Connectivity essential for businesses when joining CPTPP: seminar

The CPTPP is expected to increase Vietnam’s GDP by 2.01% by 2035. (Photo: Internet)

Associate Prof., Dr Dinh Trong Thinh from the Hanoi University of Finance said life would be more difficult for single enterprises if they don’t get connected by the time the CPTPP comes into effect.

Connecting firms in the same sector is crucial, Thinh said, noting that this is a weak point of Vietnamese companies as they often operate single-handedly.

According to him, the biggest challenge facing businesses is that they must acknowledge the agreement’s opportunities and challenges for firms on their own. Without full consciousness, enterprises won’t be able to reform themselves and have strategic vision and response measures.

Phan Thi Thanh Xuan, Secretary General of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) emphasised the need to help businesses, particularly those of small and medium size, to access information and intensify connectivity.

She also suggested State agencies consider upgrading infrastructure and logistics.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the CPTPP will become effective in the first countries ratifying the agreement on December 12, 2018, namely Mexico, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Canada and Australia.

Vietnam ratified the agreement on November 12, 2018 and informed New Zealand of the ratification on November 15. Therefore, the agreement will take effect in the Southeast Asian nation on January 14, 2019.

The CPTPP covers a market of about 490 million people and has a combined GDP of US$10.1 trillion, 13.5% of the globe’s GDP, and average per capita income of more than US$19,000 a year.

The accord is expected to increase Vietnam’s GDP by 2.01% by 2035, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment./.

NDO