Vietnam not only participates in establishing the ASEAN EconomicCommunity (AEC) as a member nation but also plays a leading role inASEAN’s cooperation process, said Vietnamese Minister of Industry andTrade (MoIT) Vu Huy Hoang.
In his articleentitled “Vietnam’s participation and contributions to the ASEANEconomic Community” to mark the 15 th anniversary of Vietnam’sadmission to ASEAN (July 28, 1995-2010), Hoang said that Vietnam, as theincumbent ASEAN Chair, makes AEC one of the important contents on theASEAN agenda in 2010.
The new year message ofVietnam as it assumed the Chair of the AEC Conference, stressed thatVietnam and ASEAN would focus on the implementation of the AEC roadmapby 2015.
“This is a great objective that decidesthe existence of ASEAN as a united economic entity and a driving forceof the process of regional economic linkage,” the minister said.
In demonstrating its ASEAN Chair role, Vietnam has set an examplein implementing AEC commitments in a proactive and constructive manner.
By 2010, Vietnam has reduced import tariffsto 0-5 percent for nearly 10,000 product lines under CEPT/AFTA or 97.8percent of the total tariff lines, including 5,488 tariff lines of 0percent.
The country has also boostedcomprehensive cooperation with other ASEAN members in both traditionalfields such as goods trading, service, investment, agriculture,transport and telecommunications and new areas, including intellectualproperty, competitive policies and consumer protection.
ASEAN is aspiring to build a united, dynamic and prosperous communityby 2015, which bases on three main pillars: the AEC, the ASEANPolitical-Security Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
At the 7th ASEAN Summit held in Cebu, the Philippines , inJanuary 2007, ASEAN leaders approved the building of an Overall Plan andStrategic Roadmap for the AEC with specific measures and a completeenforcement mechanism. They also decided to move up the target date ofcompleting the AEC to 2015 instead of 2020 as initially agreed in 2004.This was considered the bloc’s most important milestone since 2002 whenASEAN basically completed its Joint Effective Preferential Tariff toimplement the ASEAN Free Trade Area (CEPT/AFTA).
After 2010, the AEC is envisioned to be a common market and a uniformproduction space. The market will play up ASEAN’s overall advantages togradually build it into a dynamic and highly-competitive region in theworld, bringing in prosperity to all ASEAN people and nations.
At the 16th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi , which was chaired by Vietnam, ASEAN leaders issued a Joint Statement on Sustainable Recovery andDevelopment which stresses a determination to consolidate and buildingthe AEC in 2015.
For the first time, ASEAN putforth a model of AEC development based on the harmonisation ofsocio-economic and environmental policies and macroeconomic managementpolicies.
The AEC will create a framework forclose cooperation and balanced development among the ASEAN, Hoang said,adding that the establishment of the AEC is also a big opportunity forVietnam .
ASEAN is an important door to theworld for Vietnam and the AEC will help the Vietnamese economyestablish its firm position in the region’s common production structure,he stressed.
The minister noted that 2010 has sofar seen many milestones set in the implementation of the AEC objective.As from January, up to 99 percent of the total tariff lines have beenremoved in intra-bloc trade. The average tariff has reduced to 0.9percent in 2009 from 4.4 percent in 2000.
Theimplementation of trade liberalisation commitments on 12 prioritysectors during ASEAN’s integration process, including garment, rubber,footwear, auto industry, agriculture, seafood, information technologyand tourism has entered the final stage.
On May 1,2010, the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) took effect aftereight months of delay, replacing the former CEPT/AFTA Agreement. The newagreement has timely repaired legal shortcomings and opened up moreopportunities for closer cooperation to boost trade facilitationprogrammes.
Many agreement relating to the AEC arealso in final reviews before they officially become effective,including the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), theseventh commitment package of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services,the ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on the Full Liberalisation of AirFreight Services and the ASEAN Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods inTransit.
Two-way trade between Vietnam andASEAN tripled to nearly 30 billion USD in 2008 compared to the 2002figure, accounting for 21 percent of the country’s total import-exportturnover.
Also in the period, Vietnam’s exportto ASEAN registered an average yearly growth of 28.4 percent from 2.9billion USD in 2003 to 8.9 billion USD last year, and imports, 27percent.
ASEAN is one of Vietnam’s largestforeign direct investment (FDI) providers. Malaysia leads regionalcountries in FDI in Vietnam with 18 billion USD, followed bySingapore with over 16 billion USD, Thailand with 5.6 billion USD andBrunei with 4.6 billion USD./.
