Overview of seminar themed “CPTPP: Opportunities and Challenges for Vietnamese Businesses” (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese enterprises will benefit little from theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)if they lack connectivity, heard a seminar themed “CPTPP: Opportunities andChallenges for Vietnamese Businesses” held in Hanoi on November 28.
Associate Prof., Dr Dinh Trong Thinh fromthe Hanoi University of Finance said life would be more difficult for singleenterprises if they don’t get connected by the time the CPTPP comes intoeffect.
Connecting firms in the same sector iscrucial, Thinh said, noting that this is a weak point of Vietnamese companiesas they often operate single-handedly.
According to him, the biggest challengefacing businesses is that they must acknowledge the agreement’s opportunitiesand challenges for firms on their own. Without full consciousness, enterprises won’tbe able to reform themselves and have strategic vision and response measures.
Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, Secretary General ofthe Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) emphasised theneed to help businesses, particularly those of small and medium size, to accessinformation and intensify connectivity.
She also suggested State agencies considerupgrading infrastructure and logistics.
According to the Ministry of Industry andTrade, the CPTPP will become effective in the first countries ratifying theagreement on December 12, 2018, namely Mexico, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand,Canada and Australia.
Vietnam ratified the agreement on November12, 2018 and informed New Zealand of the ratification on November 15.Therefore, the agreement will take effect in the Southeast Asian nation onJanuary 14, 2019.
The CPTPP covers a market of about 490million people and has a combined GDP of 10.1 trillion USD, 13.5 percent of theglobe’s GDP, and average per capita income of more than 19,000 USD a year.
The deal is expected to bolster economicgrowth, create more jobs, alleviate poverty and improve the living quality inmember states.
The accord is expected to increase Vietnam’sGDP by 2.01 percent by 2035, according to the Ministry of Planning andInvestment.-VNA
VNA
