On November 18, the Ministry of Industry and Trade cooperated with Industry and Trade Newspaper to organize a workshop on "Exporting to FTA markets - Solving the problem of sustainable development".

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, although impressive results have been obtained, commitments and regulations in free trade agreements (FTAs), especially new generation FTAs are relatively new and complicated, so many businesses (DN) Vietnam is confused and has not made the most of the incentives.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Huy - Deputy Director of the Southern Department of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Industry and Trade - shared that the new generation FTAs such as CPTPP, EVFTA and UKVFTA after a period of implementation have brought about positive effects. Not only the market was expanded, export turnover to these markets also recorded high growth.

In the first nine months of this year, the total import and export turnover of goods has exceeded 500 billion USD, estimated at nearly 560 billion USD, up more than 15% over the same period last year. The balance of trade in goods in 9 months of 2022 is estimated at 6.52 billion USD.

Experts share at the conference.

Commodity import and export activities still have some shortcomings and limitations such as high but unsustainable export growth; The economy has not fully exploited its competitive advantages based on technology, labor qualifications, management... to create export groups with high competitiveness, high scientific and technological content. In particular, in 2022, after nearly 2 years of fighting the pandemic, countries have normalized again and started to set higher standards for imported goods to protect domestic production as well as the health of their customers. consumers.

According to Ms. Ly Kim Chi - Chairman of the Food and Food Association of Ho Chi Minh City, the failure to catch up with the market caused businesses to miss many orders. Most recently, a Vietnamese instant noodle factory received a huge order from the US. When sending samples, the price is accepted by the customer. However, there is a point that customers do not accept to use aluminum lids on noodles. Customers have responded and instructed to amend, but DN refused and DN missed the order. Therefore, enterprises are forced to study the market deeply, study market standards, and change models according to demand.

Ms. Nguyen Thao Hien, Deputy Director of the Europe - America Market Department, said that in order to make the most of the incentives from the EVFTA, there are still many challenges. Specifically, the commodity trading market has been experiencing complicated movements in terms of supply and price.

“In particular, the EU will strengthen the application of non-tariff barriers, tighten regulations and technical standards on environment/climate, sustainable development. Meanwhile, currently, many Vietnamese export products are still facing difficulties in accessing the EU market because they have not completely met the EU's high requirements set out from regulations, technical standards, and traceability. The EU also regularly reviews and adjusts regulations that make Vietnamese enterprises in many cases unable to grasp and adapt, "- Ms. Hien said. know.

Vietnamese businesses take advantage of opportunities from FTAs to bring goods to the world

Jean Jacques Bouflet - Vice President of EuroCham - said that in general, import policies from the EU remained unchanged after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Vietnam faces obstacles when it has to meet the EU's increasingly strict trend of green and clean consumption. For example, with wood products that require FSC certification, or in the current wood export industry, not using wood materials from Russia will affect export activities.

“In the coming time, Vietnamese enterprises must ensure the emission index, see the sustainable development of enterprises. Another important point is that the EU needs to see the willingness of Vietnamese manufacturers to make changes in sustainable development and drastically reduce emissions,” noted EuroCham Vice President.