As one of the leading economic locomotives and cultural and political centers of the country, Hanoi is taking advantage of and effectively exploiting the advantages of the 16 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam has signed and implemented, as well as 3 FTAs under negotiation.
Considered as avenues and "highways" that help bring Vietnamese goods in general and Hanoi goods in particular to the world, FTAs are expected to continue to open up opportunities and strong development momentum for the economy of the capital with more than a thousand years of civilization.
Over the past time, Hanoi has continuously improved its production and export capacity, especially through small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives, which play a key role in exploiting opportunities from FTAs.
The Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade has proactively introduced appropriate policies to support businesses in international integration and increase exports. In particular, new-generation agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Vietnam-European Union FTA (EVFTA) and the Vietnam-UK FTA (UKVFTA) bring many tariff incentives, creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese businesses in general and Hanoi businesses in particular to access demanding markets such as Europe and other developed countries.
In addition, the Department has also implemented many activities to connect businesses with commercial banks, investment funds, and trade promotion to facilitate businesses to expand their markets. This not only helps businesses introduce their products but also find strategic partners and expand their international customer network.
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| Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade proactively introduces appropriate policies to support businesses in international integration and increase exports. (Source: Industry and Trade Magazine) |
"Golden opportunity" for businesses in the capital
Sharing on the sidelines of the recent Exhibition of typical handicraft, OCOP, and rural industry products in Hanoi, Ms. Ha Thi Vinh, Chairwoman of the Hanoi Handicraft and Craft Village Association, said that the FTAs that Vietnam signed with other countries are "golden opportunities" for export enterprises, including those producing and exporting handicraft products of the capital.
Affirming that the export market opportunities are very open, Ms. Vinh is aware that when participating in FTAs, there will be certain difficulties in terms of technical barriers, forcing Vietnamese manufacturers to change and improve. For example, strict regulations on environmental factors, noise, and the lives of employees..."In short, we must have 'clean' products for us to bring to the world," she said.
According to Vice President and General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Mac Quoc Anh, taking advantage of opportunities from FTAs not only helps develop production and business activities, expand product consumption markets, but also contributes to improving competitiveness, especially in the context of the current volatile international market.
It can be said that joining FTA will bring many benefits to businesses such as providing opportunities to access new markets, reducing tariffs and trade barriers. This helps to enhance the export capacity of businesses, helping to increase sales and scale of operations.
Along with that, when taking advantage of FTAs, businesses can access cheap goods and advanced technology from FTA partners, which helps improve labor productivity, enhance product quality, and enhance competitiveness in the international market...
Acting Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade Tran Thi Phuong Lan assessed that although the work of supporting enterprises to implement new-generation FTAs has brought positive results, the proportion of Hanoi's export turnover to these FTA markets has not met expectations, especially the proportion of turnover enjoying incentives from FTAs is still modest.
The main reason pointed out by the leaders of the Department of Industry and Trade is due to difficulties and problems such as the majority of Hanoi enterprises are SMEs, so their competitiveness is still weak; products and goods mostly do not meet the conditions of origin of exported goods, while taking advantage of incentives from FTAs is closely linked to meeting the conditions of origin of exported goods; enterprises have not been proactive in learning and researching deeply about the commitments in FTAs to develop long-term production and business plans to take advantage of tariff incentives...
Sharing the same view, Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association Vu Duc Giang said that in order to take full advantage of the FTAs, Vietnamese enterprises need to make great efforts to meet production and management standards. This requires significant investment in technology, human resources, and quality management systems.
In addition, businesses also face fierce competition from imported products as the domestic market becomes more open. Products from FTA countries will easily access the Vietnamese market at competitive prices, posing a significant challenge for domestic businesses.
Promote timely, synchronous solutions
According to Mr. Mac Quoc Anh, in order for businesses to make good use of FTAs, the city needs to review all documents and instructions provided by the agreements and needs to organize training and propaganda work in a more specific, systematic and extensive manner.
Along with that, strengthen the connection, training and cooperation between Hanoi enterprises and enterprises in the bloc so that they can exchange information regularly and continuously, helping enterprises better understand the opportunities and challenges from these agreements.
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| The FTAs that Vietnam has signed with other countries are a "golden opportunity" for businesses producing and exporting handicrafts in the capital. (Source: Vietnam Craft Village Magazine) |
Mr. Mac Quoc Anh emphasized that Hanoi needs to support businesses to boldly invest and open representative offices in countries in the bloc, thereby connecting counselors and embassies to make information more quickly and promptly, and to reduce the impact on the activities of countries in the bloc.
"In particular, we must invest in innovation because if we do not innovate and update new trends in a timely manner, our products will become outdated and not competitive enough while the world is constantly changing...", Mr. Quoc Anh suggested.
From identifying actual needs, in the coming time, the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade plans to continue focusing on organizing training courses, implementing programs and plans to support businesses in making good use of new generation FTAs to promote export growth.
Hanoi continues to focus on promoting propaganda and information about goods and markets as well as tariff incentives under FTAs so that businesses know where the opportunities are, in which markets and which groups of goods, what conditions businesses need to meet regarding rules of origin to enjoy tariff incentives...; closely monitor the situation of businesses to promptly grasp difficulties and obstacles to proactively remove and support according to authority.
The city will promote domestic and foreign trade promotion programs, especially FTA markets, to support businesses in introducing and promoting products and finding partners; focus on developing supporting industries to avoid over-reliance on imported raw materials; develop synchronous and modern logistics infrastructure; develop e-commerce, connect and support domestic businesses to participate in major e-commerce platforms, promote cross-border online exports...
Ms. Tran Thi Phuong Lan said that in the near future, the Department of Industry and Trade will also recommend to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other ministries and branches to strengthen the work of information and forecasting the situation, policies and new regulations of the markets to help businesses respond promptly; continue to support and coordinate more closely with localities in the process of implementing FTAs such as sending experts to support teaching and in-depth propaganda for each industry associated with specific commitments; organize in-depth training courses for officials working on international integration in localities to thereby improve the effectiveness of implementing agreements in localities.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ha-noi-luot-cao-toc-fta-dua-hang-hoa-thu-do-ra-the-gioi-283326.html
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