Seminar bolsters exports to CPTPP members in North and South America

VOV.VN- The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership has given extra leverage to exports and imports, although there remain certain obstacles in the shipment of Vietnamese goods to the trade deal’s American member markets, according to a seminar held on July 28 in Hanoi.

Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Foreign Trade Agency  under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has created positive momentum to boost foreign trade.

Statistics highlight that in 2021 trade turnover totaled US$680 billion, marking a rise of 19%, an impressive growth rate amid the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impacts on the global economy.

Exports to American markets hit US$113.6 billion, while imports from those markets stood at US$24.9 billion, representing respective rises of 26.7% and 14.1%.

Mobile phones, computers, machinery and electronic equipment made up the largest part of Vietnamese shipments to the Americas with 43.3%, followed by textiles, garments, leather and footwear with 25%, timber and wood products at 8%, and agricultural and fishery products at 4%.

Vo Hong Anh, deputy director of the MoIT’s European - American Market Department, said American countries, especially members of the CPTPP, have great demand for apparel, footwear products, wood items, as well as agricultural and fishery products.

Since the CPTPP initially took effect, Vietnamese goods benefiting from the preferential tariffs set out under the terms of the deal have posted soaring exports to member markets, she noted.

However, she also assessed that several obstacles such as geographical distance, high transportation expenses, long shipping times, and high-quality standards, not to mention the modest knowledge of foreign importers about product quality and Vietnamese production capacity, frequently stand in the way of exports.

Anh therefore recommended that businesses raise the rate of locally made components and added value of their products, produce environmentally-friendly products, and learn more about the various demands of the markets.

They should also focus on improving production technology, as well as diversifying product designs and packaging, in order to ensure that products can not only suit the buyers’ taste, but also meet the technical standards set by foreign markets.

Hai noted that the MoIT has issued an action plan aimed at helping enterprises to capitalise on the benefits generated by free trade agreements (FTAs), including the CPTPP. It is also in the process of ramping up business matching and trade promotion on digital platforms in a bid to assist firms in addressing the disadvantage of geographical distance.

According to Anh, the four American members of the CPTPP boast highly open economies, including Canada which has signed 15 FTAs, Mexico which is involved in 13 FTAs, Chile with 29 FTAs, and Peru with 22 FTAs.

Vietnam can therefore make use of these connections to access the markets these countries have signed FTAs with, although this work will not be easy as each FTA has different rules of origin.

She suggested that enterprises consider co-operating with partners in other CPTPP countries to export materials or semi-finished products and then make the final touches in those countries in order to meet the agreement's rules of origin.

The CPTPP includes 11 members, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. It officially came into force on December 30, 2018.

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