Every day I ride a boat along the Saigon River between Districts 1 and 2 when I am in Ho Chi Minh City. Monday through Friday, it is full of container barges moving containers to and from major distribution points. Saturdays and Sundays, however, are basically void of such traffic....

Domestic businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need further support from state management agencies to better compete in the context of deep global integration, said Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc.

The Malaysian Government has yet to decide on whether the country would ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) or not, the local news agency Bernama quoted an official as saying.

Foreign investors have been encouraged to take advantage of the double benefits Vietnam is offering through its commitments in the many trade pacts signed with other countries.

Opportunities for Australian firms to invest in Vietnam have never been better than now when the Southeast Asian economy is growing rapidly, said participants at a Vietnam-Australia business dialogue held in Sydney on July 22.

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