Local businesses offered advice on exports to RCEP market

The event is set to be hosted by the Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade with a view of helping local businesses seek useful market access information and greater co-operation opportunities.

During the course of the consulting session, representatives from Vietnamese Trade Offices based in China, Laos, Malaysia, and Singapore will present an overview of the seafood market, access, and application of regulations, standards, and conditions for seafood exports to the RECEP market.

It is estimated that the total number of countries engaging in the RCEP makes up roughly 30% of global GDP and 30% of the world's population, thereby creating a market of 2.2 billion people which is equivalent to US$26.2 trillion and representing the largest free trade area in the world.

The effective RCEP opens up an array of opportunities for local seafood exporters to become involved in new production and value chains throughout the region. This will allow them to spur seafood exports to member countries' markets, especially to leading trading partners such as Japan, the Republic of Korea (RoK), and China thanks to the easing of the rules of origin.

At present, the country ships aquatic products to over 160 markets globally. Of the figure, exports to RCEP countries make up 63.5% of the nation's seafood export market share, with exports to ASEAN and the RoK enjoying stable growth of 6.7% and 9.2%, respectively, while China saw a high growth rate of 16.5%, and Japan maintained positive growth at 16.8%.

The numerous achievements in the seafood sector recorded over recent years are the demonstration of the great potential that exists to fully compete and penetrate more strongly into RCEP member countries' market.

Alongside these advantages, RCEP also puts competitive pressures on seafood products. This requires seafood businesses to be proactive in adaptation and to strive to overcome difficulties in a bid to turn challenges into opportunities.

According to Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy, deputy director of Vietrade’s Export Support Center, the consulting session serves as a primary opportunity for local seafood enterprises to carefully study market requirements and technical barriers of RCEP countries. This can be done order to devise effective and sustainable export promotion measures moving forward.

The session is the 17th among a series of 30 events which aim to support domestic firms to gain access to foreign markets and make international commitments on imports and exports which will be held by Vietrade this year.