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TPP deal ‘to drive VN development'
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) would be a motive force for Viet Nam's economic development, said Dinh Thi My Loan, a member of the Committee on International Trade Policies under the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Viet Nam's participation in the TPP would give the country opportunities to penetrate new markets, Loan said at the conference yesterday on the opportunities and challenges for Viet Nam in the TPP negotiations.
With a strong commitment to opening markets, the TPP would also be able to help Viet Nam increase exports and services, and develop its legal system, she said.
Senior lawyer of Miller & Chevallier Jay L Eizenstat agreed. He said the TPP would create a rare opportunity for Viet Nam to boost exports, modernise the service sector, accelerate State-owned enterprise privatisation, and open procurement market.
The broad scope of the TPP with cutting-edge disciplines on important sectors, such as service, investment, telecommunications and e-commerce, would greatly benefit the Vietnamese economy, Eizenstat said.
The TPP was a comprehensive free trade agreement that set higher requirements than the WTO. Aside from huge opportunities, there were also challenges facing local businesses. Thus, negotiations needed more attention to prevent negative impacts on domestic products since their competitiveness was still low, Loan said.
The fourth round of negotiations on the TPP were slated to be held in New Zealand with eight countries taking part-Singapore, Brunei, Australia, the US, New Zealand, Chile, Peru and Viet Nam.
The agreement is expected to stimulate growth for businesses that operate in the Asia-Pacific region, which is seen as one of the most dynamic markets.
Viet Nam, together with ASEAN, has signed FTAs with six of its major partners, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
These include the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, the ASEAN-South Korea Free Trade Agreement, the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.
Usually FTAs benefit exports. However, Viet Nam 's exports were mainly raw materials with low or zero tariffs and low export values. This led to less improvement in the country's trade deficit with FTA partners.
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