RCEP
is a free trade agreement among the ASEAN bloc and six other partners:
China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.
RCEP negotiations were officially launched by leaders of the 16
participating nations in 2012.
Speaking at the conference,
Vice Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM) Vo
Tri Thanh highlighted that RCEP is relevant to Vietnam’s outlook on
fostering economic integration with comprehensive economic reforms.
Pham
Binh An, Director of the WTO Integration Support Centre in Ho Chi Minh
City, said the RCEP pact stipulates drastic reductions on trade tariffs,
which will have major positive influences on Vietnam as the country is
experiencing a trade deficit with some of the regional nations.
Vietnamese
enterprises need to map out effective import-export strategies, he
underscored, saying RCEP commits to cut down a raft of tariffs,
restructuring trade among well-developed countries in the region.
He
added that RCEP is a crucial institution in international economic
integration, affecting 48 percent of the global population and 30
percent of the international economic productivity.
Experts at
the conference agreed that Vietnam is proactively joining international
integration through participating in RCEP and other free trade
agreements. The country is fostering joint-ventures while furthering
trade with foreign partners and encouraging the establishment of
multinational corporations.
Apart from 10 signed free trade
pacts, Vietnam is pushing negotiations for the Europe- Vietnam Free
Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement
forward./.