ASEAN Market: From Initiatives to Actions to Support Vietnamese Businesses

Vietnam's exports to some ASEAN markets increased Vietnam is a solid bridge for Argentina to enter the ASEAN market

The workshop " ASEAN Market : From Initiatives to Action" aims to provide Vietnamese SMEs with key trends in intra-ASEAN trade and to take advantage of opportunities in this intra-bloc market.

Thị trường ASEAN: Từ các sáng kiến đến hành động hỗ trợ doanh nghiệp Việt

More than 100 delegates from associations, industries, businesses in Vietnam and some ASEAN countries discussed new opportunities from the ASEAN market.

At the workshop, delegates from associations, industries, and business communities in Vietnam and several ASEAN countries discussed new and outstanding opportunities in cross-border trade, especially with the Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN). They also emphasized new opportunities from the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) as well as related Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) such as the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) and the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement (ATISA).

Delegates clearly analyzed that in recent times, Vietnam has made significant progress in regional and international economic integration. In particular, in the period 2010 - 2021, trade between Vietnam and ASEAN has grown remarkably, with exports increasing from 9.3 billion USD in 2010 to 29.1 billion USD in 2021. However, because these exports mainly come from foreign companies operating in Vietnam, it is necessary to implement more measures to encourage and improve market access for domestic enterprises, especially the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) community, which accounts for 97% of the total number of enterprises in the country, aiming to achieve breakthroughs in the coming period.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Duc Trung, Deputy Director of the Department of Enterprise Development of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, assessed that economic integration in general and ASEAN cooperation in particular bring many opportunities for economic development. As of February 2023, the total export turnover of goods from Vietnam to ASEAN reached about 2.85 billion USD, of which exports to Thailand reached 654.2 million USD; to Malaysia reached 441.7 million USD; to Cambodia and Indonesia reached more than 430 million USD; to the Philippines reached 408 million USD; to Singapore reached 387.1 million USD; to Laos reached 45.3 million USD and to Brunei with 4.32 million USD. "However, the above results do not fully reflect the potential for trade development among ASEAN countries. At the same time, Vietnamese small and medium enterprises face many challenges in taking advantage of these opportunities, so supporting businesses to take advantage of digital platforms as well as market research skills through networks within the ASEAN region is the goal of the Department of Enterprise Development and the German International Cooperation Organization GIZ at this workshop," Mr. Nguyen Duc Trung informed.

Ms. Sita Zimpel, Project Director of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) shared at the workshop.

At the workshop, Ms. Sita Zimpel, Project Director of the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) responsible for developing ASEAN Access and the AED Business Portal, expressed : “GIZ is honored to participate in this important event, because we believe that the ASEAN market still has a lot of untapped potential, especially under the ATISA Agreement. GIZ's work in Vietnam and ASEAN aims to create conditions for businesses to access reliable market information, form necessary networks as well as share experiences with the business community, especially small and medium enterprises in ASEAN. Accordingly, the ASEAN Access Regional Portal as well as the AED Business Portal are the main platforms that help us do that.”

At the workshop, the Business Information Portal (https://business.gov.vn) was also introduced by the representative of the Department of Enterprise Development as an electronic information connection page, providing information and support services for businesses through the integration of information about businesses, consulting networks, programs, and support policies for small and medium enterprises. Business instructions, specialized research reports, markets, digital transformation programs, innovation, receiving opinions on business design and publishing information about state-owned enterprises. Individuals and organizations accessing the Business Information Portal can exploit information and services for production and business activities as well as connect and participate in the global supply chain, expanding the market on a modern, convenient and safe technology platform.

The ASEAN Access Portal (https://aseanaccess.com) is the main business portal to the ASEAN region with more than 3,100 registered SMEs, along with nearly 50 network partners and service providers. Key features on the ASEAN Access Portal enable Vietnamese users and businesses to conveniently exchange market information, participate in business networking events and online training to support businesses to expand their operations to regional and international markets better.

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