APEC "opens the door" to bring businesses to a larger playground

APEC creates the premise for Vietnam and the business community to participate in larger playgrounds with greater levels of commitment, such as the WTO or new generation FTAs.

Mr. Mac Quoc Anh, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (Hanoi SME) shared with TG&VN reporters about the outstanding results that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum brought to Vietnam in general and the business community in particular.

Ông Mạc Quốc Anh, Phó Chủ tịch kiêm Tổng Thư ký Hiệp hội Doanh nghiệp Nhỏ và vừa TP Hà Nội. (Nguồn: Hanoisme)

Mr. Mac Quoc Anh, Vice President and General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (Hanoi SME). (Source: Hanoisme)

As the leading economic cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region, APEC brings great potential and opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises. How do you evaluate the relationship between the Vietnamese business community and the APEC mechanism?

Over 30 years of establishment and development, APEC continues to affirm itself as the leading regional economic integration mechanism, initiating and taking the lead in promoting the trend of economic, trade and investment liberalization in the region and the world, making important contributions to economic growth and maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in Asia - Pacific.

APEC cooperation focuses on three main pillars: trade and investment liberalization, business facilitation, and economic and technical cooperation. The forum currently has 21 member economies, including the world's leading economies (the US, China, Japan, etc.), 9 members of the Group of 20 leading developed and emerging economies (G20) and many dynamic emerging economies.

Vietnam's participation in APEC and its commitments on trade and investment opening and business facilitation contribute to creating momentum for domestic reform, gradually perfecting policies and regulations in line with international commitments.

Therefore, APEC creates the premise for Vietnam to participate in larger playgrounds with greater levels of commitment such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) or new generation FTAs.

APEC also supports businesses - especially small and medium enterprises - in accessing markets, enjoying a favorable investment, business and travel environment, finding strategic investors, and accessing advanced technology and management skills.

Therefore, this is an opportunity for businesses to innovate their corporate governance and improve their competitiveness. This is reflected in the increasing import-export turnover and the list of import-export products; the trade balance is consistent between import and export.

As an APEC member, Vietnam enjoys support to enhance its capacity for international integration. One of APEC's three main pillars is economic and technical cooperation. APEC supports developing economies in enhancing their capacity for economic reform and regional integration, contributing to narrowing the development gap.

The implementation of commitments, policy synchronization, and APEC support projects have contributed to improving the international integration capacity of ministries, sectors, localities and enterprises, and enhancing the knowledge and experience of the staff working on integration. Cooperation programs on enhancing student exchanges, promoting tourism, people-to-people exchanges, etc. have brought many great opportunities to the people, especially the younger generation.

What is the future and opportunities for businesses of member economies when participating in APEC, sir?

Participating in APEC and implementing commitments on trade and investment opening and business facilitation contribute to creating momentum for domestic reform, gradually perfecting policies and regulations in line with international commitments.

APEC creates the premise for Vietnam and the business community to participate in larger playgrounds with higher levels of commitment such as the WTO and FTAs, including new-generation, high-standard FTAs.

The implementation of international commitments is also a lever to realize the determination to build an honest, creative, and active Government serving the people and businesses. This mechanism is also a premise for businesses to attract investment and participate in the global value chain, an opportunity for the Government to issue policies to create favorable conditions to support business development, especially in terms of capital, investment in transport infrastructure, trade, and import and export.

Vietnamese businesses need to unite along the value chain to link industries and support each other to develop. Illustrative photo. (Source: VGP)

In order to participate and better utilize the opportunities from this cooperation mechanism, what do you think the Vietnamese business community needs to do?

In a hyper-connected world, Asia-Pacific continues to be a center of world development. Entering the fourth decade of development, facing rapid and profound changes in the world and regional situation, under the strong impact of the 4.0 industrial revolution, APEC is fundamentally transforming, increasingly expanding the scope of cooperation in a more practical direction, for the benefit of people and businesses.

After more than 30 years of Renovation and international integration, Vietnam has entered a strategic development phase with a new position and stature, continuing comprehensive renovation, deep international integration and raising the level of multilateral diplomacy. Asia-Pacific and APEC continue to be one of the key areas in implementing our country's foreign policy in the new period.

To meet the regional and global trends, in my opinion, Vietnamese enterprises need to unite along the value chain to link industries and support each other to develop. At the same time, strengthen the national trade promotion and technology innovation program, create many technology fairs for enterprises to grasp the tastes of the market to meet the needs of exporters when coming to Vietnam.

On the Hanoi SME side, what has the Association been doing to support businesses to participate, connect and cooperate with businesses in APEC in particular and in the world in general?

Our association has signed cooperation agreements with associations from several countries in the world and the region. We regularly coordinate with Commercial Counselors of countries in Vietnam, through the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to learn about emerging markets, especially product specifications, consumer tastes as well as product design culture, learn about regulations on technical barriers, thereby avoiding errors in the import and export process.

In addition, we organize online connection programs with countries that are not available for direct visits. Through the Commercial Counselors of the countries, we grasp many orders, payment methods and lessons in the market.

Thank you!

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