Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese textiles firms wereupdated on the potential prospects, advantages, and barriers that are to broughtabout by the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the European Union-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA) at a workshop in Hanoi on July 18.

Organised by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VTAA), the event alsoprovided information related to assistance from the Government for the textileand garment industry given the context of the official signing of the CPTTP,and the soon-to-be signed EVFTA which is currently under legal review.
Experts said the EVFTA marks a new generation infree trade agreements (FTAs) between Vietnam and the 28 EU member nations. Ofall Vietnam’s FTAs with partner regions and countries, those with the EU havebeen the most committed thus far and as such hold significant importance tolocal industries.

The CPTPP was officially inked on March 9, 2018 between 11 countries, making iteasier for promoting economic growth and opening the market amongst one of theworld’s largest free trade blocs, with  nearly 500 million people and a GDP of over 10 trillion USD, accounting for 13.5 percent of the global GDP.

Meanwhile, the EVFTA is split into two sub-agreements on trade and investment. Bothsigning parties have officially announced the completion of their legal reviewsof the agreement on trade. Of note, Vietnam became the EU’s second largest tradepartner in ASEAN after Singapore, with a trade value of 47.6 billion EUR(nearly 55.3 billion USD) in 2017.

Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the Department of Import-Export under theMinistry of Industry and Trade, said there are many great opportunities for Vietnam’stextile and garment industry to capture when the agreements take effect.

However, in order to reap the benefits of the CPTPP, Vietnamesetextile and garment enterprises will have to face many difficulties, especiallyin meeting regulations and requirements related to origin of goods, Nam said.

He noted that local firms would also have to overcome challenges in the largeand fast investment trends of foreign investors in Vietnam.

The labour productivity of domestic textile and garment businesses remains low,and as such their competitiveness on the international market is still weakcompared to foreign rivals.

Vu Duc Giang, Chairman of the VTAA, stressed the need for Vietnamese textilefirms to focus on training human resources, renovating production lines,promoting cooperation, and effectively implementing investment projects.

Attention should also be paid to increasing investment in technologicalapplication and building specific business and production strategies, whichcould thus meet strict market requirements, he said. -VNA