Expecting the FTA Index to promptly remove difficulties for businesses

The implementation of the FTA Index is expected to promptly remove difficulties for businesses in taking advantage of the FTA, contributing to maintaining the value chain.

Since 2022, based on the Government's directions in Resolution No. 99/NQ-CP promulgating the Government's Action Program for the 2021-2026 term to implement the National Assembly's Resolution on the 5-year Socio-Economic Development Plan 2021-2025, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has developed a Project on a set of indicators to assess the implementation results of FTAs ​​(FTA Index).

The measurement indicators of the FTA Index are not only the basis for enterprises and localities to "reflect on themselves" and evaluate the results of the implementation process and take advantage of the FTA, but also provide maximum support for enterprises from production to sales and export, contributing to maintaining the value chain for business operations.

Mr. Le Anh Van - Director of the Center for Legal Support and Human Resources Development (Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises) - shared about the FTA Index with Cong Thuong Newspaper.

The measurement indicators of the FTA Index are the basis for businesses and localities to "look at themselves" and evaluate the results of the implementation process and take advantage of the FTA. Illustrative photo

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has developed a Project on the Index to evaluate the implementation results of FTAs ​​(FTA Index). From the perspective of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, what do you expect this index to do to the implementation process of FTAs ​​by member enterprises in the Association?

Building the FTA Index is very meaningful and important, because we will have a set of tools to measure the level of FTA utilization by businesses, as well as the level of support from local governments for businesses in utilizing FTAs.

At the same time, through this set of indicators, the Government will have a better understanding of the implementation of support for businesses to take advantage of FTAs ​​in localities to have directions and monitor the implementation of FTAs ​​in localities. At the same time, there will be timely solutions and support to overcome difficulties; thereby helping businesses have sustainable development orientation, meeting integration standards.

Given the above positive implications, it can be said that the implementation of the FTA Index by the Ministry of Industry and Trade is highly appreciated and we have high expectations that it can improve, remove difficulties and enhance the capacity to take advantage of FTAs ​​for businesses. In fact, in the past, the level of FTA information provision for businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, has not been clear. In terms of implementation, most small and medium-sized enterprises lack tools to access FTAs.

Therefore, through the FTA Index, businesses can improve their limitations and difficulties in the process of taking advantage of FTAs. At the same time, they can recognize how the State's policies are supporting localities in the area to implement FTAs; helping businesses orient their business strategies, invest in products and goods, meet product quality standards as well as have plans to improve the quality of human resources, etc., enhancing their competitive advantage when reaching out to the international market.

Mr. Le Anh Van - Director of the Center for Legal Support and Human Resources Development (Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises). Photo: Quoc Chuyen

To clearly assess the reality as well as the difficulties and limitations of enterprises in taking advantage of FTA commitments, in your opinion, how important are the investigation methods and survey content of the FTA Index?

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the FTA Index is built based on statistical data sources and annual business survey information, through the following activities: Surveying and collecting primary data from domestic private economic enterprises and enterprises in the local state economic sector; collecting secondary data from reliable domestic and foreign information sources; analyzing, building and verifying the index calculation model; evaluating and providing solutions to promote the implementation of FTAs ​​in each locality through the local index; applying information technology in data collection and processing, especially online.

Currently, most businesses lack information about FTAs, especially the commitments on tax reduction are still quite vague; on the other hand, there is a lack of specialized staff on FTAs, so the ability to exploit and take advantage of FTAs ​​from businesses is still weak. In addition, businesses have not focused on building data on the system of books, production and business documents; information shared by management agencies as well as inter-sectoral coordination.

Thus, in my opinion, surveying information from businesses plays a very important role in building an accurate FTA Index, authentic to the reality of FTA utilization, especially identifying and understanding the difficulties in the process of accessing FTA information of the business community.

However, in order for the survey process to collect accurate and effective information, the agency implementing the survey must closely follow the business to see the level of integration of this business sector. In particular, the form, survey method, as well as the construction of the questionnaire must be suitable to the reality of the business in each industry.

From the information from close surveys of businesses, the authorities will have data to build the FTA Index toolkit - an important set of documents to support businesses in proactive integration.

On behalf of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises , can you share some proposals to work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade as well as related units to successfully build the FTA Index?

In reality, it must be admitted that many businesses are still reluctant to share information. Therefore, in the process of implementing the FTA Index, it is necessary to promote inter-sectoral coordination to promote and increase businesses' awareness of the significance of the index, so that businesses can grasp and understand to provide accurate data with reality, and the authorities will have a more authentic assessment of businesses' utilization of the FTA. In particular, it is necessary to identify where the difficulties and obstacles of businesses are in order to make timely adjustments and propose solutions.

If possible, during the implementation of the FTA Index, management agencies need to promote the application of technology, even AI, to survey and evaluate, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the toolkit. On the part of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, business representative organizations are always ready to connect and support to promote the FTA Index to businesses. However, due to the fact that there are multi-industry and single-industry associations, it is necessary to classify them to have more effective coordination methods; at the same time, there must be training programs for member associations to clearly understand the FTA Index, thereby creating "tentacles" and building a network to effectively implement the FTA Index.

Up to now, we are looking forward to the index being announced. On the other hand, from the Association's perspective, acting as a "bridge" between businesses and state management agencies, when the FTA Index is announced, we will promote it so that businesses can better understand the meaning of this index. In particular, the Association will closely coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant agencies to research and promote the FTA Index widely to the small and medium-sized enterprise community.

Thank you!

Source: https://congthuong.vn/ky-vong-bo-chi-so-fta-index-se-go-kho-kip-thoi-cho-doanh-nghiep-360906.html