Three years after the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) went into effect, Vietnamese policymakers and industry experts feel a lot of potential for domestic businesses from the agreement still remains untapped. Even traditionally strong Vietnamese export items struggle to penetrate CPTPP markets, a top official said.

Issues related to CPTPP were recently discussed during an online conference in Hanoi.

Vietnamese businesses have been increasingly interested to take advantage of the agreement, Ngo Chung Khanh, deputy director of the multilateral trade policy department under the ministry of industry and trade (MoIT), was quoted as saying at the conference by a news agency.

Nine per cent of businesses in a Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) survey said they possess a ‘deep understanding’ of CPTPP, a significant improvement from just over 2 per cent from two years ago.

During the same period, the country's export turnover to CPTPP markets improved significantly, especially to Canada and Mexico. The country witnessed a trade surplus of more than $8 billion in 2021 with these two countries alone.

While growth has been impressive, Canada and Mexico could be considered small to medium-sized markets, accounting only for just under 3 per cent of Vietnam's total trade with the bloc.

Major hurdles for Vietnamese textile manufacturers include problems in meeting CPTPP's product origin protocols and inadequate investment in expanding production and technology.

Even those who managed to secure the required investment to expand their operations could not bring production to full throttle. Many participants at the conference said they could only produce at 30-40 per cent of their capacity.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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