RCEP brings new hope for Vietnamese businesses

RCEP is a free trade agreement between the ten ASEAN member countries and six partners of Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.

Compared to other deals, the RCEP has broader and deeper liberalisation commitments in the trade of goods, services and investment.

RCEP members make up 24 percent of global GDP and 28 percent of global trade, therefore, the deal is hoped to greatly benefit members, especially less developed countries.

According to experts, poor countries will enjoy more benefits from agreements with a high level of integration.

With less developed economies than others in RCEP, Vietnam and Cambodia are likely to benefit the most from the deal.

For Vietnam, RCEP is hoped to positively influence exports, investment attraction and economic growth.

To make full use of the deal, experts advise the Government to take stronger actions to reform institutions and improve the investment environment to ensure equality for all economic sectors.

It is also necessary to strengthen communications to help enterprises overcome challenges and choose good investments.

Meanwhile, they noted that production networks and value chains within the RCEP mostly depend on foreign-invested sectors and economic groups from large countries such as European countries, the US and Japan. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses should thoroughly understand partners dominating the chains to ensure success.

According to the World Trade Organization Centre under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the 17th negotiation round of the RCEP took place in Kobe, Japan from late February to early March this year. Negotiations on the deal are projected to wrap up in November.-