Vietnam's Existing FTAs & Its Impact On T&A Sector

28 May 2022, Mumbai:

Term of the trade

Free trade agreements are the ones between two or more nations on the terms of trade. They assess the value of taxes and charges imposed on imports and exports by countries.

With its admission to the World Commerce Organization (WTO) in 2007, Vietnam took a crucial step toward integrating with global trade and, as a result, entered into many free trade agreements.

Vietnam has been active in forging bilateral trade agreements with nations worldwide in recent years. "Vietnam has had an FTA with the EU since 2019, which has boosted its export growth.

The increase, according to Hai, is due to the benefits of new-generation free trade agreements (FTAs) and regional trade agreements.

Existing scenario

Below is the list of FTAs that Vietnam has concluded by now.

Vietnam - Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. ...

Vietnam - Chile Free Trade Agreement. ...

Vietnam - Korea Free Trade Agreement. ...

Vietnam - Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement. ...

ASEAN Agreements. ...

ASEAN - India FTA. ...

ASEAN - Australia - New Zealand FTA.

In addition, as a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam has been a signatory to numerous Free Trading Agreements (FTAs) negotiated by the regional trade bloc.

Despite applying for World Trade Organization (WTO) membership in 1995, Viet Nam did not focus on WTO membership until 2001, after successfully establishing a bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United States (US).

Competitive cutting-edge 

Although the BTA was viewed as a stepping stone to WTO membership, the US proved to be a problematic negotiator during bilateral discussions for PNTR status.

The coverage of Viet Nam's FTAs has expanded to include the movement of commodities and trade in services, investment, and other elements of the trade.

The agreement creating the ASEAN-Australian-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA), is the most ambitious of the accords Vietnam has signed. This contrasts with earlier ASEAN+1 FTAs, organized around a framework and then separate agreements.

All of the elements in the AANZFTA were signed as part of a single document.

Evaluation of the Potential Impact of FTAs

Viet Nam's exporters have profited from expanded export markets and lower tariff and non-tariff obstacles as a result of FTAs.

Compared to the ASEAN-6 and its FTA partners, Viet Nam was given lengthier implementation dates for tariff reduction/elimination.

In addition, Viet Nam has been recognized as a complete market economy by India, Australia, and New Zealand as a result of FTAs between ASEAN and its partners. Viet Nam has been able to participate in deeper regional economic integration due to the development of FTAs.

Vietnam's pragmatic approach toward stitching free trade agreements is serving the nation a most valuable tappable opportunity for foreign investors that have not really exploited their potential benefits.

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