JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Vietnamese firms lack understanding of ASEAN Economic Community commitments: survey

Vietnamese firms lack understanding of ASEAN Economic Community commitments: survey

Thursday, December 29, 2016, 15:00 GMT+7

Vietnamese businesses are aware of the regional ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) single-market initiative, but few understand its commitments, according to a survey.

While a survey conducted in April by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) showed that 94 percent of local firms are mindful of the AEC initiative, only 17 percent of the respondents fully grasped its commitments.

The statistics were cited by Nguyen Thi Thu Trang, director of VCCI’s WTO Center, at a seminar on ‘Vietnam and the ASEAN Economic Community’ held in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The European Union-style AEC, established on December 31, 2015, is one of ASEAN’s three pillars to create a single market and production base, a highly competitive economic community, a region of equitable economic development, and full integration into the global economy.

ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a ten-member bloc which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

“The number of Vietnamese firms capitalizing on the AEC is even lower,” Trang stressed, explaining that the lack of accurate and comprehensive knowledge of AEC is amongst the biggest obstacles for local businesses to make use of the commitments.

As of November, 11 months after the establishment of AEC, only two Vietnamese firms had been granted certificates of origin for their products, Trang said.

Many more have had their exports rejected by destination countries within ASEAN due to a lack of quality standards.

In 2016, Vietnam’s exports to ASEAN countries suffered a 5.6 percent drop compared to 2015, while the country’s imports from its regional neighbors also fell by two percent.

According to Hoang Van Phuong, head of the ASEAN Division under the trade ministry’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department, a major challenge for Vietnam in the AEC is harsh competition from regional products, many of which share multiple similar characteristics with those made locally.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!

TUOI TRE NEWS

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Vietnamese youngster travels back in time with clay miniatures

Each work is a scene caught by Dung and kept in his memories through his journeys across Vietnam

Latest news