Vietnam adopts decision on RCEP enforcement plan

The plan is designed to assign various tasks and responsibilities to relevant agencies and organisations, decide on measures relating to the direction and administration, and other measures which can fully and effectively implement this agreement.

Accordingly, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, along with People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities will enhance the dissemination of information about the RCEP and legal documents revised, supplemented, annulled, or promulgated. This will be done to implement an agreement for relevant entities, especially those that may be impacted such as the business community, industry associations, cooperatives, management agencies at the central and local levels, and workers through the media, websites, publications, documents, training courses, seminars, and dialogues.

Attention will also be paid to promoting the provision of information and forecasts relating to import and export markets, as well as the domestic market, in order to help Vietnamese enterprises gain a greater understanding about the information, technical requirements, and import-export management regulations of RCEP signatories. This will therefore facilitate their making and the implementation of business and investment strategies.

Ministries, sectors, and localities will therefore formulate programmes to support and improve the competitiveness of industries and businesses, especially micro-, small- and medium-sized ones, cooperatives, and farmer households, all of which will be done in line with international commitments. This is in addition to preparing a range of response solutions and support policies for industries that are greatly and directly impacted by the implementation of the agreement.

The plan also underlined the importance of restructuring agriculture, digital transformation, application of science and technology, and advanced production models to improve product quality and traceability, whilst also protecting the environment, thereby helping to meet national and international standards.

The RCEP was signed between 10 ASEAN members and five partners, including China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, in November, 2020. The deal features nations which account for 30% of global gross domestic product (GDP) worth US$26.2 trillion.

It also forms a market consisting of 2.2 billion consumers and makes up the largest free trade area in the world. It will serve to eventually eliminate tariffs on as much as 92% of goods traded among its signatories, expand market access for investment, harmonise rules and regulations, and strengthen supply chains within itself.