Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue speaks at the meeting (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime MinisterVuong Dinh Hue has stressed a strong change in international economic integrationin 2018, focusing negotiations on and signing of new free trade agreements(FTAs), and improving legal frameworks towards realising signed trade pactswith foreign partners.
Speaking at the first meeting of the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee forInternational Economic Integration for 2018 in Hanoi on January 11, the DeputyPM asked the committee to coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade,other ministries and sectors in effectively tapping signed FTAs, and proposing measuresto promote the signing of new pacts.
According to Deputy PM Hue, who is also head of the committee, they need tokeep close watch on policy-related changes of partners and response fromforeign markets in order to give timely warnings to local businesses.
More efforts should be done to improve Vietnam’s integration capacity, whileattention should be paid to outlining trade protection policies, he noted.
He highlighted the carefulness in the negotiation process to ensure the bestbenefit for the country.
The Deputy PM called for measures to ensure tax collection in the context of thecountry’s deeper international integration which will cause tariff reduction.
Participants underlined the significance of coordination in negotiating newFTAs and performing ones signed in 2018 - the year they described as animportant time for implementing Vietnam’s international economic integrationcommitments.
Vietnam has so far approved 10 bilateral and multilateral FTAs with regional andinternational partners. The country basically finished FTA negotiation with theEuropean Union. It is promoting negotiations on the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and discussions towards bilateral pacts withIsrael and Cuba.
The implementation of FTAs remarkably contributed to pushing the nationaleconomic development and expanding export markets, thus helping Vietnam deeplyjoin the global value chain and production network.
It also helped accelerate economic restructuring, improve business climate andcompetitiveness, and effectively take advantages of investment flows,technology and knowledge, and create more jobs, thus raising managementcapacity.
Vietnam witnessed fruitful economic development in 2017, with export-importturnover hitting 425 billion USD. - VNA
VNA
