Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade co-hosted aconference in Hanoi on May 22, focusing on basic commitments of theComprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)and recommendations for businesses.

Participants held that the CPTPP’s strictregulations will be requirements but also create an opportunity for Vietnam tospeed up its reform, improve institutions, and fully implement its commitmentsto the pact.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran QuocKhanh said the CPTPP will give a boost to international trade and investment aswell as intra-bloc trade activities.

He said it is the highest-standard agreement thatVietnam has joined to date, which will be enforced in the near future.

The point is what Vietnamese firms should do toprepare themselves to capitalise on its benefits and reduce related risks, theofficial noted.

Luong Hoang Thai, Director of the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade’s Multilateral Trade Policy Department, said the CPTPP willdrive the Government’s reform progress and build the image of Vietnam as asupporter of free trade in line with international law.

The agreement will also help Vietnam open its market,increase investment, boost international cooperation, create jobs, and easepoverty, Thai added.

VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc recommended Vietnamesefirms update information about the regulations on product origins and standardsand customers’ demand in CPTPP member markets, as well as the agreement’simpacts on different types of commodities.

Loc said he believes the deal will offeropportunities for Vietnam to attract investment, promote internationalcooperation, boost exports, and complete its institutions.

After the US withdrew from the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP), the predecessor of the CPTPP, in 2017, the remaining 11countries, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, agreed to maintain the deal andrename it CPTPP.

The CPTPP, which was signed in Chile on March 8, isset to take effect in early 2019 after it is ratified by at least six membercountries. Its member economies make up about 13 percent of the global GDP.-VNA