The seafood industry must envision a long-term strategy to make full use of new trade pacts and prepare for problems that might arise when they take effect, Truong Dinh Hoe, VASEP general secretary, said. 

Keeping the growth rate of 6.8-7.0% as the set target for 2019 requires a stronger reform effort to improve the business environment and enhance the resilience of the economy in handling risks amidst a volatile international economic environment, experts have said.

On February 21 the text of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP11) was released, introducing the world's latest free-trade bloc, characterised as a high-quality multilateral free trade agreement that takes in Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.

With the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific (CPTPP) officially coming into force, Vietnamese exporters should make the most use of the opportunities it brings in Japan, one of Vietnam’s leading trade partners.

The Pacific-wide free trade agreement has already come into force in 7 out of the 11 member countries

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is opening up many opportunities for Việt Nam’s agricultural products to reach global markets. However, agricultural products are the most vulnerable commodity when it comes to trade disputes.

Vietnamese enterprises are being encouraged to tap into business opportunities in Canada as the nation actively calls for foreign investment in the wake of the CPTPP.

Tariffs on imported products including fruit and frozen foods from six member countries of CPTPP will be reduced to zero backdated to January 14 this year to 2022.

Preferential export taxes offered by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) are expected to be promulgated this month. However, the tax reduction is only one of the incentives for Vietnamese goods when entering markets, not a ‘lifesaver’ for businesses, said the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

The CPTPP is opening the door wide for Vietnamese tra fish, a major foreign currency earner, to enter the markets of 10 other members of the deal.