How to improve effectiveness of implementing international treaties and FTAs under discussion

The purpose of the event is to continue researching and proposing solutions aimed at ensuring national interests and prestige, whilst also raising the nation’s responsibility to the wider world.

At the conference, Nguyen Manh Tien, vice chairman of the NA’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said that with 16 FTAs and many other international treaties signed by the nation, the country has recorded plenty of good results. However, looking back at the implementation process, many points have also been revealed that need to be duly considered and adjusted.

The nation currently has an open economy with the signing and joining of many international treaties in the field of economics and trade, especially being a member of 16 FTAs.

The effective implementation of FTAs, especially new generation ones, has thereby created opportunities for the country to both expand and diversify markets with high incentives, whilst also engaging more deeply in the global supply chain and production network.

This actively contributes to the process of synchronous and comprehensive innovation, unleashing the country's potential, creativity, improving people's lives, raising the level of development, and gradually reducing the proportion of processing and assembly in the national economy.

However, many Vietnamese enterprises have not yet taken advantage of tax incentives through the application of rules of origin and certificates of origin in FTAs. Many advantageous products have a rate of using certificates of origin (C/O) of 92% to 100% in FTAs, such as corn, wheat, various types of paper, fertilizers, trucks, some iron and steel products, footwear products, and textiles, although the export value is not high.

Furthermore, every year sees the nation face many anti-dumping and anti-subsidy lawsuits.

At the conference, delegates focused on assessing the implementation of international treaties and FTAs ​​on the promulgation of legal documents to organise and carry out international treaties; the organisation of apparatus, operational mechanism, co-ordination in the implementation of international treaties of the Government, ministries, sectors, and localities; as well as the role and responsibility of relevant agencies in supervising the implementation of international treaties.

Pham Quynh Mai, deputy director of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that over the past eight years since Vietnam joined and implemented FTAs, exports have penetrated deeply into the markets of partner countries, whilst the trade balance has maintained a trade surplus.

Most notably, when signing and implementing three new generation FTAs, including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA), Vietnamese export turnover has grown strongly. Especially with the CPTPP, it has opened the door for Vietnamese goods to enter new markets such as Canada, Mexico, and Peru.

However, Pham Quynh Mai also commented that the implementation of FTAs ​​still has shortcomings and limitations. The proportion of new generation FTAs ​​in general exports remains modest, FDI enterprises account for a large proportion, Vietnamese exports are mainly raw, and there is a lack of brands in the FTA market.

Moving forward, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will primarily focus on disseminating and monitoring the implementation of FTAs. Specifically, the Ministry will strive to innovate the method of disseminating information through propaganda videos, supporting the implementation of FTA commitments, as well as building a set of indicators to monitor the implementation of FTAs ​​(FTA Index). In addition, the Ministry recommends that the NA and the Government continue to implement groups of solutions on institutions, support businesses, human resources, among many other suggestions.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, last year witnessed the nation sign and join in 83 international treaties. Of which, there were 78 bilateral treaties and five multilateral treaties. It is expected that this year, ministries and sectors will propose signing and joining 54 international treaties, most of which are bilateral deals relating to co-operation in crime prevention and control, extradition and the transfer of convicted persons, the exchange and protection of confidential information, and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.

In the coming time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs proposes that the Government continue to direct and make proposals for signing international treaties in the fields of trade, investment, energy, digital transformation, the environment, and green growth, all of which should be in accordance with the guidelines, policies, and orientations of the Party and State.