Workers process cashew nuts for export at a company in the southern province of Binh Phuoc. (Photo: VNA)Deputy Minister of the Agriculture and Rural Development Phung DucTien said that with a number of free trade agreements (FTAs) Vietnam hassigned, exporters would have greater opportunities to expand exportmarkets.
Of these FTAs, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP), which took effect early this year, brings together the 10 ASEAN membercountries, along with Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic ofKorea, which account for 29% of the world’s GDP and have a population of 2.2billion.
Under the world’s largest trade pact, exporters will have anopportunity to expand export markets, especially in key products such as rice,coffee, pepper, cashew nuts, seafood, timber and wood products.
Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit andVegetable Association, said the trade deal would also increase the country’sagricultural exports to China, already a major market.
The trade pact removes tariffs on at least 64% of tariff lines. In15-20 years, Vietnam will abolish 89.6% of tariff lines while its partnercountries will remove 92% of its tariffs.
Other ASEAN members will remove 85.9% of all tariffs for Vietnam.
Challenges
Experts have pointed out major challenges faced by localexporters such as increasingly stricter rules of origin and qualitystandards and more severe competition from foreign rivals in both thedomestic and foreign markets.
Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the ministry’s Department ofAgricultural Product Processing and Market Development, said another majorproblem was the weak competitiveness of Vietnamese farm produce.
This is largely because processed agricultural products did nothave enough value added content to meet the regulations of the markets, hesaid.
In the domestic market, Vietnamese agricultural products wouldalso have to compete with those from member states imported into thecountry.
According to Dr. Nguyen Dac Binh Minh, Director of the Instituteof Regional Research and Development under the Ministry of Science andTechnology, the traceability of export products is a mandatory requirement ofmultilateral FTAs, especially the FTA with the EU.
Accrding to Nguyen Trung Kien, Director of the ministry’sDepartment of International Cooperation, the EU is one of Vietnam’s four majorexport markets for agricultural, forestry and fishery products.
It is also one of the world’s three largest markets foragricultural, forestry and fishery products.
The EU spends about 1 trillion USD on food and beverages annually,including 300 billion USD on imports.
To increase the competitiveness of agricultural exports tothe EU, it is important to reduce transportation costs and develop brands.
Low-carbon agriculture
Under the National Green Growth Strategy for the 2021-2030 period,the ministry will develop a low-carbon commercial agriculture toward a circularand smart economy, climate resilience, and higher competitiveness for greenagro-products.
In a related issue, at the 26th United Nations Climate ChangeConference of the Parties, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made a commitmentthat Vietnam will strive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Nguyen Duc Truong, General Director of Dai Thanh Joint StockCompany, said that to achieve the net-zero carbon emission goal by 2050, theagricultural sector would need to apply advanced technologies in production,such as using organic and bio-fertilisers.
Kyle Kelhofer, International Finance Corporation’s Senior CountryManager of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, said, “Vietnam’s agriculture sectoris at a turning point as the sector faces bright opportunities in both domesticand international markets.”
To better compete in the markets would largely depend upon theability of farmers and firms to deliver agricultural products with reliability,ensuring quality, safety, and sustainability, he said.
“Transformation to a low-carbon, green and sustainable growth pathwill be key to making this happen,” he added.
Vietnam’s import-export value of agricultural, forestry andaquatic products reached 58.3 billion USD in the first seven months, up7.2% year-on-year, according to the ministry.
Of the figure, exports were worth 32.3 billion USD, up 12.2%year-on-year, and imports were worth 26 billion USD, up 1.6%.
So far this year, Vietnam’s trade surplus has grown to 6.3billion USD in agriculture, forestry and fishery products, nearlydouble that of the same period last year.
Vietnamese agricultural products have been exported to over 190countries and territories around the world, with exports reaching 48.6 billion USDlast year and are forecast to reach in excess of 55 billion USD this year./.
VNA
