News

• ASEAN trade lacks luster

  December 20, 2013

  HA NOI — Trade with ASEAN countries remains modest this year, said an expert, with Viet Nam’s exports to the ASEAN market reaching about US$35 billion, while imports were about $40 billion.

  However, trade fell below its potential with ASEAN countries, said Le Hoang Oanh, Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Agency, speaking during a seminar entitled “ASEAN Markets – Opportunities for Viet Nam Businesses”, held by the agency in Ha Noi yesterday.

  Pham Thi Hong Thanh, director of the Asia Pacific Market Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said within the ASEAN block and its relations with other partners around the world, many trade agreements have been signed.
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• Bridging Japan-U.S. gaps critical to achieve TPP deal

  December 12, 2013

  After failing to reach a deal by the much-touted 2013 deadline, the 12 members in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade pact pledged a continued effort to find solutions on thorny issues, with the prospect of Japan-U.S. talks over trade involving farm products and automobiles seen as one of the keys for an early conclusion of the trade system.

  A Japanese official said the TPP members could become even less motivated to make concessions after they missed the pledged deadline at a crucial four-day ministerial conference ended Tuesday in Singapore, suggesting negotiations could be a lengthy struggle.
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• New Thai-Laos Bridge Opens, Completing ‘Missing Link’ in North-South Regional Corridor

  December 11, 2013

  MANILA – A new bridge straddling the Mekong River between Thailand and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) is open for business, signaling completion of physical works along one of the Greater Mekong Subregion’s (GMS) most critical economic corridors.

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• TPP talks fail to meet year-end deadline for deal

  December 11, 2013

  SINGAPORE — Talks on forming a huge U.S.-led Pacific free trade area will resume next month after the 12 prospective members Tuesday gave up on meeting Washington’s year-end deadline for a deal.

  U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and his counterparts said they made “substantial progress” after four days of talks in Singapore on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) but failed to resolve all issues.

  “We have decided to continue our intensive work in the coming weeks toward such an agreement,” Froman said, reading a joint statement by the trade ministers.
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• WTO hails ‘historic’ first global trade agreement

  December 07, 2013

  NUSA DUA — Commerce ministers capped days of hard negotiations Saturday by approving a WTO agreement on international commerce they hailed as a “historic” boost for the trade body.

  The agreement still falls far short of the World Trade Organization’s lofty but elusive vision of tearing down global trade barriers through its frustrating, 12-year-old Doha Round of talks.

  But the accord reached on the Indonesian resort island of Bali nevertheless marks the first global agreement struck by the Geneva-based body since its 1995 founding.
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• Opportunity for market reforms

  December 07, 2013

  Quite a few local firms are feeling uneasy with foreign invested enterprises (FIEs) to engage in commodity trading and related activities the Ministry of Industry and Trade is currently asking for feedback, FIEs will be allowed to distribute rice, crude oil and pharmaceuticals.

  Meanwhile, Decision 10/2007/QD-BTM lists rice, cane and beet sugar, tobacco and cigars, crude and refined oil, pharmaceuticals, explosives, books, newspapers, magazines, gems and precious metals as the commodities FIEs are not allowed to trade in.
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• Wikileaks shockwaves

  December 07, 2013

  On November 13, 2013, Wikileaks released a draft chapter under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The draft, which relates to discussions on intellectual property rights as of August 30, 2013, the end of the 19th round of negotiation, has shocked many observers.

  There has been much gripping about the veil of secrecy surrounding TPP. Few know exactly what is being discussed and who are involved. Some even say that only three people from each of the countries involved have full access the related drafts. This explains why the leak of one of the most contentious draft chapters has captured so much attention. Interestingly, the root of the controversy does not lie in the provision of the chapter itself.
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• FIEs vs. chance for goods distribution

  December 07, 2013

  Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) are slated to distribute the commodities they haven’t been allowed to in the domestic market, such as rice and fuels, from 2014 onwards. Is it really an opportunity for FIEs and consumers?

  FIEs at every business forum have always complained about the barriers in commerce, especially access to the local goods distribution system. In compliance with commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Vietnam on January 1, 2009 fully opened its door so that foreign companies could establish distribution companies in the domestic market. However, faced with a barrier called “economic needs evaluation” set up by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in which the ministry and local authorities are to consider whether a certain location really needs more retail outlets or not, foreign distributors have had to evade the rule in various forms. Recently, this regulation has been officially removed. Despite the efforts expended by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to enforce such a rule, FIEs have been able to expand their retail networks in one way or another.
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