Many economic benefits for Vietnam
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade agreement between 12 countries including: Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam and now the UK.
The Agreement consists of 30 chapters and covers not only traditional areas such as goods, services, investment, but also new issues such as e-commerce, state-owned enterprises, etc. CPTPP basically maintains the provisions on the form of reduction, roadmap for reduction, rules of origin, commitments to open the public procurement market or investment market services, etc. With many open commitments, in recent years, CPTPP has affirmed its importance in the face of escalating trade protection measures in the world. Currently, many countries have applied to join CPTPP such as: China, Taiwan (China), Ecuador, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ukraine, Indonesia, etc. and many countries have also expressed interest in the Agreement such as: Korea, Thailand, Philippines or Cambodia.
The UK's accession to CPTPP is a historic milestone, demonstrating this country's strong commitment to integration and market opening. For Vietnam, it can be said that the UK's participation in CPTPP marks a new chapter in economic and trade relations between the two sides, opening up opportunities to increase trade, attract investment and promote cooperation in many fields.
Notably, along with CPTPP, Vietnam and the UK have also signed UKVFTA. Thus, both CPTPP and the UKVFTA have been creating great growth momentum in bilateral relations, while opening up new development space in potential fields.
Specifically analyzing the economic benefits for Vietnam from UK's participation in CPTPP, Mr.Luong Hoang Thai - Director of Department of Multilateral Trade Policy (Ministry of Industry and Trade) - said that the UK's participation in CPTPP will promote Vietnam's key export products to the UK, helping Vietnam access high-quality and high-tech products from the UK. At the same time, it helps domestic enterprises have opportunity to learn in technology industries such as AI, clean energy, etc. Along with that, it promotes attracting investment from UK enterprises to Vietnam, especially in fields of high technology and renewable energy.
Footwear is one of industries that benefits the most from incentives in CPTPP and benefits from the UK joining the agreement. Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan - Vice President and General Secretary of Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association - said that UK's accession to CPTPP not only does not create barriers but has also brought many advantages and more opportunities for domestic footwear and handbag enterprises.
Firstly, domestic enterprises have been doing a very good job with procedures to take advantage of incentives from CPTPP to export to member countries in the Agreement. Adding UK market, enterprises can take advantage of existing procedures, thus saving costs, time and administrative procedures.
Second, footwear and handbag businesses have more opportunities to expand the supply of raw materials from member countries, including the UK, for production and export within the CPTPP bloc.
However, according to Ms. Xuan, CPTPP or UKVFTA are both new-generation free trade agreements, so they require exporting countries and exporting businesses to improve their internal capacity. “With FTAs, we have been and are on the “highway”, so responsibility needs to be emphasized. Businesses need to pay attention to environmental and labor provisions... to meet sustainable development criteria in the agreements” - Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan noted.
Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam - Deputy General Secretary of Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) also agreed that the UK joining the CPTPP brings many benefits to seafood businesses in terms of tariffs, intra-bloc origin..., especially for tuna products. The UK is an important market for Vietnam's seafood industry in both export and import terms.
Choosing UKVFTA or CPTPP?
Although CPTPP or UKVFTA agreements have brought great benefits to businesses and export industries of both sides, there are still many concerns about which agreement to choose and take advantage of when exporting to the UK.
Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh - former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, former Head of the Government's negotiation delegation on international integration - said that 4 years ago, Vietnam had a bilateral free trade agreement with the UK. Currently, Vietnam and the UK are both members of CPTPP Agreement.
Expressing his views on choosing and using which agreement to promote the import and export of goods to each other, Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh said that businesses need to have an overview of benefits of two agreements.
With UKVFTA, this agreement has better content in the Government Procurement Chapter and Sustainable Development Chapter. UK businesses can access Vietnam's commitments on government procurement in the EVFTA, regulations and terms on government procurement in EVFTA are better than UKVFA. And when separated from EVFTA, UKVFTA still maintains the market access level of the Government Procurement Chapter. Therefore, businesses should look at content of Government Procurement Chapter in UKVFTA rather than CPTPP.
Moreover, UK has strengths in energy development. In particular, in Sustainable Development Chapter of UKVFTA, there is a "Green" appendix. This is a very good foundation for British businesses to take advantage of, provide high-tech equipment and machinery to invest in developing renewable energy and green energy in Vietnam.
As for CPTPP, this agreement has more advantages in terms of trade in goods. Both sides give each other a larger market capacity than the UKVFTA. In addition, the E-commerce Chapter, Labor Chapter and the State-owned Enterprise Chapter in CPTPP also have more content and advantages than the UKVFTA.
However, according to Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh's analysis, contents and provisions on e-commerce, labor or state-owned enterprises in CPTPP do not bring direct and close benefits to businesses.
"With CPTPP, we have better market access in trade in goods for businesses, so we can take advantage of it.
The biggest benefit that CPTPP brings is the regional rules of origin. UK businesses can also take advantage of this factor and Vietnamese businesses can also take advantage of it to increase exports to each other" - Mr. Tran Quoc Khanh analyzed.
However, according to former Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Trade in Services Chapter in CPTPP will bring great benefits to UK businesses. Because the country's service export turnover is larger than its goods export turnover, so UK businesses should look at this content and the trade in services cooperation between Vietnam and the UK still has a lot of potential.
Sharing the same view, Ms. Olivi Herford - Head of CPTPP Implementation Board of the UK Department of Business and Trade ' also recommended that businesses need to choose the agreement that best suits their needs when exporting or importing goods from member countries in CPTPP agreement.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn