TPP Agreement to help boost Vietnam’s exports
(VOV) - Being a party to a successfully negotiated Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) will offer the Vietnamese trade sector, including its garment and textile industries, an excellent opportunity to promote exports and bypass tariff barriers.
This positive assessment was delegate consensus at an August 2 seminar on the TPP’s implications for garment and textile businesses, hosted by southern Dong Nai province.
Business representatives said the TPP agreement is particularly vital for the garment and textile sector because of its dependence on input material imports and foreign consumer markets.
Current US and European tariffs are as high as 17.5 percent and 9.6 percent respectively (with EU tariffs rising to 17.5 percent above a specified turnover threshold).
The Vietnam Textile and Garment Association (Vinatas) said the sector has surveyed markets, materials, labour, equipment, management, and financial problems and is expected to sign the TPP agreement at an October 2013 ceremony in Bali, Indonesia.
Vinatas Deputy Secretary General Nguyen Van Tuan noted the sector contributes the second largest amount to Vietnam’s total export revenue.
The Vietnamese garment and textile industry’s US$17.1 billion in 2012 turnover also makes it the world’s fifth largest exporter of the products.
Tuan believes that in addition to tariff repeals, the TPP agreement will open the door for Vietnam to negotiate greater access to the US’s and other member nations’ markets on behalf of all its export industries. It will also facilitate increasing those partners’ investment in Vietnam.