Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam commits to working to fulfil ASEAN’s targetsin 2018, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh recently told the media.
In an interview, Anh said as ASEAN Chairman this year,Singapore set priorities for the bloc’s cooperation, including the ASEANAgreement on Electronic Commerce, establishment of an ASEAN Smart CitiesNetwork, putting ASEAN-wide self-certification of certificates of origin intooperation, signing Agreement on Trade in Services, stepping up theimplementation of the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, andintensifying the bloc’s diplomatic relations.
Vietnam will maintain close coordination with other ASEANmember states in carrying out the AEC 2025 Strategic Action Plan (SAP), whileworking with them to address problems to ensure the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP) brings about fair benefits for all parties.
It will also work with other ASEAN countries in realizingcommitments of ASEAN-plus-one free trade agreements (FTAs), including reviewingthe second phase of the ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement(AANZFTA), Anh stated.
Notably, in 2018, Vietnam will assume the role of the chairmanof the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Economic Ministers’Meeting to be held on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting inSingapore, he added.
The minister also said that since joining the ASEAN freetrade area in 1996, Vietnam has enjoyed continuous growth in terms of tradewith ASEAN. Two-way trade increased by 7.7 folds, from 5.91 billion USD at thattime to 45.23 billion USD in the first 11 months of 2017. In the first sevenmonths of this year, import-export value between Vietnam and ASEAN was valued at28.1 billion USD, of which 12.2 billion USD came from Vietnam’s exports.
Within the framework of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement(ATIGA), 98 percent of total tariff lines are reduced to zero, Anh said.
To anticipate opportunities brought by the formation of theASEAN Economic Community by 2025 and bring into full play incentives offered byFTAs within the framework of ASEAN, Vietnamese enterprises should improve theircompetitiveness, find out an appropriate product structure and better theirawareness of Vietnam’s interests and obligations when joining FTAs, hesuggested.-VNA
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