In his articleentitled “Vietnam’s participation and contributions to the ASEANEconomic Community” to mark the 15 th anniversary of Vietnam’sadmission to ASEAN (July 28, 1995-2010), Hoang said that Vietnam, as theincumbent ASEAN Chair, makes AEC one of the important contents on theASEAN agenda in 2010.
The new year message ofVietnam as it assumed the Chair of the AEC Conference, stressed thatVietnam and ASEAN would focus on the implementation of the AEC roadmapby 2015.
“This is a great objective that decidesthe existence of ASEAN as a united economic entity and a driving forceof the process of regional economic linkage,” the minister said.
In demonstrating its ASEAN Chair role, Vietnam has set an examplein implementing AEC commitments in a proactive and constructive manner.
By 2010, Vietnam has reduced import tariffsto 0-5 percent for nearly 10,000 product lines under CEPT/AFTA or 97.8percent of the total tariff lines, including 5,488 tariff lines of 0percent.
The country has also boostedcomprehensive cooperation with other ASEAN members in both traditionalfields such as goods trading, service, investment, agriculture,transport and telecommunications and new areas, including intellectualproperty, competitive policies and consumer protection.
ASEAN is aspiring to build a united, dynamic and prosperous communityby 2015, which bases on three main pillars: the AEC, the ASEANPolitical-Security Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
At the 7th ASEAN Summit held in Cebu, the Philippines , inJanuary 2007, ASEAN leaders approved the building of an Overall Plan andStrategic Roadmap for the AEC with specific measures and a completeenforcement mechanism. They also decided to move up the target date ofcompleting the AEC to 2015 instead of 2020 as initially agreed in 2004.This was considered the bloc’s most important milestone since 2002 whenASEAN basically completed its Joint Effective Preferential Tariff toimplement the ASEAN Free Trade Area (CEPT/AFTA).
After 2010, the AEC is envisioned to be a common market and a uniformproduction space. The market will play up ASEAN’s overall advantages togradually build it into a dynamic and highly-competitive region in theworld, bringing in prosperity to all ASEAN people and nations.
At the 16th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi , which was chaired by Vietnam, ASEAN leaders issued a Joint Statement on Sustainable Recovery andDevelopment which stresses a determination to consolidate and buildingthe AEC in 2015.
For the first time, ASEAN putforth a model of AEC development based on the harmonisation ofsocio-economic and environmental policies and macroeconomic managementpolicies.
The AEC will create a framework forclose cooperation and balanced development among the ASEAN, Hoang said,adding that the establishment of the AEC is also a big opportunity forVietnam .
ASEAN is an important door to theworld for Vietnam and the AEC will help the Vietnamese economyestablish its firm position in the region’s common production structure,he stressed.
The minister noted that 2010 has sofar seen many milestones set in the implementation of the AEC objective.As from January, up to 99 percent of the total tariff lines have beenremoved in intra-bloc trade. The average tariff has reduced to 0.9percent in 2009 from 4.4 percent in 2000.
Theimplementation of trade liberalisation commitments on 12 prioritysectors during ASEAN’s integration process, including garment, rubber,footwear, auto industry, agriculture, seafood, information technologyand tourism has entered the final stage.
On May 1,2010, the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) took effect aftereight months of delay, replacing the former CEPT/AFTA Agreement. The newagreement has timely repaired legal shortcomings and opened up moreopportunities for closer cooperation to boost trade facilitationprogrammes.
Many agreement relating to the AEC arealso in final reviews before they officially become effective,including the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), theseventh commitment package of the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services,the ASEAN Multilateral Agreement on the Full Liberalisation of AirFreight Services and the ASEAN Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods inTransit.
Two-way trade between Vietnam andASEAN tripled to nearly 30 billion USD in 2008 compared to the 2002figure, accounting for 21 percent of the country’s total import-exportturnover.
Also in the period, Vietnam’s exportto ASEAN registered an average yearly growth of 28.4 percent from 2.9billion USD in 2003 to 8.9 billion USD last year, and imports, 27percent.
ASEAN is one of Vietnam’s largestforeign direct investment (FDI) providers. Malaysia leads regionalcountries in FDI in Vietnam with 18 billion USD, followed bySingapore with over 16 billion USD, Thailand with 5.6 billion USD andBrunei with 4.6 billion USD./.
