Advice given to help firms boost exports to American members of CPTPP

A garment factory in Vietnam (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – The Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has created astrong impulse for export and import, but there remain certain obstacles to theshipments of Vietnamese goods to the deal’s American member markets, heard a seminarheld in Hanoi on July 28.

Tran Thanh Hai, DeputyDirector of the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT),said the CPTPP has created great momentum for foreign trade.

Statistics show that in 2021,trade turnover totalled 680 billion USD, up 19% - an impressive growth rateamid the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts on the global economy.

Exports to American markets reached 113.6 billion USD while imports from those markets stood at 24.9 billionUSD, respectively rising 26.7% and 14.1%.

Mobile phones, computers,machinery and electronic equipment made up the biggest part of Vietnam’sshipments to the Americas (43.3%), followed by textile - garment and leather - footwear(25%), timber and wood products (8%), and agricultural and fishery products (4%).

Vo Hong Anh, Deputy Directorof the MoIT’s European - American Market Department, said American countries,especially members of the CPTPP, have great demand for apparel, footwear, wooditems, and agricultural and fishery products.

Since the CPTPP took effect, theVietnamese goods benefiting from preferential tariffs under the deal haveposted soaring exports to the deal's member markets, she noted.

Participants in the seminar hosted by the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade) newspaper (Source: Ministry of Industry and Trade)

However, she also pointed outseveral obstacles such as geographical distance, high transportation expenses,long shipping time, and high quality standards, not to mention foreignimporters’ modest knowledge about product quality and production capacity ofVietnam.

Anh recommended businessesraise the rate of locally made components and added value of their products,produce environmentally friendly products, and learn about markets’ demand. Theyshould also improve production technology, diversify product designs andpackaging so that products can not only suit buyers’ taste but also meettechnical standards of foreign markets.

Hai noted the MoIT has issuedan action plan to help enterprises capitalise on benefits generated by freetrade agreements (FTAs), including the CPTPP. It is also stepping up businessmatching and trade promotion on digital platforms to help firms address the disadvantageof geographical distance.

According to Anh, the fourAmerican members of the CPTPP have highly open economies as Canada has 15 FTAs,Mexico 13, Chile 29, and Peru 22. Vietnam can make use of these connections toaccess the markets these countries have had FTAs with though this work is noteasy since each FTA has different rules of origin.

She suggested enterprises considercooperating with partners in other CPTPP countries to export materials orsemi-finished products and then make final touches in those countries to meetthe agreement's rules of origin.

The CPTPP consists of 11members, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, NewZealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. It officially came into force onDecember 30, 2018./.

VNA