a building block of the FTAAP; the PA and itsties within the Pacific region; and contributions of the PA to the APEC interms of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade facilitation andservices.
Speaking with Vietnam News Agency reporters, PyzhikovNikita, a delegate from Russia, said the FTAAP must be a standard and transparentagreement.
“To ensure that the agreement will be transparent, weshould work together in establishing a framework of this agreement,” he said,underlining the need to organise more similar events to clarify the role ofeach party in the realisation of the FTAAP.
Tang Guoquiang, International Co-Chair of the PacificEconomic Cooperation Chair, said the FTAAP plays an important role in economicdevelopment, trade and investment facilitation in Asia-Pacific, which has beenaffirmed in many research studies and reports.
Lauding Vietnam’s rapid economic growth rate, he saidVietnam is a good example in the Asia-Pacific region.
Vietnam can bring into full play its role in buildingthe FTAAP and the country can benefit from the area, he said.
As an economic community of four Latin Americancountries, including Chile, Colombia, Peru and Mexico, the PA has been workingsince 2011 to deepen the integration of these economies and to define jointactions to strengthen economic ties with the Asia-Pacific, on the basis ofexisting bilateral trade agreements between countries. -VNA
