Conference focuses on TPP challenges

Representatives of the southern regions’ business community highlighted the need for information support and legal guidelines to utilise investment and business opportunities in the context of the country’s further integration into the world economy and Vietnam’s participation in TPP.

TPP’s member countries are potential markets for Vietnam, accounting for 40 percent of GDP and 30 percent of the total export-import revenue worldwide.

Head of the National Institute for Finance Vu Nhu Thang said that, in the first 10 months of this year, Vietnam’s imports from these countries reached 27,921 million USD, equivalent to 23 percent of its total import value. It exported 48,368 million USD to these countries, amounting to 39 percent of export value.

Further, in terms of investment, 11 member countries account for nearly 32 percent of the foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam.

Officials note that it is a necessary preparation for Vietnam to evaluate opportunities and challenges when joining TPP, as well as analyse the impacts of the agreement to the country’s market. Therefore, enterprises and the nation’s economy could utilise such advantages effectively.

Ngo Chung Khanh, deputy head of the Ministry’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department, said opportunities for Vietnam include export-import market mechanism improvement, regional and global production chains, institutional environmental improvements, production capacity creation and job creation.

However, the TPP agreement also creates competitive pressure and social impacts upon the country. Therefore, Vietnam needs to make efforts to adjust its legal system and management capacity, he added.

The TPP has been discussed at more than 20 official negotiation sessions and is expected to be signed next year.

The conference was organised by the National Institute for Finance and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).-VNA