Australia, Vietnam at important juncture in economic relations: analysist

Sydney (VNA) – Australia and Vietnam are at an important juncture in their economic relations, Kyle Springer, Senior Analysist at the West Australia-based Perth USAsia Center, said in a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency on the new report entitled “A Path to Vietnam: Opportunities and Market Insights for Australian Business”.

Both countries are members in three major free trade agreements, namely AANZFTA, CPTPP, and now RCEP, Springer said, adding that this is an incredibly robust framework for Australian and Vietnamese businesses to work with.

He further noted that AANZFTA this year locked in final tariff reduction commitments, CPTPP provides strong investment protections, and RCEP will facilitate the movement of value-added goods throughout the region. “Understandably, Australian business will examine the risks and count the potential cost of doing business in Vietnam, but the important thing to get across is how these trade agreements such as CPTPP and RCEP can help business manage and price the risk,” he said.

Agreeing with the report produced by Asia Society and the Australian APEC Study Centre as saying that Vietnam and Australia are certainly natural partners, Springer said Vietnam has long recognised Australia as an important economic and strategic partner while Australia responded and quickly became one of the most successful western countries in forging ties with Vietnam.

“Vietnam has emerged as a leader in ASEAN and has also supported the completion of RCEP and CPTPP alongside Australia. This is the kind of leadership Australia seeks to support in the region.”

He noted that one powerful insight for business that the report highlights is the need to assess the business environment province-by-province and the need to develop strategies for engagement at a provincial level. “This is why the state of Western Australia recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau in September.”

This comes on the back of successful business ventures in the province, most recently by Austal shipbuilding. 

He went on to say that in support of this MoU, The Perth USAsia Centre will next year build a project to develop how Western Australia and Ba Ria-Vung Tau can continue to bolster meaningful economic and social ties./.